Constantinople

On 12 April 1204, Crusaders breached the walls of Constantinople. They had set out to free Jerusalem. They ended up sacking the greatest Christian city in the world - and dismantling the one barrier standing between Europe and the Ottoman advance.

On 13th January 532, chariot fans burned half of Constantinople and nearly toppled the Byzantine emperor Justinian. He survived because his wife refused to run. The Hagia Sophia we visit today was built on those ashes.