On April 6, 1453, the siege of Constantinople began under the command of Mehmed II, an Ottoman Sultan, who was only 21 years old but was determined to see his father’s dream of capturing the Byzantine capital.
Throughout its history, the city had 36 generations, most of them failed. With trade connections, the geographical position as an intercontinental city meant that it was highly rewarded by potential invaders and served as the capital of the Roman Empire before becoming the capital of the Byzantine Empire.
Latins, Serbs, Bulgarians and sequential attacks from the Ottoman Turks and mass deaths from black death weakened the Byzantine Empire, and the population in Constantinople itself fell from 400,000 to 40,000 to 50,000 in the 12th century.
Contemporary reports show that Constantinople’s defense power consists of 12 miles of city walls and 30 to 35,000 armed civilians, compared to approximately 100 small boats next to about 100 smaller boats in the sea.
Mehmed’s strategy was to block the city from all sides and break the walls of Constantinopolis using ball. On April 6, the Ottomans began to shoot at the walls of the city, which dropped a part. The next day the attacks were pushed and the balls started again with a daily bombardment.
Access to Constantinople by sea was protected by a sea chain where Mehmed was determined to disappear. An Ottoman commander Baltaoğlu ordered the violation of the chain, but the marine fleet was driven twice, and for Constantinople, four aid ships were able to reach the city without stopping the city. It was enough to say, Baltaoğlu was removed from the order.
© Bettmann ArchiveMehmed commanded the construction of a greased wooden ramp that would allow smaller ships to jump the chain, and until April 22, the Ottomans won the sea control around the city.
The Artillery Dam continued until 29 May after 55 days of siege, and the repair efforts to the wall took place overnight, so the narrow gaps made were never violated. While Dawn was broken on the city on May 29, Mehmed launched a coordinated attack on Constantinople, sea, land and ball.
© gettyThe first attempts to reach the city were pushed, but the Ottomans won and the emperor Constantine XI was killed in the war. Mehmed went from the city to Hagia Sophia, the largest cathedral of the Christian world and turned it into a mosque.
The city was looted and looted, and the capital of the Mehmed Empire overflowed from Edirne to Constantinople.
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