Ottoman Sultan Mehmed Fatih (Conqueror) entering the city of Constantinople in 1453, by Italian painter Fausto Zonaro (1854-1929). According to contemporary historian Neshri, Mehmed went to great lengths to integrate the Byzantine Greek population and sponsored countless construction programmes across his new capital. These helped rebuild one the greatest cities of the ancient world and cemented the Ottoman Empire’s place as a great power.
233