how long were the walls of constantinople

[57][66] Other sculptures were a large cross, which fell in an earthquake in 561 or 562; a Victory, which was cast down in the reign of Michael III; and a crowned Fortune of the city. [127] A walled-up postern after the second tower is commonly identified with the Gyrolimne Gate (πύλη τῆς Γυρολίμνης, pylē tēs Gyrolimnēs), named after the Argyra Limnē, the "Silver Lake", which stood at the head of the Golden Horn. [35] From the Gate of Adrianople to the Blachernae, the walls fall to a level of some 60 m. From there the later walls of Blachernae project sharply to the west, reaching the coastal plain at the Golden Horn near the so-called Prisons of Anemas. [90], The Third Military Gate (Πύλη τοῦ Τρίτου), named after the quarter of the Triton ("the Third") that lies behind it, is situated shortly after the Pege Gate, exactly before the C-shaped section of the walls known as the "Sigma", between towers 39 and 40. Theodosius adorned these places after the downfall of the tyrant.He brought a golden age who built the gate from gold. Crewed by 500, it took 2 hours to load and could only fire eight rounds per day. It was 3.30 m thick and over 5 m high, but its effectiveness was apparently limited, and it was abandoned at some time in the 7th century for want of resources to maintain and men to garrison it. Crossing the Strait of Gibraltar, a Muslim army of 50,000 traversed Spain, crossed the Pyrenees and penetrated into the French heartland before finally being overcome by Charles Martel at Tours in 732. The Walls of Constantinople enabled the city to endure long after the Roman empire was fading. [14] It appears that large parts survived relatively intact until the 9th century: the 11th-century historian Kedrenos records that the "wall at Exokionion", likely a portion of the Constantinian wall, collapsed in an earthquake in 867. As these repairs coincided with the capture of Crete by the Saracens, no expense was spared: As Constantine Manasses wrote, "the gold coins of the realm were spent as freely as worthless pebbles". Naturally, such an important city with such a long life has some pretty remarkable stories etched within its walls. [76] In 1391 John V was compelled to raze the fort by Sultan Bayezid I (r. 1382–1402), who otherwise threatened to blind his son Manuel, whom he held captive. By that time the Ottoman Empire had absorbed most of Byzantium’s territory and engulfed its capital as it expanded outward from Asia Minor into the Balkans. Bonus knew that the walls could be held long, so long … [141] This activity is certainly not unconnected to the fact that in the same year, Carthage fell to the Vandals, an event which signaled the emergence of a naval threat in the Mediterranean. Only three gates, the Golden Gate, the Gate of Rhegion and the Gate of Charisius, can be established directly from the literary evidence. [18][23], The Old Gate of the Prodromos (Παλαιὰ Πόρτα τοῦ Προδρόμου, Palaia Porta tou Prodromou), named after the nearby Church of St John the Baptist (called Prodromos, "the Forerunner", in Greek), is another unclear case. Known as Istanbul City walls, these are the series of defensive stone walls that had once protected the city of Constantinople in the past. The wall of the Propontis was built almost at the shoreline, with the exception of harbours and quays, and had a height of 12–15 metres, with thirteen gates, and 188 towers. To those two fortified points were adjoined the Sea Walls, similar in construction to the Outer Wall, of which little remains today. This is why I'm using "anti-Catholic Robinson" as the source. Interestingly, the salient problems lay along the strongest point-the Land Walls. After 12 days of bombardment, several breaches in the walls appeared, but the soldiers who stormed the weakened walls were thrown back with … τεῖχος Ἀναστασιακόν, teichos Anastasiakon) or Long Wall (μακρὸν τεῖχος, makron teichos, or μεγάλη Σοῦδα, megalē Souda), built in the mid-5th century as an outer defence to Constantinople, some 65 km westwards of the city. Access to both terraces was possible through posterns on the sides of the walls' towers. The Byzantine chroniclers provide more names than the number of the gates, the original Greek names fell mostly out of use during the Ottoman period, and literary and archaeological sources provide often contradictory information. The Gate was used for triumphal entries until the Komnenian period; thereafter, the only such occasion was the entry of Michael VIII Palaiologos into the city on 15 August 1261, after its reconquest from the Latins. In fact, the very first walls were built long before his reign, and had already undergone repairs using tombstones as early as 340 BC. [206] After the sack of the city in 1204, Galata became a Venetian quarter, and later a Genoese extraterritorial colony, effectively outside Byzantine control. During 324–336 the city was thoroughly rebuilt and inaugurated on 11 May 330 under the name of "Second Rome". The Balat Kapı has been variously identified as one of them, and as one of the three gates on the Golden Horn known as the Imperial Gate (Πύλη Βασιλικὴ, Pylē Basilikē). Securely anchored on both ends, with its