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Theodosian Walls

Type Object Region Southeast Europe Time 413

Land defense wall system of Constantinople built in 413 CE, with inner and outer walls plus a moat forming three lines of defense, about 5.…

Timeline

  1. c. 408–413Constantinople · ConstantinopleThe Eastern Roman emperor Theodosius II ascended the throne as a child; the regent Anthemius oversaw construction of a new defense system extending from the inner walls. An edict of 413 marked the basic completion of the inner wall: a single wall about 12 m high and 5 m thick, with 96 towers, stretching about 5.7 km from the Golden Horn to the Sea of Marmara. After a great earthquake in 447, the inner wall was repaired and an outer wall and a moat about 20 m wide were added, forming a triple defense system.
  2. 447–1204Constantinople · ConstantinopleOver nearly a thousand years the Theodosian Walls withstood Attila the Hun (447), an Avar–Sasanian allied army (626), two great Arab sieges (674–678 and 717–718), Bulgars, Rus', and many other formidable enemies. Their triple defense line defeated every land assault, and the walls became virtually a synonym for 'impregnable,' providing the empire with nearly eight centuries of effective protection.
  3. 1453Land walls of Constantinople (Gate of St Romanus section) · ConstantinopleMehmed II assembled some 70 cannons of various types, the most deadly being the great bombard cast by Orban. From 6 April 1453 Ottoman artillery bombarded the land walls for 53 days, repeatedly blowing breaches that the Byzantine defenders (about 7,000 across the city) kept filling. On the night of 28 May the Ottomans launched a general assault; Janissary elites broke through a breach at the Gate of St Romanus, the commander Constantine XI was killed in battle, and the city fell, ending the thousand-year empire.
  4. 1453Land wall ruins, Istanbul · IstanbulUnder Ottoman rule, many sections of the walls were dismantled for building mosques and palaces, and some stretches were abandoned as having no strategic value. About 6.5 km of ruined wall survive, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985 (Historic Areas of Istanbul). Some towers, restored in the 20th century, have become major historical tourist landmarks of Turkey.

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