
THE CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE
The city of Constantinople was of great importance due to its strategically important location and religious reasons. Like his ancestors Sultan Bayezid and Sultan Murad II, conquering the city was the biggest dream of the seventh Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II. He was only 21 years old when he dared to besiege the city.
There were a lot of challenges ahead. The most difficult one was psychological barriers. The Byzantine Armies were unbeaten and Mehmed’s Army had to be the first to defeat them. The city walls were incredibly strong and there was a defensive chain across the mouth of the Golden Horn (Haliç). The Sultan had plans for all. The siege began, so did the bloody battles. The Ottoman Army hit and destroyed the city walls with the largest and best cannons of the time. However, his fleet was unable to enter the city because of the defensive chain in the waters of the Bosphorus. Then, he ordered ships to roll overland into the sea and reached the heart of the city. At the end of 53 days full of memorable, heart-stopping, emotional, anxious, difficult moments, Byzantine soldiers finally surrendered. Mehmed II was now triumphant and people call him Fatih, the Conqueror and later the city was called İstanbul.