This animated documentary series traces the dramatic rise of the Ottoman Empire, from its origins as a small Turkic beylik to its conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Covering major battles like ...

On 6 April 1453, the Siege of Constantinople began under the command of Mehmed II, an Ottoman sultan who was just 21 years ...

In 1453, the Byzantine capital of Constantinople is surrounded by Ottoman Turks. The city is but a shadow of its former glory due to the empire's ever receding coffers, while the Ottoman Empire ...

Built as Byzantium, and then renamed Constantinople, Istanbul officially received its present name on this day in 1930.