Ep. 12 - Istanbul, Turkey
The City of the World’s Desire - Istanbul, perfectly situated between two seas, spanning two continents, and bringing along with it nearly 2000 years of history. Delve into episode 12 to learn about the siege of the city that catapulted the Ottoman Empire into global relevance and changed the course of history.
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Transcription:
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Hey - and happy Friday again! Welcome to the 12th installment of your favorite travel and history podcast, The Friday Take Five. Each week, we do our best to scratch an itch for travel and history aficionados alike, by adventuring to a new place, with a new story. I’m your host, Mark Moran, and it’s my hope that by the end of our time together you’ll be adding another great destination to your travel bucket list. One quick announcement before we get started… The Friday Take Five store is coming soon! More info coming in the next few days, so keep an eye out on our socials to make sure you don’t miss out, but for now, buckle in, because this week’s episode is most definitely a jam packed adventure.
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As originally sung by The Four Lads, and They Might be Giants… “Take me back to Constantinople.” We’re headed to The City of the World’s Desire. A city perfectly situated between two seas, spanning two continents, and bringing along with it nearly 2000 years of history - Istanbul.
Today, Istanbul is a mix of chaos and serenity. Incredibly historic architecture paired with tall skyscrapers. Street vendors selling doner and shop keepers bartering away. The city bridges the sea of Marmara to the Black Sea, and along with it, the Eastern and Western worlds.
Istanbul has been on my travel bucket list for years. The Turkish culture, food, and fantastic architecture are all incredibly exciting to me. In particular, I have a huge desire to experience the awe-inspiring Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque in person.
Of course, the regulars listening to the show know that for me, it’s often the story behind a city that makes it more interesting than anything. As is the case with Istanbul, or should I say Constantinople, for it wasn’t until 1930 that the city was renamed from Constantinople to Istanbul.
Constaninople was founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 330 AD as a second or “New Rome”. For slightly more than the next 1000 years, it served as the seat of the Byzantine Empire. Though largely a Christian Empire, Constantinople was a melting pot drawing cultural influence from both the East and the West. The city and the Empire withstood booms and busts, before finally collapsing after an Ottoman led siege.
By the early 1450s, Sultan Mehmed of the Ottoman Empire was young and looking to prove himself, and the Byzantine Empire was on the verge of collapse. In 1453, he set out from Edirne, the then capital of the Ottoman Empire, to achieve something his forefathers had previously failed; capturing Constantinople.
Mehmed arrived at the doorstep of the Byzantine Empire armed with gunpowder, elite sword fighters, cannons, cavalry, and ships. Modern estimates note he had anywhere from 60-130,000 men fighting from land, and over 100 ships. By comparison, the Byzantines had only roughly 7,000-10,000 actual soldiers and less than ¼ the number of ships. Though they were vastly outnumbered, it likely wasn’t thought of at the time as being as hopeless as the numbers make it seem. Constantinople was a strongly fortified city. It had strong walls, and the ability to block outside ships from the city waters by raising a chain across the naval entrance.
It was a combination of cunning by Sultan Mehmed, a stroke of bad luck for the Byzantine’s and probably a bit of arrogance on the side of the Sultan that ultimately led to an Ottoman victory and the demise of the Byzantine Empire.
One thing that still blows my mind is how the Ottoman’s ultimately were able to gain access to the city. After many, many days of fighting and heavy losses on the side of the Ottomans, the Sultan had his forces begin tunneling to try getting under the city walls and also building a land bridge to haul Ottoman ships over land past the Byzantine defenses into the bay of the city. The tunnels got shut down, but the land bridge was ultimately a success and they were able to roll their ships over logs, straight into the Byzantine bay to start piercing the Byzantine defenses.
After over 50 days of sieging, Mehmed planned for a final, all out assault. Before the dawn on the 29th of May in 1453, he launched a coordinated assault with artillery and multiple bands of soldiers. In the attack, the Ottomans mortally wounded a commanding officer within the Byzantine ranks. Chaos and confusion ensued for the Byzantine soldiers, and ultimately, Sultan Mehmed’s elite Janissary regiment was able to push past the city’s defenses.
The Byzantine Emperor, Constantine XI, fought to the end, dying with his comrades and his empire. After several days of looting and pillaging in the city, the Sultan took complete control and established the new capital of his empire.
All told, the siege ended with many thousands dead or enslaved, and the true start of a new empire for the Ottomans. My highschool history class didn’t do a whole lot of digging into the fall of Constantinople. For me it wasn’t until watching a Netflix special called Rise of Empires: Ottoman, that I learned in more depth just how wild the conquest for Constantinople was. Assuredly, Netflix took some liberties in their portrayal of the siege, but it did a great job at making the story accessible to a wide audience, including myself. I highly recommend giving it a watch if you want a more in-depth look at the seige.
Though quite the somber story, the conquest for Constantinople was undoubtedly a major turning point in history. Each incredible place has the good, the bad, and the ugly, in terms of history, and all of it’s important. I hope we’ve gotten you to learn something new and to consider adding the deeply historical Istanbul to your travel list. I’m definitely hoping to head there soon!
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Hey Fivers, thanks so much for listening to another episode. If you like what you’re hearing on the Friday Take Five, please take a moment to share this week’s episode with a friend and give us a 5 star rating on your favorite podcasting platform. Have your own stories of Istanbul to share? We want to hear them so please give us a follow and dm us on socials @FridayTakeFive or email at thefridaytakefive@gmail.com. Stay curious, stay adventuring, and have a great weekend!
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