Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Istanbul name change

That enquiry didnt take too long. The city changed its name on 29 May 1453. What is interesting to me, keeping in mind why Armenians may have this surname name is Sultan Mehmed II "the Conqueror" captured Constantinople after a 53-day siege and proclaimed that Constantinople was now the new capital of the Ottoman Empire. Sultan Mehmed's first duty was to rejuvenate the city economically, creating the Grand Bazaar and inviting the fleeing Orthodox and Catholic inhabitants to return. Captured prisoners were freed to settle in the city whilst provincial governors in Rumelia and Anatolia were ordered to send four thousand families to settle in the city, whether Muslim, Christian or Jew, to form a unique cosmopolitan society.
From Turkey

From Turkey

2 comments:

  1. Hi stephen. When did you go visit? I heard the situations is a bit harsh in that area these days. Probably the whole israel-turkey relationship being tricky. well, What can we do. Let the leaders make their own mistakes. But it's nice to see you had some good time and took amazing pictures.

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  2. Thank you Stephen for sharing such wonderful post. I went there two years ago. I must say that its very beautiful place for spending holidays. Enjoyed a lot there :)

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