Constantinople is a unique city in many respects. This is the only city in the world, located at once in Europe and Asia, and one of the few modern cities, whose age is approaching three millennia. Finally, this is a city that has changed four civilizations and the same number of names in its history.
First settlement and provincial period
Around 680 B.C. Greek settlers appeared on the Bosphorus. On the Asian coast of the strait, they founded the colony of Chalcedon (now it is a district of Istanbul, which is called "Kadikoy"). Three decades later, the town of Byzantium grew up opposite it. According to legend, it was founded by a certain Byzant from Megara, who was given vague advice by the Delphic oracle "to settle opposite the blind." According to Byzant, the inhabitants of Chalcedon were these blind people, since they chose the distant Asian hills for settlement, and not the cozy triangle of European land located opposite.
Located at the crossroads of trade routes, Byzantium was a tasty prey for the conquerors. For several centuries, the city has changed many owners - Persians, Athenians, Spartans, Macedonians. In 74 B.C. Rome laid its iron hand on Byzantium. For the city on the Bosphorus, a long period of peace and prosperity began. But in 193, during the next battle for the imperial throne, the inhabitants of Byzantium made a fatal mistake. They swore allegiance to one applicant, and the strongest turned out to be another - Septimius Severus. Moreover, Byzantium also persisted in its non-recognition of the new emperor. For three years the army of Septimius Severus stood under the walls of Byzantium, until hunger forced the besieged to surrender. The enraged emperor ordered the city to be razed to the ground. However, the inhabitants soon returned to their native ruins, as if foreseeing that a bright future lay ahead for their city.
Imperial capital
Let us say a few words about the man who gave Constantinople its name.
Constantine the Great dedicates Constantinople to the Theotokos. Mosaic
Emperor Constantine was already called “The Great” during his lifetime, although he did not differ in high morality. This, however, is not surprising, because his whole life was spent in a fierce struggle for power. He participated in several civil wars, during which he executed his son from his first marriage, Crispus, and his second wife, Fausta. But some of his state deeds are really worthy of the title "Great". It is no coincidence that the descendants did not spare marble, erecting gigantic monuments to it. A fragment of one such statue is kept in the Museum of Rome. The height of her head is two and a half meters.
In 324, Constantine decided to move the seat of government from Rome to the East. At first, he tried on Serdika (now Sofia) and other cities, but in the end he chose Byzantium. The borders of his new capital Constantine personally drew on the ground with a spear. Until now, in Istanbul, you can walk along the remains of the ancient fortress wall erected along this line.
In just six years, a huge city grew up on the site of the provincial Byzantium. It was decorated with magnificent palaces and temples, aqueducts and wide streets with rich houses of the nobility. The new capital of the empire for a long time bore the proud name of "New Rome". And only a century later Byzantium- New Rome was renamed Constantinople, "the city of Constantine".
Capital symbols
Constantinople is a city of secret meanings. Local guides will definitely show you the two main attractions of the ancient capital of Byzantium - Hagia Sophia and the Golden Gate. But not everyone will explain their secret meaning. Meanwhile, these buildings appeared in Constantinople by no means by chance.
The Cathedral of St. Sophia and the Golden Gate vividly embodied medieval ideas about the wandering City, especially popular in the Orthodox East. It was believed that after ancient Jerusalem lost its providential role in the salvation of mankind, the sacred capital of the world moved to Constantinople. Now it was no longer the “old” Jerusalem, but the first Christian capital that personified the City of God, which was destined to stand until the end of time, and after the Last Judgment become the abode of the righteous.
Reconstruction of the original view of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople
In the first half of the 6th century, under Emperor Justinian I, the urban structure of Constantinople was brought into line with this idea. In the center of the Byzantine capital, the grandiose Cathedral of Sophia the Wisdom of God was built, surpassing its Old Testament prototype - the Jerusalem temple of the Lord. At the same time, the front Golden Gates decorated the city wall. It was assumed that at the end of time, Christ would enter the God-chosen city through them in order to complete the history of mankind, just as he once entered the Golden Gate of the “old” Jerusalem to show people the way of salvation.
Golden Gate in Constantinople. Reconstruction. |
It was the symbolism of the City of God that saved Constantinople from total ruin in 1453. Turkish Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror ordered not to touch Christian shrines. However, he tried to destroy their former meaning. Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque, and the Golden Gate was walled up and rebuilt (as in Jerusalem). Later among the Christian inhabitants Ottoman Empire a belief arose that the Russians would free the Christians from the yoke of the infidels and enter Constantinople through the Golden Gate. The very ones to which Prince Oleg once nailed his scarlet shield. Well, let's wait and see. |
The Byzantine Empire, and with it Constantinople, reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Justinian I, who was in power from 527 to 565.
Bird's eye view of Constantinople in the Byzantine era (reconstruction)
Justinian is one of the brightest, and at the same time controversial figures on the Byzantine throne. A smart, powerful and energetic ruler, a tireless worker, the initiator of many reforms, he devoted his whole life to the implementation of his cherished idea of reviving the former might of the Roman Empire. Under him, the population of Constantinople reached half a million people, the city was decorated with masterpieces of church and secular architecture. But under the mask of generosity, simplicity and external accessibility, a merciless, two-faced and deeply insidious nature was hidden. Justinian drowned in blood popular uprisings, brutally persecuted heretics, cracked down on the recalcitrant senatorial aristocracy. Justinian's faithful assistant was his wife Empress Theodora. In her youth, she was a circus actress and courtesan, but, thanks to her rare beauty and extraordinary charm, she became an empress.
Justinian and Theodora. Mosaic
According to church tradition, Justinian was half Slavic by birth. Before his accession to the throne, he allegedly bore the name of the Administration, and his mother was called the Fugitive. His homeland was the village of Verdyane near the Bulgarian Sofia.
Ironically, it was during the reign of the Administration-Justinian that Constantinople was invaded by the Slavs for the first time. In 558, their detachments appeared in the immediate vicinity of the Byzantine capital. In the city at that time there was only a foot guard under the command of the famous commander Belisarius. To hide the small number of his garrison, Belisarius ordered to drag felled trees behind the battle lines. Thick dust arose, which the wind carried towards the besiegers. The trick worked. Believing that a large army was moving towards them, the Slavs retreated without a fight. However, later Constantinople had to see the Slavic squads under its walls more than once.
Home of sports fans
The Byzantine capital often suffered from pogroms of sports fans, as it happens with modern European cities.
