Constantinople

Constantinople is the old name of the present city of Istanbul in Turkey. It was also named Byzantium both before and after being named Constantinople.

"Constantinople" means "City of Constantine" in Greek, and was given that name by the Roman emperor Constantine I when he made it the capital of the Roman Empire in 330 A.C. Romeretained its political and commercial privileges.

Constantinople was first the capital of the Roman Empire, then later of the Byzantine Empire and finally of the Ottoman Empire. When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital moved from Istanbul to Ankara. Ottoman people were calling their capital city by various names, including Constantinople. Istanbul became the official name as late as 1930. The name Istanbul comes from the greek words "stin poli" which means "at the City". That was the way the greeks used to refer to the "City of Cities", as Constantinople was known during the Byzantine era and later.