IN A.D. 330, ROMAN EMPEROR
CONSTANTINE MOVED FROM ROME TO
MODERN DAY TURKEY.
THEY BUILT A NEW ROME, THE CITY
OF CONSTANT NOBLE.
THE CITY WAS A CAPITOL OF THE
BYZATINE EMPIRE AND CENTER OF
EASTERN ORTHODOX CHRISTIANITY.
CHRISTIANITY PERMEATED EVERY
ASPECT OF LIFE EVEN THE CHARIOT
RACES BEGAN WITH THE SINGING OF
HYMNS.
IT WAS HELD HERE IN THE CHURCH
OF THE HOLY WISDOM.
THE EMPEROR COMMISSIONED THE
CURRENT BUILDING IN A.D. 532
MAKING SURE IT WAS THE LARGEST
IN THE WORLD.
ON DEDICATION DAY, SOLOMAN,
I HAVE OUT DONE THOOE.
HE PROVIDED A STRUCTURE WHICH
IS AMAJOR LANDMARK IN THE
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE EVER
SINCE.
THE BYZATINE EMPIRE REACHED
HEIGHT IN 11TH CENTURY.
THEN LIKE ROME BEFORE IT, THE
EMPIRE COLLAPSED SLOWLY FROM
WITHIN.
IN 1204 CRUSADERS LEFT CONSTANT
NOBLE IN RUINS, IN 1437.
THE BLACK DEATH KILLED A THIRD
OF THE POPULATION.
THE BYZATINES OVERLOOKED THREAT
RISING IN THE EAST.
FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, THE
AUTOMAN TURKS HAVE BEEN GAINING
POWER AN TAKING LAND FROM THE
BYZATINES.
IN 1451, A NEW SOL TAN TOOK THE
THRONE.
ONLY 19 YEARS OLD, A DEVOUT
MUSLIM DETERMINED TO PROVE
HIMSELF R. HIS GOAL WAS TO
CONQUER THE BRIDGE BETWEEN
EUROPE AND ASIA AND MAKE
CONSTANT NOBLE HIS NEW CAPITOL.
HE WAS A FOLLOWER OF SHARIA
LAW.
IT WAS ULTIMATELY A RELIGIOUS
DRIVE WHICH URGED HIM ON TO
CONQUER THE CITY.
IN ARE SPRING OF 1493, OFFERED
HIM A CHANCE TO SURRENDER THE
CITY.
CONSTANTINE REFUSED.
I TURN NOW AND LOOK ALONE TO
GOD, I WILL CLOSE THE GATES AND
DEFEND MY PEOPLE TO THE LAST
DROP OF BLOOD.
ON APRIL 6TH, THE AUTOMANS
BEGAN -- OUTNUMBERED 10-1.
WITH EACH PASSING DAY, PANIC
GREW, SIEGE OF CONSTANT NOBLE
HAD BEGUN.
SPITE OF THE CONSTANT
ATTACK, THE BYZATINES BELIEVED
THEY WOULD WIN UNTIL THEY SAW A
SERIES OF BAD OMAN.
AN OLD BYZATINE PROPHECY SAID
LONGS THE MOON WAS IN THE SKY,
THE CITY WOULD NOT FALL.
BUT ON MAY 22ND, A LUNAR
ECLIPSE DARKENED THE MOON, THE
NEXT NIGHT BROUGHT A FURIOUS
STORM WITH THUNDER AND
LIGHTNING.
THEN A STRANGE GHOSTLY LIGHT
SURROUNDED THE DOME.
SOME WITNESSES SAID IT WAS A
SIGN OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
DEPARTING FROM THE CATHEDRAL.
AS THE TURKS CLOSED IN ON THE
CITY, HUNDREDS OF REFUGEES FLED
TO THE CHURCH FOR SAFETY.
ON MAY 28TH, PRIESTS BEGAN THE
LAST CHRISTIAN SERVICE THAT
WOULD EVER BE HELD THERE.
JUST BEFORE MIDNIGHT EMPEROR
CONSTANTINE ARRIVED.
HE SAID HIS FINAL PRAYER AND
RETURNED TO HIS POST.
WHILE THE EMPEROR PRAYED, THE
SULTAN ORDERED THE FINAL ATTACK
AND BY SUN RICE THE CITY'S
FAMOUS WALLS BREECHED.
CONSTANTINE REFUSED.
I CANNOT LEAVE THE GREAT
CHURCHES IN SUCH A PLIGHT.
WHAT WOULD THE WORLD SAY ABOUT
ME?
