Theodosian Land Walls of Constantinople (2025)

https://turkisharchaeonews.net/object/theodosian-land-walls-constantinople

by bcraven • 4 months ago

43 9 4 months ago

As alluded, the walls stood the test of time (1,000 years) until the final siege in 1453. The Ottomans fired thousands of cannon shots (weighing 1k lbs) into the walls and ultimately broke through.

I'm struck by the significance. The walls allowed the Byzantine Empire to outlive the Roman Empire by ten centuries. Their undoing marked the end of medieval times (the collapse of the Western Roman Empire marked the start).

jballanc• 4 months ago

Fun fact about that cannon: it took so long for the cannon to cool off between shots that the Byzantines were able to patch each hole it caused before the next shot.

raldi• 4 months ago

Supposedly they could fire it seven times a day, and had to soak it in warm oil in between to minimize thermal shock.

shrubble• 4 months ago

The repairs to the walls under the Ottoman cannon fire made use of the rubble, they made a wooden "basket" to hold the rubble; this ended up being very effective, as just like sand, the slight "give" to the rubble swallowed up much of the force of the cannonball.

teleforce• 4 months ago

Fun fact, the conquer of Constantinople was prophesized in the sahih hadith (authentic saying of the Prophet) [1].

Another fun fact, it took about 800 years, or four Islamic caliphates before the event happened in the Ottoman Caliphate era, after Rashidun, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates [2].

And another fun fact, one of the prophet trusted sahabat namely Abu Ayyub al-Ansari was involved in the very first campaign of the First Arab Siege of Constantinople during the Rashidun Caliphate [3]. He died during the event in his old age of over 90 and become the patron saint for Istanbul, Turkey. His tomb/mosque was the official inauguration place for almost all of the Ottoman Caliphs [4]. He also famously hosted Muhammad in his house for several months during the migration or Hijrah to Yathrib (modern Madinah), where Hijrah date is the start of Islamic calender.

[1] Muhammad Al Fatih – The Sultan who did the impossible:

https://onepathnetwork.com/history/the-military-genius-of-mu...

“Verily you shall conquer Constantinople. What a wonderful leader will her leader be, and what a wonderful army will that army be!” [Ahmad, al-Musnad]

[2] Fall of Constantinople:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_Constantinople

[3] Abu Ayyub al-Ansari:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ayyub_al-Ansari

[4] Eyüp Sultan Mosque:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ey%C3%BCp_Sultan_Mosque

robotnikman• 4 months ago

RIP Byzantine Empire

morgoths_bane• 4 months ago

1453, worst year of my life.

jcranmer• 4 months ago

Honestly, the Fourth Crusade in 1204 was more of a "real" death of the Byzantine Empire than the conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Although the largest remnant of the Byzantine Empire was able to reconquest Constantinople in 1261, the city's population never recovered (it went from ~400k in 1204 to ~50k in 1453). The 14th century saw it riven with a series of civil wars, which the Ottomans used to expand their foothold into the remnants of the Ottoman Empire. By 1453, Constantinople was unable to really defend itself without garrison from the major European states like Hungary and Venice, and Mehmet II was able to conquer the city before those states could get their forces sent out.

Theodosian Land Walls of Constantinople (2025)

Related Stories