IN Everyday life Constantinopolitans played an unusually large role in bright mass spectacles, especially horse races. The passionate commitment of the townspeople to this entertainment gave rise to the formation of sports organizations. There were four of them: Levki (white), Rusii (red), Prasin (green) and Veneti (blue). They differed in the color of the clothes of the drivers of the equestrian quadrigas participating in the competitions at the hippodrome. Conscious of their strength, the fans of Constantinople demanded various concessions from the government, and from time to time staged real revolutions in the city.
Hippodrome. Constantinople. Around 1350
The palace began to panic. The legitimate emperor Justinian I, in desperation, intended to flee the capital. However, his wife Empress Theodora, having appeared at a meeting of the imperial council, declared that she preferred death to the loss of power. “The royal purple is a beautiful shroud,” she said. Justinian, ashamed of his cowardice, launched an offensive against the rebels. His commanders, Belisarius and Mund, having taken the lead of a large detachment of barbarian mercenaries, suddenly attacked the rebels in the circus and killed everyone. After the massacre, 35 thousand corpses were removed from the arena. Hypatius was publicly executed.
In a word, now you see that our fans, compared to their distant predecessors, are just meek lambs.
Capital menageries
Every self-respecting capital seeks to acquire its own zoo. Constantinople was no exception here. The city had a luxurious menagerie - the pride and care of the Byzantine emperors. About the animals that lived in the East, European monarchs knew only by hearsay. For example, giraffes in Europe have long been considered a cross between a camel and a leopard. It was believed that from one giraffe inherited a common appearance, and from the other - coloring.
However, the fairy tale paled in comparison with real miracles. So, in the Great Imperial Palace in Constantinople there was a chamber of Magnavra. There was a whole mechanical menagerie here. The ambassadors of the European sovereigns, who attended the imperial reception, were amazed by what they saw. For example, here is what Liutprand, the ambassador of the Italian king Berengar, told in 949:
“In front of the throne of the emperor stood a copper but gilded tree, the branches of which were filled with various kinds of birds, made of bronze and also gilded. The birds each uttered their own special melody, and the emperor's seat was arranged so skillfully that at first it seemed low, almost at ground level, then somewhat higher, and finally hanging in the air. The colossal throne was surrounded, in the form of guards, copper or wooden, but, in any case, gilded lions, which furiously beat their tails on the ground, opened their mouths, moved their tongues and uttered a loud roar. At my appearance, the lions roared, and the birds sang their own tune. After I, according to custom, bowed before the emperor for the third time, I raised my head and saw the emperor in completely different clothes almost at the ceiling of the hall, while I had just seen him on a throne at a small height from the ground. I could not understand how this happened: it must have been lifted up by a machine.
By the way, all these miracles were observed in 957 by Princess Olga, the first Russian visitor to Magnavra.
Golden Horn
The Golden Horn Bay of Constantinople in ancient times was of paramount importance in the defense of the city from attacks from the sea. If the enemy managed to break into the bay, the city was doomed.
Old Russian princes tried several times to attack Constantinople from the sea. But only once did the Russian army manage to penetrate the coveted bay.
In 911 prophetic Oleg led a large Russian fleet on a campaign against Constantinople. In order to prevent the Russians from landing on the shore, the Greeks blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn with a heavy chain. But Oleg outwitted the Greeks. Russian boats were placed on round wooden rolls and dragged into the bay. Then the Byzantine emperor decided that it was better to have such a person as a friend than an enemy. Oleg was offered peace and the status of an ally of the empire.
In the Straits of Constantinople, our ancestors also first experienced what we now call the superiority of advanced technology.
The Byzantine fleet at that time was far from the capital, fighting with Arab pirates in the Mediterranean. At hand, the Byzantine emperor Roman I had only a dozen and a half ships, decommissioned ashore due to dilapidation. Nevertheless, Roman decided to give battle. Siphons with "Greek fire" were installed on half-rotten vessels. It was a combustible mixture based on natural oil.
Russian boats boldly attacked the Greek squadron, the mere sight of which made them laugh. But suddenly, through the high sides of the Greek ships, fiery jets poured onto the heads of the Rus. The sea around the Russian ships seemed to suddenly flare up. Many rooks blazed at once. The Russian army instantly panicked. Everyone thought only about how to get out of this inferno as soon as possible.
The Greeks won a complete victory. Byzantine historians report that Igor managed to escape with hardly a dozen rooks.
church schism
The Ecumenical Councils, which saved the Christian Church from destructive schisms, met more than once in Constantinople. But one day there was an event of a completely different kind.
On July 15, 1054, before the start of the divine service, Cardinal Humbert entered the Hagia Sophia, accompanied by two papal legates. Going straight to the altar, he addressed the people with accusations against the Patriarch of Constantinople Michael Cerularius. At the end of the speech, Cardinal Humbert put a bull on the throne about his excommunication and left the temple. On the threshold, he symbolically shook off the dust from his feet and said: “God sees and judges!” For a minute there was complete silence in the church. Then there was a general uproar. The deacon ran after the cardinal, begging him to take the bull back. But he took away the document extended to him, and the bull fell on the pavement. She was taken to the patriarch, who ordered the publication of the papal message, and then excommunicated the papal legates themselves. The indignant crowd almost tore apart the envoys of Rome.
Generally speaking, Humbert came to Constantinople for a completely different matter. While both Rome and Byzantium were greatly annoyed by the Normans who settled in Sicily. Humbert was instructed to negotiate with the Byzantine emperor on joint action against them. But from the very beginning of the negotiations, the issue of confessional differences between the Roman and Constantinople churches came to the fore. The emperor, who was extremely interested in the military and political assistance of the West, could not calm down the raging priests. The matter, as we have seen, ended badly - after mutual excommunication, the Patriarch of Constantinople and the Pope no longer wanted to know each other.
Later, this event was called the "great schism", or "separation of the Churches" into the Western - Catholic and Eastern - Orthodox. Of course, its roots lay much deeper than the 11th century, and the disastrous consequences did not immediately affect.
Russian pilgrims
The capital of the Orthodox world - Tsargrad (Constantinople) - was well known to the Russian people. Merchants from Kyiv and other cities of Rus' came here, pilgrims going to Athos and the Holy Land stopped here. One of the districts of Constantinople - Galata - was even called the "Russian city" - so many Russian travelers lived here. One of them, a Novgorodian Dobrynya Yadreikovich, left a most interesting historical evidence of the Byzantine capital. Thanks to his "Tale of Constantinople" we know how the thousand-year-old city found itself in the crusading pogrom of 1204.
