Constantinople to Istanbul: How a City Changed the World
Fexingo History · Middle East
Constantinople to Istanbul: How a City Changed the World
Constantinople—later Istanbul—stands as the world’s only city to have served as the capital of two universal empires: the Christian Roman (Byzantine) and the Islamic Ottoman. In this series, Lucas and Luna guide listeners through the city’s transformation from the foundation of Nova Roma by Constantine the Great in 330 CE to the conquest by Mehmed II in 1453, and its evolution into a modern Turkish metropolis. We explore the theological controversies that split Christendom at the Council of Chalcedon, the Nika Riots that burned half the city, the strategic brilliance of the Theodosian Walls, and the final siege that changed the course of history. We also delve into the city’s afterlife: the conversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque, the construction of the Topkapi Palace, the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, and the complex process of Turkification and Islamization. Later episodes cover the city’s role in the Crimean War, the Tanzimat reforms, the rise of the Young Turks, and the founding of the Turkish Republic by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who moved the capital to Ankara. We ask: How did a city that was both the New Rome and the seat of the Caliphate become the vibrant, contested megacity of today? What does its story tell us about empire, religion, and the making of the modern Middle East?