length guarded by Byzantine warships at anchor in the harbor, the great chain was a formidable obstacle and a vital element of the city’s defenses. The Hundred Years’ War witnessed the emergence of this weapon as the decisive instrument of war on land. Van Millingen identifies this gate with the early Byzantine Gate of Melantias (Πόρτα Μελαντιάδος),[89] but more recent scholars have proposed the identification of the latter with one of the gates of the city's original Constantinian Wall (see above). Although the original city of Byzantium certainly had sea walls, traces of which survive,[139] the exact date for the construction of the medieval walls is a matter of debate. Constantine went to a hero’s death, struck down in the final melee near the great breach. [12], Already by the early 5th century, Constantinople had expanded outside the Constantinian Wall in the extramural area known as the Exokionion or Exakionion. They included a moat, a 27-foot outer wall and a massive inner wall that was 40 feet tall and 15 feet thick. [207] After the Ottoman conquest, the walls were maintained until the 1870s, when most were demolished to facilitate the expansion of the city. That view is disputed by Janin, as the junction of the walls occurred considerably to the west from the modern gate's location. Although Urban’s monster cannon exploded on its fourth round, killing its builder and many of the crew, the Turks discovered a more effective technique for employing their artillery. [123] The Komnenian wall lacks a moat, since the difficult terrain of the area makes it unnecessary. The walls were partly destroyed in 447 by a brutal earthquake, which was worrying given the rampage the Huns were on at the time. Undoubtedly, Constantinople’s finest hour came when it turned back a series of determined Arab attacks during the initial period of Islamic expansion. Pyrgos Basileiou kai Kōnstantinou) on the Propontis coast to the area of the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Tr. In Asia Minor, their role was mirrored by the cities of Nicaea and Nicomedia, and the large field camp at Malagina. Furthermore, a large force was largely unnecessary, because of the inherent security provided by the city walls themselves. Far from serving as a deterrent, Constantinople’s formidable reputation seemed to attract enemies. [80] Its name derives from the fact that it led to a wooden circus (amphitheatre) outside the walls. [165] The next gate is that of Eis Pegas (Πύλη εἰς Πηγάς, Pylē eis Pēgas), known by Latin chroniclers as Porta Puteae or Porta del Pozzo, modern Cibali Kapısı. The name that eventually prevailed in common usage however was Constantinople, the "City of Constantine" (Gk. The gate is flanked by large square towers, which form the 9th and 10th towers of the inner Theodosian wall. In close proximity was the 4th-century Tower of Eugenius or Kentenarion, where the great chain that closed the entrance to the Golden Horn was kept and suspended from. [27], The double Theodosian Walls (Greek: τεῖχος Θεοδοσιακόν, teichos Theodosiakon), located about 2 km to the west of the old Constantinian Wall, were erected during the reign of Emperor Theodosius II (r. 408–450), after whom they were named. There an enemy had to attack a linear obstacle of four belts, each ascending above the other, with a depth of some 200 feet. The gate arch was replaced in the Ottoman period. The first and greatest of these is the 56 km long Anastasian Wall (Greek Anastaseio Teichos), built in the mid-5th century as an outer defense to Constantinople, some 65 km westwards of the city. Κωνσταντινούπολις, Konstantinoupolis). Many more perished of disease and cold in dire encampments before the Land Walls. The walls were located to the west of the first wall. And all begin to leap out of the ships and transports and galleys, helter-skelter, each as best he can; and they break in some three of the gates and enter in; and they draw the horses out of the transports; and the knights mount and ride straight to the quarters of the Emperor Mourtzouphlos.’. Climbing the slope of the Sixth Hill, the wall then rises up to the Gate of Charisius or Gate of Adrianople, at some 76 m height. [145], During the early centuries of its existence, Constantinople faced few naval threats. 337–361). The deal was struck and on July 17, 1203, the Crusaders attacked Constantinople by land and sea. Constantinople is almost surrounded by water, except on its side facing Europe where walls were built. It is very likely that these two names refer to the same gate, probably named after an otherwise unknown rector Bonus, and located somewhere in the modern Sirkeci district. [146][147] Michael II (r. 820–829) initiated a wide-scale reconstruction, eventually completed by his successor Theophilos (r. 829–842), which increased their height. A knight, grasping for balance moving down a narrow platform high above a ship rolling at anchor, then lifting himself over the parapet, all while evading the arrows, cuts and thrusts of the defenders, was at the mercy of his circumstances. As for his enemies, as soon as he reached the walls of the Constantinople, he ordered the call of Azan for Jum`a and commenced prayer. Between seven and eleven bands of brick, approximately 40 cm thick, traverse the structure, not only as a form of decoration, but also strengthening the cohesion of the structure by bonding the stone façade with the mortar core, and increasing endurance to earthquakes. The complete walls stretched 3 ½ miles from the southern coast to the growing neighborhood of Blachernae on the northwest coast of the city. Another major siege was instigated by the usurper T… The Hungarian went about his work with equal enthusiasm, promising the sultan that ‘the stone discharged from my cannon would reduce to dust not only those walls, but even the walls of Babylon.’ The resultant cannon was titanic, requiring 60 oxen and 200 soldiers to haul it across Thrace from the foundry at Adrianople. [48], The weakest section of the wall was the so-called Mesoteichion (Μεσοτείχιον, "Middle Wall"). [114] Generally they are about 12–15 meters in height, thicker than the Theodosian Walls and with more closely spaced towers. A small gate of the western end of the fort's inner wall, near the Phanarion Gate, led to the city, and was called the Gate of Diplophanarion. [47] In the sections north of the Gate of St. Romanus, the steepness of the slopes of the Lycus valley made the construction maintenance of the moat problematic; it is probable therefore that the moat ended at the Gate of St. Romanus, and did not resume until after the Gate of Adrianople. [185] The next gate is now known as the Demirkapı ("Iron Gate"), and is an Ottoman-era structure. A few managed to escape aboard the Christian ships; most of the rest, including 90 percent of the populace, were sold into slavery. Bonus knew that the walls could be held long, so long … After the capture of the city, Mehmed had the walls repaired in short order among other massive public works projects, and they were kept in repair during the first centuries of Ottoman rule. [10][11] Only the approximate course of the wall is known: it began at the Church of St. Anthony at the Golden Horn, near the modern Atatürk Bridge, ran southwest and then southwards, passed east of the great open cisterns of Mocius and of Aspar, and ended near the Church of the Theotokos of the Rhabdos on the Propontis coast, somewhere between the later sea gates of St. Aemilianus and Psamathos. One can only wonder of the consequences for Europe and Christendom had Muslims armies marched unchecked into Thrace in the late 7th or early 8th centuries. Consequently, Schneider transferred the identity of the Heraclian Wall on the short stretch of sea wall directly attached to it to its east, which displays a distinct architecture. The first and greatest of these is the 56 km long Anastasian Wall (Gk. In exchange for overthrowing the usurper, Alexius promised 200,000 marks, generous trade concessions and troops for the coming campaign. Πύλη τῆς Συλημβρίας), appeared in Byzantine sources shortly before 1453. 820–829). According to Geoffrey of Villehardouin, it was for this reason that the Fourth Crusade did not attack the city from this side. [103] If this theory is correct, the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, died in the vicinity of this gate during the final assault of 29 May 1453. Later historians, like van Millingen[110] and Steven Runciman[111] have accepted this theory as well. The Galata Tower, then called Christea Turris ("Tower of Christ"), and another stretch of walls to its north were built in 1349. Subterranean passages run from many of those points back toward the city-avenues that presumably provided the defending troops with secure movement to and from a threatened area. Modern scholars are not in agreement over the extent of this portion of the wall, which has been variously defined from as narrowly as the stretch between the Gate of St. Romanus and the Fifth Military Gate (A.M. Schneider) to as broad as from the Gate of Rhegion to the Fifth Military Gate (B. Tsangadas) or from the Gate of St. Romanus to the Gate of Adrianople (A. van Millingen). This wall was then extended to the south by Michael II (r. [15] Only traces of the wall appear to have survived in later ages, although Van Millingen states that some parts survived in the region of the İsakapı until the early 19th century. It is probably of later date, and of markedly inferior quality than the Komnenian wall, being less thick and with smaller stones and brick tiles utilized in its construction. The advent of gunpowder siege cannons rendered the fortifications vulnerable, but cannon technology was not sufficiently advanced to capture the city on its own, and the walls could be repaired between reloading. It was ent… [174], To the east of the Perama Gate was the Hikanatissa Gate (Πόρτα τῆς Ἱκανατίσσης, Porta tēs Hikanatissēs), a name perhaps derived from the imperial tagma of the Hikanatoi. [87] It lies between the heptagonal towers 35 and 36, which were extensively rebuilt in later Byzantine times: its southern tower bears an inscription dated to 1439 commemorating repairs carried out under John VIII Palaiologos. To the north the Golden Horn, an inlet that bordered the peninsula, was a natural anchorage and harbor. The Walls of Blachernae connect the Theodosian Walls, which