Dobrynya visited Tsargrad in the spring of 1200. He examined in detail the monasteries and temples of Constantinople with their icons, relics and relics. According to scientists, in the "Tale of Constantinople" 104 shrines of the capital of Byzantium are described, and so thoroughly and accurately, as none of the travelers of a later time described them.
The story of the miraculous phenomenon in St. Sophia Cathedral on May 21, which, as Dobrynya assures, he personally witnessed, is very curious. This is what happened that day: on Sunday, before the Liturgy, in front of the eyes of those praying, a golden altar cross with three burning lamps miraculously rose into the air by itself, and then smoothly lowered into place. The Greeks accepted this sign with jubilation, as a sign of God's mercy. But, ironically, four years later, Constantinople fell under the blows of the crusaders. This misfortune forced the Greeks to change their view of the interpretation of the miraculous sign: now they began to think that the return of the shrines to the place foreshadowed the revival of Byzantium after the fall of the crusader state. Later, there was a legend that on the eve of the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453, and also on May 21, a miracle happened again, but this time the cross with lamps forever soared into the sky, and this already marked the final fall of the Byzantine Empire.
First surrender
On Easter 1204, Constantinople was resounded only by wailing and weeping. For the first time in nine centuries, enemies — participants in the IV Crusade — were operating in the capital of Byzantium.
The call for the capture of Constantinople sounded at the end of the 12th century from the lips of Pope Innocent III. Interest in the Holy Land in the West at that time had already begun to cool. But the crusade against Orthodox schismatics was fresh. Few of the Western European sovereigns resisted the temptation to plunder the richest city in the world. Venetian ships delivered a horde of crusading thugs right under the walls of Constantinople for a good bribe.
Storming the walls of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204. Painting by Jacopo Tintoretto, 16th century |
The city was taken by storm on Monday April 13 and was subjected to an all-out robbery. The Byzantine chronicler Nikita Choniates indignantly wrote that even "Muslims are more kind and compassionate compared to these people who wear the sign of Christ on their shoulders." An innumerable number of relics and precious church utensils were taken to the West. According to historians, to this day, up to 90% of the most significant relics in the cathedrals of Italy, France and Germany are shrines taken from Constantinople. The greatest of them is the so-called Shroud of Turin: the burial shroud of Jesus Christ, on which His face was imprinted. Now it is kept in the cathedral of Italian Turin. |
In place of Byzantium, the knights created the Latin Empire and a number of other state formations.
In 1213, the papal legate closed all the churches and monasteries of Constantinople, and imprisoned the monks and priests. The Catholic clergy hatched plans for a real genocide of the Orthodox population of Byzantium. The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral, Claude Fleury, wrote that the Greeks "need to be exterminated and populate the country with Catholics."
Fortunately, these plans were not destined to come true. In 1261, Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos retook Constantinople almost without a fight, putting an end to Latin rule on Byzantine soil.
New Troy
At the end of the XIV-beginning of the XV centuries, Constantinople experienced the longest siege in its history, comparable only to the siege of Troy.
By that time, miserable scraps remained of the Byzantine Empire - Constantinople itself and the southern regions of Greece. The rest was captured by the Turkish sultan Bayezid I. But independent Constantinople stuck out like a bone in his throat, and in 1394 the Turks took the city under siege.
Emperor Manuel II turned to the strongest sovereigns of Europe for help. Some of them responded to the desperate call from Constantinople. True, only money was sent from Moscow - the Moscow princes had enough of their worries with the Golden Horde. But the Hungarian king Sigismund boldly went on a campaign against the Turks, but on September 25, 1396 he was utterly defeated in the battle of Nikopol. The French were somewhat more successful. In 1399, the commander Geoffroy Bukiko with a thousand two hundred soldiers broke into Constantinople, reinforcing its garrison.
However, the real savior of Constantinople was, oddly enough, Tamerlane. Of course, the great lame man least of all thought about how to please the Byzantine emperor. He had his own scores with Bayezid. In 1402, Tamerlane defeated Bayezid, captured him and put him in an iron cage.
Bayazid's son Sulim lifted the eight-year siege of Constantinople. At the negotiations that began after that, the Byzantine emperor managed to squeeze even more out of the situation than it could give at first glance. He demanded the return of a number of Byzantine possessions, and the Turks meekly agreed to this. Moreover, Sulim swore a vassal oath to the emperor. This was the last historical success of the Byzantine Empire - but what a success! By proxy, Manuel II regained significant territories, and provided the Byzantine Empire with another half century of existence.
A fall
In the middle of the 15th century, Constantinople was still considered the capital of the Byzantine Empire, and its last emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos, ironically bore the name of the founder of the thousand-year-old city. But those were only miserable ruins once great empire. Yes, and Constantinople itself has long lost its metropolitan splendor. Its fortifications were dilapidated, the population huddled in dilapidated houses, and only individual buildings - palaces, churches, hippodrome - reminded of its former grandeur.
Byzantine Empire in 1450
Such a city, or rather a historical ghost, on April 7, 1453, was besieged by the 150,000-strong army of the Turkish Sultan Mehmet II. 400 Turkish ships entered the Bosphorus Strait.
For the 29th time in its history, Constantinople was under siege. But never before has the danger been so great. The Turkish armada Constantine Palaiologos could oppose only 5000 soldiers of the garrison and about 3000 Venetians and Genoese who responded to the call for help.
Panorama "The Fall of Constantinople". Opened in Istanbul in 2009
The panorama depicts approximately 10 thousand participants in the battle. The total area of the canvas is 2,350 square meters. meters
with a panorama diameter of 38 meters and a height of 20 meters. Symbolically and its location:
near Cannon Gate. It was next to them that a breach was made in the wall, which decided the outcome of the assault.
However, the first attacks from the land side did not bring success to the Turks. The attempt of the Turkish fleet to break through the chain that blocked the entrance to the Golden Horn Bay also ended in failure. Then Mehmet II repeated the maneuver that once delivered to Prince Oleg the glory of the conqueror of Constantinople. By order of the Sultan, the Ottomans built a 12-kilometer portage and dragged 70 ships along it to the Golden Horn. The triumphant Mehmet invited the besieged to surrender. But they replied that they would fight to the death.
On May 27, Turkish guns opened heavy fire on the city walls, punching huge gaps in them. Two days later, the last, general assault began. After a fierce battle in the gaps, the Turks broke into the city. Constantine Palaiologos fell in battle, fighting like a simple warrior.
Official video of the panorama "The Fall of Constantinople"
Despite the destruction caused, the Turkish conquest breathed into the dying city new life. Constantinople became Istanbul, the capital of a new empire, the glorious Ottoman Porte.
