Constantinople

"Many generations of men have ruled the city. But they have never subdued her. She always bounces back."

―Yusuf Tazim regarding Constantinople.

Constantinople (from Byzantine Greek: Konstantinoupolis; Latin: Constantinopolis or Byzantium; Turkish: Kostantiniyye or İstanbul) was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and, following the city's conquest in 1453, became the Ottoman Empire's capital in 1458.

The only pan-continental city in the world; during the Renaissance, it was Europe's largest and wealthiest city, consisting of four distinct districts; Constantine, Bayezid, Imperial, and Galata.

History

In 1204, the city was visited by the Mentor of the Levantine Assassins, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad, who had hopes of introducing the Assassin Brotherhood to the city. However, civil disobedience and mass riots, followed by the arrival of European Crusaders who sacked the city, forced him to retreat.

In 1258, Niccolò and Maffeo Polo established an Assassins' Guild in Constantinople, after returning from the Assassin fortress of Masyaf, soon forming the Order's Turkish branch. They hid the five Masyaf Keys given to them by Altaïr in the Yerebatan Cistern, which could be entered by a secret door in Polo's old trading post; the Maiden's Tower; and beneath the Forum of the Ox, Galata Tower and what would become Topkapı Palace.

During the Renaissance, at some point between 1501 and 1507, the Doge of Venice, along with Sultan Bayezid II, sought to ally their considerable naval powers through a free trade treaty. However, the Templars were wary of any peace between the two, and became intent on interfering with their alliance. The Borgia family dispatched a force of mercenaries to disrupt the agreement, but they were quickly intercepted by members of the Italian Assassins, who set their ship aflame before they could depart.

By 1509, the Templars had began to relocate themselves to Constantinople due to their defeat in Italy and the disruption of their activities throughout Western Europe. The Templars formed a faction known as the Stewards of Byzantium and attempted to seize control of the city in the wake of Bayezid's absence, due to his civil war with his son Selim.

During this year, an earthquake uncovered one of the Masyaf Keys hidden beneath Topkapı Palace. Two years later, after traveling to Masyaf to research his Assassin heritage, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, Mentor of the Italian Assassins, arrived in Constantinople to retrieve the other Keys before the Templars. His leadership enabled the Assassins to reclaim their dens from the Byzantines and liberated most of the shops from their control, much as he had in Rome, as well as training several Assassins to the rank of Master Assassin through the assassination of key Templar agents. However, when Selim took control of the throne, he banished Ezio from Constantinople, though allowed him one final visit to the city to sort out his affairs, by request of his son Suleiman.

Trivialidades

• Bernardo Baroncelli , uno de los conspiradores Pazzi , huyó a Constantinopla tras el fallido intento de hacerse cargo de Florencia .
• En Assassins Creed: Revelations , la ciudad era un poco más pequeña que la de Roma estaba en Assassins Creed: La Hermandad , pero tenía más edificios, y fue más densamente poblada.
• Alexandre Amancio , el director creativo del Assassins Creed serie , declaró en el E3 que Constantinopla es una "metáfora muy cool para la reunión de Ezio Altaïr", citando el hecho de que la mitad de Constantinopla estaba en Europa, y el otro en Asia.
• También se dijo por Darby McDevitt que Constantinopla sería una reunión significativa de Ezio y Altaïr como la ciudad en sí era antes bajo Christiancontrol, entonces Muslim, que se adapte Altaïr y Ezio ya que el primero provenían de una cultura musulmana en Siria y el segundo procedían de un Cristiano Italia.
• Constantinopla fue originalmente destinado a ser incluido en Assassins Creed . ^{[citation needed]}
• En Assassins Creed: Revelations , sólo es posible explorar la sección de la ciudad dentro de la Constantinian Wallsy Galata. El resto de la ciudad, que es totalmente inaccesible, puede ser visto desde lugares elevados, como encima de la torre de Gálata y los minaretes de la Fatih Camii .

Gallery

Concept artScreenshots

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  Concept art of Constantinople
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  Artwork from Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy
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  The port of Constantinople
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  Concept art of Constantinople's port
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  Rich district of Constantinople concept art by Olivier Martin
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  Ezio walking towards the Hagia Sophia
• Constantinople port concept art
  Constantinople port concept art
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  Ezio walking in Constantinople
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  Constantinople rooftops concept by Donglu Yu
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  Constantinople as seen from the Bosphorus
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  Map of the city

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  Constantinople at night
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  Ezio surveying Constantinople
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  Arcadia district of Constantinople
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  Constantinople’s poor district
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  Poor district of Constantinople
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