Constantinople - Istanbul

Two weeks since my last blog. I have been busy, working on a project in Western Anatolia, which will give me lots to blog about in the weeks ahead. It will not be a travelogue per se. There is so much to write about Turkey; so many beautiful places and so much history that it is impossible to do justice to the country on an amateur site like this. Come and see it.

A small piece of trivia for those interested in place names: When was Constantinople last the official name of Istanbul? Answer: While the western world still referred to it as Constantinople until the early 20th century, it became Istanbul on May 29, 1453 when the city fell to the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmet II. Anyone wishing to pursue the subject further should read Roger Crowley's excellent book "1453". According to Wikipedia, the city was originally named Byzantium by the Doric founders in 667 BC and became Constantinople when Constantine made it the new Eastern Capital of the Roman Empire.