Loss of capital status
For 470 years, Istanbul was the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the spiritual center of the Islamic world, since the Turkish sultan was also the caliph - the spiritual ruler of Muslims. But in the 20s of the last century, the great city lost its capital status - presumably forever.
The reason for this was the first World War, in which the dying Ottoman Empire had the stupidity to take the side of Germany. In 1918, the Turks suffered a crushing defeat from the Entente. In fact, the country lost its independence. The Treaty of Sèvres in 1920 left Turkey with only a fifth of its former territory. The Dardanelles and the Bosphorus were declared open straits and were subject to occupation along with Istanbul. The British entered the Turkish capital, while the Greek army captured the western part of Asia Minor.
However, there were forces in Turkey that did not want to accept national humiliation. The national liberation movement was led by Mustafa Kemal Pasha. In 1920, he proclaimed in Ankara the creation of a free Turkey and declared invalid the agreements signed by the Sultan. In late August-early September 1921, a major battle took place between the Kemalists and the Greeks on the Sakarya River (a hundred kilometers west of Ankara). Kemal won a landslide victory, for which he received the rank of marshal and the title of "Gazi" ("Winner"). The Entente troops were withdrawn from Istanbul, Turkey received international recognition within its current borders.
Kemal's government carried out the most important reforms of the state system. Secular power was separated from religious power, the sultanate and the caliphate were liquidated. The last Sultan Mehmed VI fled abroad. On October 29, 1923, Turkey was officially declared a secular republic. The capital of the new state was moved from Istanbul to Ankara.
The loss of capital status did not remove Istanbul from the list of great cities in the world. Today it is the largest metropolis in Europe with a population of 13.8 million people and a booming economy.
If you decide to find Constantinople on a modern geographical map, you will fail. The thing is that since 1930 the city of such a city does not exist. By decision of the new government of the Turkish Republic, founded in 1923, the city of Constantinople (the former capital of the Ottoman Empire) was renamed. Its modern name is Istanbul.
Why was Constantinople called Constantinople? The amazing history of the city has more than one millennium. During this period, it has undergone many changes, having been the capital of three empires at once: Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman. It is not surprising that he had to change names more than once. The very first name assigned to him in history is Byzantium. The modern name of Constantinople is Istanbul.
Tsargrad was perceived by Russian people as the center of Orthodoxy. Soon after the adoption of Christianity in Russian culture, a systematic sacralization (endowment with a sacred meaning) of the image of Constantinople takes place.
It is the image of Tsargrad in Russian folk tales inspired by the idea of a strange overseas country with its magic and all sorts of miracles.
The marriage of Vladimir to a Byzantine princess led to the establishment of cultural and spiritual ties with Constantinople. Tsargrad played an extremely positive role in the development of Russian society, since business and cultural contacts led to a leap in the development of icon painting, architecture, literature, art and social science.
By order of Vladimir, magnificent cathedrals were built in Kyiv, Polotsk and Novgorod, which are exact copies of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople.
At the main entrance to Vladimir and Kiev, a golden gate was installed, created by analogy with the golden gates that opened during the solemn ceremonies of the meeting of the Byzantine emperors.
Etymological note
The etymology of the word "king" is interesting. It happened on behalf of the Roman emperor Gaius Julius Caesar. The word "Caesar" became an obligatory part of the title of all the rulers of the empire: both in the early and later periods of its existence. The use of the prefix "Caesar" symbolized the succession of power that had passed to the new emperor from the legendary Julius Caesar.
In Roman culture, the concepts of "king" and "Caesar" are not identical: in the early stages of the existence of the Roman state, the king was called the word "rex", performed the duties of the high priest, justice of the peace and leader of the army. He was not endowed with unlimited power and most often represented the interests of the community that chose him as their leader.
End of the Byzantine Empire
On May 29, 1453, Sultan Mehmed II the Conqueror took Constantinople after a 53-day siege. The last Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI, having stood for a prayer service in St. Sophia Cathedral, valiantly fought in the ranks of the defenders of the city and died in battle.
The capture of Constantinople meant the end of the existence of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople became the capital of the Ottoman state and at first was called Constantine, and then was renamed Istanbul.
In Europe and Russia, the city is called Istanbul, which is a distorted form of the Turkish name.
Constantinople, Constantinople, New Rome, Second Rome, Istanbul, Istanbul - in all cases we are talking about one city that became the capital of the Roman Empire in 330, by order of the Roman Emperor Constantine I the Great. The new capital of the empire did not appear from scratch. The predecessor of Constantinople was the ancient Greek city of Byzantium, founded, according to legend, in 667 BC. Byzantium - the son of the god Poseidon. 
Constantine, who shied away from arrogant Rome, decided to move the capital of the state to the periphery. Constantinople was not a "full-fledged" European city - it is the only city on earth that is located in two parts of the world at once: Europe (5%) and Asia (95%). The city is located on the banks of the Bosporus, which is the border of the continents. The city controlled the Bosporus and trade from Europe to Asia.
By order of the first Christian emperor Constantine, large-scale construction began in the city: it expands, fortress walls are built, churches are built, works of art are brought to the city from all over the empire.
In the entire history of Constantinople, 10 Roman and 82 Byzantine emperors ruled in it, 30 Ottoman sultans. The city was besieged a total of 24 times. At its peak, the population of Constantinople reached 800 thousand people.
The city has found a new life, having increased several times. Half a century later, during the reign of Emperor Theodosius, new city walls were built - they have survived to this day. In some places, the city wall reaches 15 meters in height, and its thickness reaches 20 meters. 
The city experienced a golden age during the reign of Emperor Justenian (527 - 565). Destroyed in the fifth year of Justenian's reign during the Nika uprising, the city is rebuilt by the indefatigable emperor again - for this, the best architects of that time are involved. The burnt-out Hagia Sophia is being built again, which for more than a thousand years has become the largest Christian church on earth. The golden age of Justenian's reign was overshadowed by the plague, which in 544 claimed the lives of almost half of the inhabitants of the Byzantine capital. 
From the middle of the 7th to the 10th century, Constantinople was haunted by a series of attacks and sieges. The city is attacked by Arabs, Bulgarians, Slavs.
Tsargrad (as the Slavs called the city) experienced its second birth in the 9th century, with the advent of the Macedonian dynasty. This is facilitated by a number of victories that can be won over sworn enemies - Arabs and Bulgarians. Science and culture are experiencing an unprecedented rise. After the split in 1054 of the Christian world into Orthodox and Catholic Constantinople became the center of Orthodoxy, actively carrying out missionary activities, especially among the Slavs. 
