Constantinople

"Constantinople" is an Anglicization of "Κονσταντινουπολις," which means "City of Constantine" in Greek, and was given that name in reference to the Roman emperor Constantine I when he made it the capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, 330 A.D. Constantine actually named it "Nova Roma", but that name never came into common use. Rome retained its political and commercial privileges.

Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and then re-captured by Nicaean forces under the command of Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261.

Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire finally fell to the Ottoman Empire on May 29, 1453. See the Fall of Constantinople. When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital moved from Constantinople to Ankara. In Ottoman times, both the names Constantinople and Istanbul were used, although westerners invariably called the city Constantinople. Istanbul only became the official name in 1930. Istanbul is corrupted Greek "is ta poli" ("from city"). Citizens of Roman Empire casually referred to Constantinople as just "the city".

See also: Golden Horn, Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome of Constantinople, the Bosporus

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