I AM RESOLVED TO DIE HERE WITH
YOU.
HE LED HIS MEN IN A FINAL
CHARGE AGAINST THE TURKS AND
NEVER SEEN AGAIN.
BY THE END OF THE DAY, AUTOMANS
HAD TAKEN CONSTANT NOBLE, AS A
REWARD HE GAVE HIS SOLDIERS THE
RUN OF THE CITY.
THEY HAD TO WORK HARD IN
TERMS OF THEIR PILLAGE.
THEY DID.
SOLDIERS STARTED HERE WHERE
HUNDREDS OF CHRISTIANS WERE
STILL HIDING.
THE CHURCH WHICH IS ONCE BEEN A
PLACE OF REFUGE WAS A SCENE OF
UNIMAGINABLE HORROR.
SICK AND ELDERLY KILLED ON
THE SPOT.
MOST OF THE OTHERS WERE TIED OR
CHAINED TOGETHER WHILE SOLDIERS
RAPE THE YOUNG WOMEN AND MEN.
SOME OF THE NUNS RAN AWAY
PREFERRING MAR TAR DOM TO RAPE.
MEMMITT ENTERED THE CITY.
THE ROAD THROUGH THIS GATE
AND PROCLAIMED HIMSELF THE NEW
CAESAR.
CHANGED THE NAME OF THE CITY TO
ISTANBUL.
THE NEW CAPITOL OF THE AUTOMAN
EMPIRE.
FIRST THING HE DID AFTER
CONQUERING THE CONSTANT NOBLE
WAS TO GO TO HOGS SOFIA TO
PROVE THAT ANOTHER FAITH HAD
NOW TAKEN OVER.
MEMMITT DECLARED THE
RELIGION ISLAM.
MOHAMMAD IS HIS PROPHET.
MUSLIMS ADDED 4 MINARETS TO THE
CHURCH AND COVERED THE
PRICELESS MOSAICS WITH PLASTER
ERASING 1,000 YEARS OF
CHRISTIAN HISTORY.
THE HOGS SOPHIA REMAINED THE
RELIGIOUS CENTER OF ISTANBUL
UNTIL THE AUTOMAN EMPIRE WAS
REPLACED BY THE NEW REPUBLIC OF
TURKEY.
IN 1935, MOSQUE TURNED INTO A
MUSEUM AN ORDER FROM TURKEY'S
FIRST PRESIDENT.
MU STAFF FA MU LA CAN YOU
RECOLLECT.
HE WANTED TO BRING IT
KICKING AND SECULARIZE THE
STATE.
NEW RENOVATIONS REVEAL THE
HIDDEN MOSAICS UNDER THE
PLASTER, VIRGIN AND CHILD, ARK
ANGEL, GABRIELLE.
AND CHRIST, DESIGNED TO SHOW
HIS COMPASSION FOR HUMANITY.
IN 2009, THE FACE OF THE
CATHEDRAL WAS UNVAILED TO THE
PUBLIC FOR THE FIRST TIMES IN
HUNDREDS OF YEARS, DOZENS OF
CHRISTIAN MOSAICS ARE HIDDEN BY
CALLIGRAPHY.
LOOK WHAT HAPPENED WHEN
CONSTANT NOBLE FELL.
THIS WAS THE CORK IN THE BOTTLE
OF ISLAMIC EXPANSION.
THEY WANT TO REMOVE THE CORK,
HEY, THEY ARE AFTER CONQUERING
EUROPE.
500 YEARS LATER, THE ISLAMIC
GOAL OF CONQUERING EUROPE IS
STILL ALIVE THANKS TO A WELL
KNOWN MUSLIM PROPHECY.
A PASSAGE IN THE HOLY KORAN,
INDEED THERE WILL BE AN ATTACK
ON 2 GREAT CAPITOLS, CONSTANT
NOBLE AND THE WEST.
CONSTANT NOBLE FELL IN 1453.
TODAY SOME MUSLIMS SAY IT IS
TIME TO FULFILL THE SECOND HALF
OF THE PROPHECY, NOT WITH A
SWORD BUT CONVERSION.
EXPANSIONISM HAS BEEN PART
OF ISLAM.
THEY WANT TO CONQUER THE WORLD,
AS A WITNESS, NOT JUST THE
TURKISH FLAG WITH THE CRESCENT
MOON, MEANING ISLAM WILL
CONQUER THE UNIVERSE.
THERE YOU HAVE IT ADVERTISED.
THAT IS THEIR GOAL.
