How ISTANBUL Grew for 2,700 Years – 3D Timelapse History

Greek colonists founded it. Constantine made it the new Rome. Justinian raised a dome that still stands. Crusaders looted it, an Ottoman sultan dragged his ships over a hill to take it — and it never stopped growing. From an empty peninsula between two seas to a megacity of 16 million: Byzantion, Constantinople, Istanbul — 2,700 years of one city in 13 minutes. ⏱ Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:26 Chapter I · Byzantion 01:59 Chapter II · New Rome 03:44 Chapter III · Justinian's City 05:52 Chapter IV · The Queen of Cities 08:09 Chapter V · The Ottoman Capital 08:46 Fish under the floor 10:24 Chapter VI · Istanbul 11:55 Three names, one city 💬 Which would you rather walk through: Justinian's Constantinople, or Suleiman's Istanbul? And which city should we build next? 📚 Sources & credits Images (Wikimedia Commons): • Drachme Byzantion Rs — Hermann Junghans, CC BY-SA 3.0 de • Darius In Parse — Derfash Kaviani ( درفش کاویانی ), CC BY-SA 3.0 • Persépolis, Irán, 2016-09-24, DD 53 — Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 • 2018 Cameron Gallery - Bust of Emperor Septimius Severus (cl — Andrey Korzun, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Hippodrome of Constantinople — Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Constantine I The Great, Colossal bronze statue fragments, C — Apaleutos25, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Column of Constantine — Dmitry A. Mottl, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Agia Sophia - Theodosian vestibule stylobate (1991) — Mark Landon, CC BY 4.0 • Valens 2012 DK — Lowcarb23, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Hadrianus Bozdoğan Kemeri 4 — İncelemeelemani, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Theodosian Walls of Constantinople, Istanbul (24053561188) — Carole Raddato from FRANKFURT, Germany, CC BY-SA 2.0 • Istanbul Marble Tower end of walls leading to it 0492 — Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Istanbul Marble Tower end of walls leading to it 0499 — Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Solidus of Roman emperor Zeno — Apaleutos25, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Estimated image of Theodoric the Great in the Basilica of Sa — Ввласенко, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Istanbul Basilica Cistern 2009 — Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Cistern of Philoxenos — Bollweevil, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Basilica Cistern - Medusa head — Nan Palmero, CC BY 2.0 • Interior of Hagia Sophia (9) - Istanbul (2022) — ImanFakhri, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Trabzon Hagia Sophia Interior 4881 — Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Hagia Sophia Orthodox church in Warsaw (3) — Botev, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, Istanbul, Türkiye ( Ank Kumar, In — Ank Kumar, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Haghia Sophia Courtyard view of top structure from below in — Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Süleymaniye Mosque (8393803091) — Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0 • Siliqua of Heraclius with Constantine and Martina — CNG, CC BY-SA 2.5 • Byzantine Constantinople-en — Cplakidas, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Venice S Marco horses 02 — Mark Landon (2015), CC BY 4.0 • Saint-Sauveur-in-Chora - Pantocrator de l'ésonarthex — Eusebius, CC BY 3.0 • Galata Tower (67m.) (8396776708) — Jorge Láscar from Australia, CC BY 2.0 • Rumeli Hisari (Turkey) banner — 1. Sevtap On 2. Bjørn Christian Tørrisse, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Dardanelles Gun Turkish Bronze — Tim Sheerman-Chase, CC BY 2.0 • Minarets of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul — Bernard Gagnon, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Topkapı - 01 — Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Cisterna Basílica, Estambul, Turquía, 2024-09-28, DD 58-60 H — Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Istanbul Basilica Cistern 2009 — Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Exterior of Sultan Ahmed I Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey 002 — Moonik, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Blue Mosque Ceiling Blue Tiles — Bjørn Christian Tørrissen, CC BY-SA 3.0 • Estación de Sirkeci, Estambul, Turquía, 2024-09-28, DD 76-78 — Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0 • 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü — g, CC BY-SA 4.0 • Istanbul Military Museum Chain of Golden Horn in 2006 04 184 — Dosseman, CC BY-SA 4.0 36 public-domain / CC0 works — full list with links in the pinned comment. ℹ️ Reconstructions, narration, music and sound effects are AI-assisted. Archival photos, paintings, engravings and maps are credited above. Population figures for ancient and medieval periods are estimates. #Istanbul #Constantinople #History