The walls
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.
Bibliography (5)▼
Comments (0)▼
New Comment▼