Constantinople stood as the Roman Imperial capital for over a thousand years. Many enemies tried to capture the city but failed. Its position, surrounded on three sides by water, made it highly defensible. But there’s a reason that no one in the ancient world, before Constantine, decided to set up their capital here.
The city was very short of water. To bring water from a far away the largest aqueduct in Europe had to be built. A project of astonishing scale.
This video is part of a series - 'The History of Byzantium goes to Istanbul.' In 2018 the listeners of the podcast funded a Kickstarter to send me to Istanbul. I documented many of the surviving Byzantine sites and have made videos about them.
I am now able to offer tours to Istanbul (and beyond) for listeners of the podcast. Email me if you'd like to know more (thehistoryofbyzantium at gmail.com).
Video edited by / suhlefilm
For more information about Byzantine Constantinople visit www.thebyzantinelegacy.com/. It's a fantastic website providing breakdowns of the Byzantine buildings that can still be seen today and there you'll find most of the still images and sketches used in these videos.
'The History of Byzantium' is a podcast telling the story of the Roman Empire from 476 AD to 1453. The podcast home page is here thehistoryofbyzantium.com/ and you can support the show at / historyofbyza. .
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