Byzantium 1200 Graphic Reconstructions

[Ludovicus]

Byzantium 1200 is the award wining site dedicated to creating vibrant reconstructions of Constantinople prior to the year 1200 C.E.

Enjoy the following recent additions to this large website:

 

The sea walls of Constantinople:

http://www.arkeo3d.c...00/seawall.html

 

The forum of Constantine:

http://www.arkeo3d.c...00/forum-c.html

 

The Hippodrome:

http://www.arkeo3d.c...0/hipodrom.html

 

The Hagia Sophia:

http://www.arkeo3d.c...gia.html#atrium

[Late Emperor]

Wonderful pictures : the comparison with high-medieval Europe was humiliating. Byzantium was really the last remnant of the splendid greco-roman civilization: IMHO european medieval scholars visiting Costantinople felt like they were brought back in time to a golden age that they knew only through literature and ruins.

 

Criminal fourth-crusaders.

Edited November 7, 2010 by Late Emperor

[Ludovicus]

Wonderful pictures : the comparison with high-medieval Europe was humiliating. Byzantium was really the last remnant of the splendid greco-roman civilization: IMHO european medieval scholars visiting Costantinople felt like they were brought back in time to a golden age that they knew only through literature and ruins.

 

Criminal fourth-crusaders.

Glad you like the images. This website never fails to intrigue me.

And it's updated at least three times a year. The creators have done a great job recreating

the monuments as they looked when first erected.

 

Tenth century Cordoba, in Muslim ruled Spain, was possibly even more spectacular with

palaces, libraries, and advanced water systems. It was a leading cultural and scientific center with a population

of 500,000.

Edited November 8, 2010 by Ludovicus

[Late Emperor]

Tenth century Cordoba, in Muslim ruled Spain, was possibly even more spectular with it's

palaces, libraries, and advanced water systems. It was a leading cultural and scientific center with a population

of 500,000.

 

I was making the comparison with christian europe still recovering from the dark ages.

Regarding the comparison between Costantinoples (which had almost 1 million inhabitants BTW) and large medieval muslim cities like Cordoba, it seems to me that the roman taste for gigantic monumental architecture and urban organization, which survived in Byzantium, set Costantinoples apart from anything else in the medieval euro-mediterranean world.

 

The Ottomans called it "The City" (Istanbul) for a reason.

[Maladict]

Wonderful pictures : the comparison with high-medieval Europe was humiliating. Byzantium was really the last remnant of the splendid greco-roman civilization: IMHO european medieval scholars visiting Costantinople felt like they were brought back in time to a golden age that they knew only through literature and ruins.

 

Criminal fourth-crusaders.

 

Remember that Constantinople never actually looked like this, it was already well in decline by 1200.

I vaguely recall the site's author acknowledging this, but it doesn't show in the models.

[Late Emperor]

Remember that Constantinople never actually looked like this, it was already well in decline by 1200.

I vaguely recall the site's author acknowledging this, but it doesn't show in the models.

 

Hmmm, I suppose that at least until the end of the Macedonian dinasty, it wasn't in decline at all.