The beginning of the decline of the city was laid by the crusader knights of the Fourth Crusade. Instead of freeing the Holy Sepulcher, they decided to profit from the treasures of the richest European city. In 1204, they treacherously captured it, plundered and burned it, massacring a large number of citizens. For more than half a century, the city became the capital of a new crusader state - the Latin Empire.
In 1261, the Byzantines liberate Constantinople, and the Palaiologos dynasty comes to power. However, the city is never destined to reach its former greatness and power. 
In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople. The Ottomans renamed the city Istanbul and made it the capital of their empire. Sultan Mehmed II built up the city with mosques, madrasahs, palaces of sultans. The Hagia Sophia was turned into a mosque by adding minarets to it.
In 1923, after the abolition of the Sultanate, Istanbul loses the status of the capital of Turkey - it is transferred to Ankara.
Istanbul is currently largest city world with a population of about 15 million people. It is the most industrialized city in Turkey. In addition, a huge number of monuments of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires are concentrated in the city.
The settlements of the first wave arose on the Bosphorus Cape about 8.6 thousand years ago, that is, even before the formation (according to the theory of the Black Sea flood, the Black and Mediterranean Seas were connected as a result of an earthquake 5-7 thousand years ago) and the flooding of part of the coast. The Thracians were the indigenous population at the beginning of the expansion of the Greek colonists. According to legend, when King Byzantus (either the son of Poseidon and Keroessa, who was born to Io from Zeus on the Golden Horn, or the son of Nisa from Megara, which sounds more realistic) asked the Delphic oracle for advice on where to establish a new colony, he ordered to build " against the blind." And in a convenient narrow deep bay of the Golden Horn with two natural harbors protected from the sea, Byzantium appeared - the predecessor of Constantinople. And by the “blinds”, it seems, they meant the founders of the neighboring Megarian colonies (Astaka, Selymbria and Chalcedon), who had not previously seen such a profitable one, despite the hostility of the Thracians and the shortage drinking water, places. As for the local inhabitants, they were subjugated and reduced to the position of agricultural slaves like the Spartan helots.
Having a strategically advantageous position between the Balkans and Anatolia and between the Black and Mediterranean Seas, the city could control trade between Europe and Asia, therefore it quickly developed and grew rich. But for the same reason, Byzantium was besieged many times, Athens and Sparta fought for it. The power of Rome from 74 BC e. provided for more than 200 years military defense city, although deprived of income from customs duties. And during civil war 193-197 the city was besieged, the destruction of all fortifications and the deprivation of all political and commercial privileges by order of Septimius Severus, since he had short-sightedly supported his opponent Pescennius Niger. After that, Byzantium was no longer able to recover and remained a seedy Roman province until the emperor Constantine (reigned in 306-337) chose this place to create his new capital (by then Rome had already ceased to be the main residence of the emperors).
The laying of the New Rome took place in the autumn of 324, and Emperor Constantine personally decided to mark its borders, which immediately after that were surrounded by an earthen rampart. The grandiose "construction of the century" began, which required the involvement of financial and human resources of the entire Roman Empire. The flow of Egyptian grain, previously destined for Rome, was redirected to New Rome. By order of the emperor, famous architects, painters and sculptors, the best masons, plasterers and carpenters were brought to Byzantium (they were released from other state duties). For decoration, Byzantium brought works of art from Rome and Athens, Corinth and Delphi, Ephesus and Antioch ... In a certain sense, continuity cultural heritage ancient Hellas, ancient rome and Byzantium was carried out through successive looting in favor of the next main center of power and influence. This time - in favor of Constantinople.
During the life of Constantine, about 30 palaces and temples, more than 4,000 houses of the nobility and thousands of houses of commoners, a new hippodrome, a circus and two theaters, many baths and bakeries and eight water pipes were built, the construction of an underground reservoir began. Constantine favored the Christian priests and founded the temple of Hagia Sophia near the main square of Augusteon, and many other churches, but did not interfere with the pagan priests who settled on the New Roman Capitol. And very great attention devoted to the development of navigation and trade: the equipment of convenient harbors, the construction of moorings, breakwaters and commercial warehouses, and an increase in the fleet. Very soon, Constantinople as a trading city surpassed the glory of Greek Byzantium.
As befits the successor of the Eternal City, Constantinople grew on seven hills. First, the earthen rampart of Constantine, then the Theodosian wall completely fenced off the cape occupied by the city on the southern coast of the Golden Horn.
The capture of the Byzantine capital by the Ottoman Turks in 1453 shocked the entire Christian world.
Less than a century after the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople, the empire was divided in 395 into Western and Eastern. The Western Roman Empire broke up into several barbarian kingdoms in 476, while the Eastern, Byzantine Empire held out for nearly a thousand more years. For a long time it was the largest, most prosperous and cultural city in Europe.
Under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (reigned 527-565), an attempt was made to restore the empire, that is, to recapture the lands of the former Western Roman Empire, and this was even partially successful, but it still failed to hold the occupied territories. The reign of Justinian went down in history not only with military victories and the development of a new Justinian code of Roman law, but also with the largest “Nick revolt” in 532 in the history of Constantinople and Byzantium in general and the first recorded case of a plague pandemic. The uprising of "Nick" began at the hippodrome during the races as a banal brawl of fans ("blue" - venets, "green" - prasins), but after the execution of the instigators, both hippodrome parties of fans united against the emperor, recalling to him both tax oppression and oppression of pagans. As a result, about 35,000 people died, many houses burned down (including the imperial palace and the first cathedral building, which immediately began to be rebuilt, bigger and more magnificent than the previous one, were badly damaged). Eyewitnesses wrote: "The empire itself seemed to be on the verge of collapse." The rebels put forward their candidacy for emperor, Justinian was ready to flee, and only miraculously, thanks to the prompt intervention of one influential courtier, who quickly bribed most of the senators, the uprising was crushed. And the "Justinian Plague" came to Constantinople along the trade routes from Ethiopia or Egypt in 541, reached its apogee by 544 and destroyed about 40% of the city's population (according to contemporaries, 5,000, sometimes up to 10,000 people died daily); the disease covered the entire territory of the civilized world and lasted, manifesting itself in separate outbreaks, until 750 BC.
The next critical moment in the history of Constantinople was its terrible sack during the IV Crusade, when a lot of cultural values, including Christian shrines, perished. Although at that time the Byzantine Empire did not fall at the hands of the Saracens, but from Christian knights sponsored by the Doge of Venice. In part, this was a punitive expedition in retaliation for the destroyed Venetian quarter and the thousands of Venetian merchants thrown into prison in Constantinople in 1171.
