# Canonical recap data for Constantinople Falls to Ottomans (1453)
# Source: https://recap.at/1453/constantinople-falls
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: constantinople-falls
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1453/constantinople-falls"
title: Constantinople Falls to Ottomans
subtitle: The final collapse of the Byzantine Empire marked the end of the medieval Mediterranean order and Ottoman ascendancy.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1453-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1453
decade: 1450
country:
name: Ottoman Empire
slug: ottoman-empire
summaryShort: The walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification syste
summaryLong: The walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city of Constantinople since its founding as the new capital of the Roman Empire by Constantine the Great. With numerous additions and modifications during their history, they were the last great fortification system of antiquity, and one of the most complex and elaborate systems ever built.
lede: On May 29, 1453, Ottoman forces under Mehmed II breached the walls of Constantinople after a 53-day siege, ending over 1,100 years of Byzantine rule. The fall marked the symbolic close of the Roman Empire and reshaped the geopolitical order of Europe and Asia Minor.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Theodosian_Walls_of_Constantinople.jpg/1280px-Theodosian_Walls_of_Constantinople.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Walls of Constantinople"
importance: 88
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Constantinople"
  title: Constantinople Walls
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- war
metaDescription: Ottoman forces breach Constantinople's walls in 1453, ending the Byzantine Empire after 1,100 years.
wikidataQid: Q89917
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260527032955/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Constantinople"
  capturedAt: 2026-05-27
  label: Constantinople Walls
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walls_of_Constantinople"
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- invasion
- occupation
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- collapse
- transformation
impactRadius: civilizational
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: death