terminate at the height of the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus (Turkish: Tekfur Sarayı), with the sea wall at the Golden Horn. Cyril Mango identifies it with the Old Golden Gate;[20] van Millingen places it on the Seventh Hill, at a height probably corresponding to one of the later gates of the Theodosian Wall in that area;[19] and Raymond Janin places it further north, across the Lycus and near the point where the river passed under the wall. The Land Walls were anchored at both extremities by two great fortresses. The wall stretches for 220 m, beginning at an almost right angle from the line of the Theodosian Walls, going westward up to the third tower and then turning sharply north. [31], Throughout their history, the walls were damaged by earthquakes and floods of the Lycus river. [125] It is usually, but not conclusively, identified with the Byzantine Kaligaria Gate (πόρτα ἐν τοῖς Καλιγαρίοις, porta en tois Kaligariois), the "Gate of the Bootmakers' Quarter" (cf. [98], The Fifth Military Gate (Πόρτα τοῦ Πέμπτου) lies immediately to the north of the Lycus stream, between towers 77 and 78, and is named after the quarter of the Pempton ("the Fifth") around the Lycus. If the ultimate outcome of the siege of Constantinople was ever in doubt, Mehmet’s solving the problem of the barrier chain made it inevitable. [94], The so-called Fourth Military Gate stands between towers 59 and 60, and is currently walled up. [140] The first known reference to their construction comes in 439, when the urban prefect Cyrus of Panopolis (in sources often confused with the praetorian prefect Constantine) was ordered to repair the city walls and complete them on the seaward side. Ben Crenshaw, pro golfer; nicknamed "Gentle Ben," he won the Masters Tournament in 1984 and 1995. Finally, the construction of the Sea Walls as a single-wall circuit reflected a reliance on natural obstacles and a navy. Not only did it save the Byzantine Empire from the same fate as Sassanid Persia, but spared a fractured and chaotic Europe from Muslim invasion for another eight centuries. The Turks attacked three hours before dawn, concentrating their effort on the Mesoteichion and the western half of the Sea Walls along the Horn. A restored section of the fortifications that protected Constantinople. The ‘Queen of Cities,’ she was a magnet for pilgrim, trader, and conqueror alike. [13] The wall survived during much of the Byzantine period, even though it was replaced by the Theodosian Walls as the city's primary defense. The strongest construction faced west, against an approach by land. Anthemius, as prefect of the East, was the head of state for six years during the minority of Theodosius and it was he who conceived and carried out a massive and defining expansion of the city defenses. 713–715). [121] It is an architecturally excellent fortification, consisting of a series of arches closed on their outer face, built with masonry larger than usual and thicker than the Theodosian Walls, measuring some 5 m at the top. Map of Constantinople (1422) by Florentine cartographer Cristoforo Buondelmonti is the oldest surviving map of the city, and the only one that predates the Turkish conquest of the city in 1453 (Public Domain) Once the army arrived outside the walls of Constantinople, much of the smaller artillery likely accompanied the main force. Benefiting from a power vacuum in the region, the Arabs made stunning advances. In addition, a number of them have proper names, and the established sequence of numbering them, based on their perceived correspondence with the names of certain city quarters lying between the Constantinian and Theodosian walls which have numerical origins, has been shown to be erroneous: for instance, the Deuteron, the "Second" quarter, was not located in the southwest behind the Gate of the Deuteron or "Second Military Gate" as would be expected, but in the northwestern part of the city.[52]. Situated on a steep slope, they lacked a moat, except on their lower end towards the Golden Horn, where Emperor John VI Kantakouzenos had dug one. Its interior was usually divided by a floor into two chambers, which did not communicate with each other. 404/405, in the reign of Emperor Arcadius (r. 395–408). Indeed, in the words of the Cambridge Ancient History, they were "perhaps the most successful and influential city walls ever built – they allowed the city and its emperors to survive and thrive for more than a millennium, against all strategic logic, on the edge of [an] extremely unstable and dangerous world...".[113]. Central portal, the Byzantine were regarded with contempt by many names, the gate. [ ]... For medieval fortifications, it was for this reason that the first how long were the walls of constantinople greatest of is! Made of lime and crushed bricks a hero ’ s fortifications would prove their undoing Europe also shelter! Belts were constructed at a tiered elevation, starting at 30 feet high had... Men arrived outside the walls were less elaborate, they were, well-manned! Appeared in Byzantine times Constantinople because emperor Constantine embraced this … from the LECTURE SERIES Turning! 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