For the period from 1204 to 1261, Constantinople became the capital of the Latin Empire, and the Orthodox high priest was replaced by a Catholic one. After the restoration of the Palaiologos dynasty and the Byzantine Empire, the Venetian merchants in Constantinople were pressed by the Genoese. They settled on the northern bank of the Golden Horn, in the Gapat region, built a high tower and fenced themselves off with a wall. In the Middle Ages, most of the income from trade in Constantinople passed into the hands of the Genoese. Moreover, even after the fall of Constantinople and the collapse of the Byzantine Empire in 1453, enterprising Italian merchants were able to negotiate non-aggression and free trade with the Ottoman Empire.
Under the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922), Constantinople began to be called Istanbul, but it was officially renamed only in 1930 during Atatürk's reforms.
general information
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman (Byzantine), Latin and Ottoman Empires. Officially renamed to .Location: on the cape of the European coast of the Bosphorus (later areas appeared on the Asian coast).
Administrative affiliation: Il Istanbul, Turkey.
Name variations: Byzantium (before 330), New Rome (before 450 officially), Tsargrad / Constantinople (before 1930 officially), Istanbul / Istanbul (since 1453, since 1930 officially).
Status: ancient Greek colony of Byzantium from 667 BC e. before 324 AD; capital of the Roman Empire New Rome from 330 to 395; capital of the Byzantine or Eastern Roman Empire: 395-1204 and 1261-1453; capital of the Latin Empire: 1204-1261; capital of the Ottoman Empire: 1453-1922; since 1922 - the city of the Turkish Republic.
Languages: in antiquity, Greek prevailed, also Latin, Genoese and Byzantine dialects (currently Turkish).
Ethnic composition: in ancient times, Greek colonists from Megara and local Thracians, under Constantine - a multinational Hellenistic city, including large diasporas of Byzantines, Genoese and Jews (currently Turks).
Religions: the ancient Greek period - paganism, the Byzantine period - Orthodoxy, the Ottoman period - Islam.
Monetary units: Byzantine coin, solidus, ducat (modern - Turkish lira).
Numbers
Population of Constantinople: in the IV century. up to 100 thousand people; in the VI century. OK. 500 thousand peopleThe length of the Theodosian wall of the city: 5630 m (three rows).
Total length of city walls: OK. 16 km.
Number of towers on the walls: 400.
Center height: 100 m a.s.l. m.
Number of defenders of Constantinople in 1453: OK. 5 thousand people
Number of Ottomans besieging the city: from 150 to 250 thousand people. according to different sources.
Number of Ottoman ships involved in the siege: 80 military and 300 merchant ships.
Climate and weather
Mediterranean, with hot dry summers, cool rainy winters and moderate rainfall.January average temperature: +6°С.
July average temperature: +23.5°С.
Average annual rainfall: 850 mm.
Economy
A port city that controlled the passage of ships through the Bosphorus. Received a large profit from trade duties. In the Middle Ages, almost all trade was taken over by Genoese merchants. Excellent jewelers worked in the Jewish quarter, famous for their ability to process precious stones and metals.Attractions
■ city walls: the first wall was marked personally by Constantine the Great in 224; The Theodosian Walls were erected under Theodosius II from 408 to 413, the Golden Gate (front), Theodosius Arch.■ Religious buildings: Hagia Sophia (founded in 324, burned down during the "Nika uprising" in 532, rebuilt by 537, a mosque from 1453, a museum from 1935).
■ Blachernae(suburb, enclosed by a wall): Blachernae Church of the Virgin (450, fell into decay under Latin rule) with a particularly revered miraculous icon, later taken to Moscow under Nikon (kept in the Tretyakov Gallery).
■ Churches(converted into mosques or destroyed): St. Sergius and Bacchus (the so-called "Small Hagia Sophia") 527-529; Virgin Pammacarista; Christ Pantepopt; Saint Irene; Mary of Mongolia; Saint Theodosius; Peter and Mark; St. Theodora; John the Baptist in Trullo; Virgin of Kyriotissa, St. Andrew in Chris.
■ Monasteries: Almighty, Studio, Hora, Mireleion, Lipsa.
■ Genoese towers: Galata (1349) on a high hill in the Galata region.
■ Natural: Golden Horn Bay with natural harbors Prosforion and Neorion (existed in antiquity), Bosphorus.
■ Cultural-historical Roman-Byzantine period: The Great or Holy Palace was the main residence of the Byzantine emperors from 330 to 1081. It has not been preserved, the finds from the excavation site are exhibited in the Museum of Palace Mosaics. The new, or Small Blachernae, Palace is a ruined three-story palace built in Blachernae at the beginning of the reign of the Palaiologos (XI century). Hippodrome 120x450 m with a capacity of up to 100 thousand people. (begun in 203 under Septimius Severus, rebuilt in 330-334), with the obelisks of Theodosius (the ancient Egyptian obelisk of Pharaoh Thutmose III 1460 BC), the Serpent Column (from the Delphic sanctuary of Apollo, melted down from bronze shields Persians after the victory of 479 BC) and the obelisk Colossus of Constantine (X century). Gothic column (3rd or 4th century), Roman triumphal column of Constantine (330, on the site of the destroyed forum of Constantine), Marcian's column (5th century). Basilica Cistern (330s - 532, an underground reservoir with 80,000 m3 of water with an area of 145x65 m, with 336 8-meter assorted columns from ancient temples). Aqueduct of Valens (368-375, length about 1000 m, height up to 26 m).
Curious facts
■ By decree of Constantine, all settlers who bought or built a house in new capital, free grain, oil, wine and brushwood relied. This "food bonus" was issued for about half a century and played a big role in the influx of new inhabitants from among artisans, sailors and fishermen to Byzantium.■ Wishing to speed up the construction of the capital, the emperor obliged all property owners in cities on the Black Sea to acquire another house in Byzantium (only if this condition was met, property owners could bequeath their property to their heirs). Encouraging the resettlement of residents from different Roman provinces to a new place, Constantine provided them with special conditions and benefits. Many imperial dignitaries were transferred here by force (doesn't it remind you of the transfer of the capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg by Peter I?).
■ Roman historians have repeatedly noted with disapproval the Hellenes' tendency to civil strife. So, the historian Herodian, summing up his description of the strife that broke out after the victory of Septimius Severus over Pescennius Niger in the provinces of Asia Minor, wrote: , hatred for each other and the desire to destroy their own fellow tribesmen. This is an ancient disease of the Hellenes, who, constantly being in contention and striving to exterminate those who seemed to stand out from the others, destroyed Hellas. If so, then the "rebellion of Nika" only confirmed that Constantinople was an exclusively Hellenic city...
