Constantinople Geography often plays an important role in history. Throughout history, certain places have had special significance because of where they were located. Constantinople was one of those places. If we look at Constantinople’s location from space, we can still see why it was one of the most important cities of its time. All map images in this presentation are from NASA.

Constantinople Constantinople was the fortress capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, which later became the Byzantine Empire. For hundreds of years, Constantinople was one of the richest cities in the world. Many enemies tried to capture the city, but all of them found this to be very difficult. Why was Constantinople so rich? Why was Constantinople so difficult to conquer? (The city is still one of the world’s great urban centers. The Ottoman Turkish conquerors who finally captured it in 1453 CE renamed it Istanbul. That name is in fact derived from the word “Constantinople.”) The answers to these questions have a lot to do with Constantinople’s location. Lets look at where it was located. Photo by R. Dunn Kariye, Istanbul, Church of the Holy Savior

Where was Constantinople? (Istanbul today) This is a broad view of Afroeurasia. Where was Constantinople in this picture?

Why might this location have been important? Here is the answer. Have students make some observations about location.

Can you identify any of the places in this photo? Here is a closer view of the region in which Constantinople was located. Can you identify any of the features shown in this picture of the region? Can you identify any of the places in this photo?

Notice that this region is something of a bridge between major sections of Afroeurasia. It connects the Balkan Peninsula in Europe with Anatolia in Southwest Asia..

It also lies between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea, which were major highways of trade and travel.

The narrow Bosporus strait is the only path that connects the Black Sea with the Aegean and Mediterranean seas. Constantinople’s location at the southern end of the strait gave it command of trade between these seas.

This view helps us to understand why Constantinople was so difficult to conquer and relatively easy to defend.

Why would this city be difficult to conquer? Have students speculate about why this location would be easy to defend. Notice that the city was located on a peninsula, and was thus surrounded on three sides by a sort of natural moat. The forth side was defended by a formidable series of immense fortifications.

A Highway Bridge across the Bosporus Photo by R. Dunn