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The walls
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The first city walls built by Constantine the Great extended from the Sea of ​​Marmara to the Golden Horn, cutting off the peninsula from the West. This first line of defence quickly lost its usefulness, as rapid growth very soon led to the city expanding beyond the area it protected.

The new land walls built by Theodosius II and completed in 412-413 conformed to the city’s urban growth, covered a much greater area and were ranged in two lines. The inner wall was 4 metres thick and about 11 metres high, punctuated by strong towers and surrounded by sloping ground that reached down to the outer wall. There were approximately 100 square or polygonal towers every 60 or 70 metres, and battlements on three sides. The outer wall was 2 metres thick and approximately 8.5 metres high, with about 70 towers. The first line of defence, however, was a 15 to 20 metre wide outer moat . All along the wall there were alternating civilian and military gates leading to various parts of the city, the most important of which was the so-called Golden Gate, through which the emperor entered when returning victorious to celebrate the traditional triumphal parade.

The so-called Theodosian walls were the main fortification of Constantinople throughout the Byzantine period. Major additions and modification projects were carried out during the reigns of Emperors Heraclius and Leo V, mainly to repair damage from earthquakes. Heraclius also modified a small section on the northern end of the Theodosian perimeter, so as to extend the walls to include the church of Blachernai and its surroundings.

Besides land walls, the city’s seaward side was protected by walls that stretched for about 12 km along the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus and the Propontis, closely hugging the shoreline. The sea walls were part of Theodosius II’s fortification programme, and were repaired many times thereafter.  
 


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