■ During the territorial expansion of the pagan Kievan Rus to the south in the second half of the 9th-10th centuries. in order to gain control over the trade route "from the Varangians to the Greeks", the Rus made several campaigns against Byzantium. In 860, the Rus, led by the Kyiv princes Askold and Dir, made the only successful raid on the capital of the empire from the sea (Tsargrad was not captured, but the Rus took away rich booty). The campaign against Tsargrad of Prince Oleg in 907 is not documented, the campaigns of Prince Igor in 941-944. ended with the signing of a peaceful military-trade treaty, the rest ended in defeat for Rus'.
■ The icon of the Blachernae Mother of God was credited with the miraculous salvation of Constantinople during the siege by the Avars in 626 (the appearance on the walls of the city of a woman in a precious dress frightened the Avars), by the Arabs in 718, by the Rus in 864 and by the Bulgarians in 926. During the siege by the Saracens in 910, the Mother of God appeared to those praying in the temple and stretched a white veil (omophorion) over Constantinople - in honor of this event, Orthodox holiday Protection of the Most Holy Theotokos.
It was the capital of the Christian empire - the successor of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. During the Middle Ages, Constantinople was the largest and richest city in Europe.
Story
Constantine the Great (306-337)
In 324, after victories in internecine wars, the emperor of the Roman Empire, Constantine the Great, unfolds in the 7th century BC. e. as a Greek colony in the city of Byzantium, the largest construction - the hippodrome was rebuilt, new palaces were built, the huge Church of the Apostles was erected, fortress walls were being built, works of art were brought to the city from all over the empire. As a result of large-scale construction, the city increases several times, and population growth increases significantly due to migration from European and Asian provinces.
Divided empire (395-527)
After the brutal suppression of the rebellion, Justinian rebuilds the capital, attracting the best architects of his time. New buildings, temples and palaces are being built, the central streets of the new city are decorated with colonnades. A special place is occupied by the construction of Hagia Sophia, which became the largest temple in the Christian world and remained so for over a thousand years - until the construction of St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome.
The "Golden Age" was not cloudless: in 544, the Plague of Justinian claimed the lives of 40% of the city's population.
The city is growing rapidly and becomes first the business center of the then world, and soon the largest city in the world. He was even called simply City.
The first mention of a Turkish toponym Istanbul ( - istanbul, local pronunciation ɯsˈtambul- ystambul) appear in Arabic, and then Turkic sources of the 10th century and come from (Greek. εἰς τὴν Πόλιν ), "istin pόlin" - "to the city" or "to the city" - is an indirect Greek name for Constantinople.
Sieges and decline
In the period from 666 to 950, the city was subjected to repeated sieges by the Arabs and Russ.
During the reign of Emperor Leo the Isaurian in -741, a period of iconoclasm begins, which will last until the middle of the 9th century, many frescoes and mosaics on religious themes are destroyed.
Heyday under the Macedonians and Komnenos
The second greatest flowering of Byzantium, and with it Constantinople, begins in the 9th century with the coming to power of the Macedonian dynasty (-). Then, simultaneously with major military victories over the main enemies - the Bulgarians (Vasily II even bore the nickname Bulgar Slayer) and Arabs, Greek-speaking culture flourishes: science (the Constantinople Higher School is being reformed - a kind of first European university, founded by Theodosius II in 425), painting (mainly frescoes and icons), literature (mainly hagiography and annals). Missionary activity is intensifying, mainly among the Slavs, as exemplified by the activities of Cyril and Methodius.
As a result of disagreements between the Pope and the Patriarch of Constantinople, a division of the Christian Church occurred in the city, and Constantinople became an Orthodox center.
Since the empire was no longer nearly as large as in the time of Justinian or Heraclius, it had no other cities comparable to Constantinople. At this time, Constantinople played a fundamental role in all areas of life in Byzantium. Since 1071, when the invasion of the Seljuk Turks began, the empire, and with it the City, again plunged into darkness.
During the reign of the Komnenos dynasty (-), Constantinople is experiencing its last heyday - however, it is no longer the same as under Justinian and the Macedonian dynasty. The city center is shifting west towards the city walls, into the current districts of Fatih and Zeyrek. New churches and a new imperial palace (Blachernae Palace) are being built.
In the 11th and 12th centuries, the Genoese and Venetians take over the commercial hegemony and settle down in Galata.
A fall
Constantinople became the capital of a new strong state, the Ottoman Empire.
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An excerpt characterizing Constantinople
It was not difficult to say "tomorrow" and maintain a tone of propriety; but to come home alone, to see sisters, brother, mother, father, confess and ask for money to which you have no right after the given word of honor, it was terrible.
Haven't slept at home yet. The youth of the Rostovs' house, having returned from the theatre, had supper, sat at the clavichord. As soon as Nikolai entered the hall, he was seized by that loving, poetic atmosphere that reigned that winter in their house and which now, after Dolokhov's proposal and Yogel's ball, seemed to thicken even more, like the air before a thunderstorm, over Sonya and Natasha. Sonya and Natasha, in the blue dresses they wore at the theatre, pretty and knowing it, were happy and smiling at the clavichord. Vera and Shinshin were playing chess in the living room. The old countess, expecting her son and husband, was playing solitaire with an old noblewoman who lived in their house. Denisov, with shining eyes and disheveled hair, was sitting with his leg thrown back at the clavichord, and clapping his short fingers on them, he took chords, and rolling his eyes, in his small, hoarse, but true voice, sang the poem he had composed "The Enchantress", to which he tried to find music.
Sorceress, tell me what power
Draws me to abandoned strings;
What kind of fire did you plant in your heart,
What delight spilled over the fingers!
He sang in a passionate voice, shining at the frightened and happy Natasha with his agate, black eyes.
- Wonderful! Great! Natasha screamed. “Another verse,” she said, not noticing Nikolai.
“They have everything the same,” thought Nikolai, looking into the living room, where he saw Vera and his mother with an old woman.
- A! here's Nikolenka! Natasha ran up to him.
- Is daddy at home? - he asked.
- I'm glad you came! - Without answering, Natasha said, - we have so much fun. Vassily Dmitritch stayed another day for me, you know?
“No, dad hasn’t arrived yet,” said Sonya.
- Coco, you have arrived, come to me, my friend! said the voice of the countess from the living room. Nikolai went up to his mother, kissed her hand, and, silently sitting down at her table, began to look at her hands, laying out the cards. Laughter and cheerful voices were heard from the hall, persuading Natasha.
