Walls of Constantinople, Defensive walls in Fatih, Istanbul, Turkey
The Theodosian Walls run about 7.5 km across the Fatih district of Istanbul, from the Marble Tower on the Sea of Marmara to the area of Tekfur Palace. The land line has three parts: a moat, an outer wall and a taller inner wall, with 96 towers set at roughly 50 m intervals. The inner wall and towers are built of kefeki limestone and brick.
Emperor Theodosius II commissioned the structure in the early fifth century to protect the growing metropolis from land attacks. The fortification held for over a thousand years, until Ottoman cannons breached it in 1453 and the city fell.
The name refers to Emperor Constantine the Great, who founded the city in 330 as the new capital of the Roman Empire. Along the preserved sections today, you see residential neighborhoods that press directly against the old stones, vegetable gardens between the towers, and children playing on the broad foundations.
The best sections to visit lie between Yedikule Fortress in the south and Tekfur Palace in the north, where the towers and gates remain clearly visible. A walk along the full length takes several hours, so it makes sense to choose a specific section beforehand.
A shallow moat with artificial embankments used to run in front of the outer wall line and could be flooded during attacks. Some gates still show Greek and Latin inscriptions carved into the stone, naming the construction crews or the purpose of the specific passage.
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