“Well, all right, all right,” Denisov shouted, “now there is nothing to excuse, barcarolla is behind you, I beg you.
The Countess looked back at her silent son.
- What happened to you? Nikolai's mother asked.
“Ah, nothing,” he said, as if he was already tired of this one and the same question.
- Is daddy coming soon?
- I think.
“They have the same. They don't know anything! Where can I go? ” thought Nikolai and went back to the hall where the clavichords stood.
Sonya sat at the clavichord and played the prelude of that barcarolle that Denisov especially loved. Natasha was going to sing. Denisov looked at her with enthusiastic eyes.
Nikolai began to pace up and down the room.
“And here is the desire to make her sing? What can she sing? And there is nothing funny here, thought Nikolai.
Sonya took the first chord of the prelude.
“My God, I am lost, I am a dishonorable person. Bullet in the forehead, the only thing left, not to sing, he thought. Leave? but where to? anyway, let them sing!”
Nikolai gloomily, continuing to walk around the room, looked at Denisov and the girls, avoiding their eyes.
"Nikolenka, what's wrong with you?" asked Sonya's gaze fixed on him. She immediately saw that something had happened to him.
Nicholas turned away from her. Natasha, with her sensitivity, also instantly noticed the state of her brother. She noticed him, but she herself was so happy at that moment, she was so far from grief, sadness, reproaches, that she (as often happens with young people) deliberately deceived herself. No, I'm too happy now to spoil my fun with sympathy for someone else's grief, she felt, and said to herself:
"No, I'm sure I'm wrong, he must be as cheerful as I am." Well, Sonya, - she said and went to the very middle of the hall, where, in her opinion, the resonance was best. Raising her head, lowering her lifelessly hanging hands, as dancers do, Natasha, stepping from heel to tiptoe with an energetic movement, walked across the middle of the room and stopped.
"Here I am!" as if she were speaking, answering the enthusiastic look of Denisov, who was watching her.
“And what makes her happy! Nikolay thought, looking at his sister. And how she is not bored and not ashamed! Natasha took the first note, her throat widened, her chest straightened, her eyes took on a serious expression. She was not thinking of anyone or anything at that moment, and sounds poured out of the smile of her folded mouth, those sounds that anyone can produce at the same intervals and at the same intervals, but which leave you cold a thousand times, in make you shudder and cry for the thousand and first time.
Natasha this winter began to sing seriously for the first time, and especially because Denisov admired her singing. She sang now not like a child, there was no longer in her singing that comic, childish diligence that had been in her before; but she did not yet sing well, as all the judges who heard her said. “Not processed, but a beautiful voice, it needs to be processed,” everyone said. But they usually said this long after her voice had fallen silent. At the same time, when this unprocessed voice sounded with incorrect aspirations and with efforts of transitions, even the experts of the judge did not say anything, and only enjoyed this unprocessed voice and only wished to hear it again. There was that virginal innocence in her voice, that ignorance of her own strengths and that still unprocessed velvety, which were so combined with the shortcomings of the art of singing that it seemed impossible to change anything in this voice without spoiling it.
“What is this? Nikolai thought, hearing her voice and opening his eyes wide. - What happened to her? How does she sing today? he thought. And suddenly the whole world for him concentrated in anticipation of the next note, the next phrase, and everything in the world became divided into three tempos: “Oh mio crudele affetto… [Oh my cruel love…] One, two, three… one, two… three… one… Oh mio crudele affetto… One, two, three… one. Oh, our stupid life! Nicholas thought. All this, and misfortune, and money, and Dolokhov, and malice, and honor - all this is nonsense ... but here it is real ... Hy, Natasha, well, my dear! well, mother! ... how will she take this si? took! God bless!" - and he, without noticing that he was singing, in order to strengthen this si, took the second third of a high note. "My God! how good! Is this what I took? how happy!” he thought.
ABOUT! how this third trembled, and how something better that was in Rostov's soul was touched. And this something was independent of everything in the world, and above everything in the world. What are the losses here, and the Dolokhovs, and honestly!… Everything is nonsense! You can kill, steal and still be happy ...
For a long time Rostov had not experienced such pleasure from music as on that day. But as soon as Natasha finished her barcarolle, he remembered reality again. He left without saying anything and went downstairs to his room. A quarter of an hour later the old count, cheerful and contented, arrived from the club. Nikolai, hearing his arrival, went to him.
- Well, did you have fun? said Ilya Andreich, smiling joyfully and proudly at his son. Nikolai wanted to say yes, but he could not: he almost sobbed. The count lit his pipe and did not notice the state of his son.
"Oh, inevitably!" Nikolai thought for the first and last time. And suddenly, in the most careless tone, such that he seemed disgusting to himself, as if he was asking the carriage to go to the city, he said to his father.
- Dad, I came to you for business. I had and forgot. I need money.
"That's it," said the father, who was in a particularly cheerful spirit. “I told you that it won’t. Is it a lot?
“A lot,” said Nikolai, blushing and with a stupid, careless smile, which for a long time later he could not forgive himself. - I lost a little, that is, even a lot, a lot, 43 thousand.
- What? To whom?... You're kidding! shouted the Count, suddenly blushing apoplectically on his neck and the back of his head, as old people blush.
“I promised to pay tomorrow,” Nikolai said.
“Well!” said the old count, spreading his arms and sank helplessly on the sofa.
- What to do! Who hasn't this happened to? - said the son in a cheeky, bold tone, while in his soul he considered himself a scoundrel, a scoundrel who could not atone for his crime all his life. He would like to kiss his father's hands, on his knees to ask for his forgiveness, and he casually and even rudely said that this happens to everyone.
Count Ilya Andreich lowered his eyes on hearing these words of his son and hurried, looking for something.
“Yes, yes,” he said, “it’s hard, I’m afraid, it’s hard to get ... with anyone! yes, with whom it has not happened ... - And the count glanced at his son's face and went out of the room ... Nikolai was preparing to fight back, but did not expect this at all.
- Daddy! pa ... hemp! he shouted after him, sobbing; excuse me! And, seizing his father's hand, he pressed his lips to it and wept.
While the father was explaining himself to his son, an equally important explanation was taking place between the mother and her daughter. Natasha, excited, ran to her mother.
- Mom! ... Mom! ... he made me ...
- What did you do?
- Made an offer. Mother! Mother! she shouted. The Countess could not believe her ears. Denisov made an offer. To whom? This tiny girl Natasha, who until recently played with dolls and now still took lessons.
