Page 3 - İngilizce 10 | 3.Ünite
P. 3
LEGENDARY FIGURE THEME 3
1 C
Read the first part of the text and answer the following questions.
THE CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE
The city of Constantinople was of great importance due to its strategically important location and religious reasons.
Like his ancestors Sultan Bayezid and Sultan Murad II, conquering the city was the biggest dream of the seventh
Ottoman Sultan, Mehmed II. He was only 21 years old when he dared to besiege the city.
There were a lot of challenges ahead. The most difficult one was psychological barriers. The Byzantine Armies
were unbeaten and Mehmed’s Army had to be the first to defeat them. The city walls were incredibly strong and
there was a defensive chain across the mouth of the Golden Horn (Haliç). The Sultan had plans for all. The siege
began, so did the bloody battles. The Ottoman Army hit and destroyed the city walls with the largest and best
cannons of the time. However, his fleet was unable to enter the city because of the defensive chain in the waters
of the Bosphorus. Then, he ordered ships to roll overland into the sea and reached the heart of the city. At the
end of 53 days full of memorable, heart-stopping, emotional, anxious, difficult moments, Byzantine soldiers finally
surrendered. Mehmed II was now triumphant and people call him Fatih, the Conqueror and later the city was
called İstanbul.
1. Why was the city of Constantinople so important? ............................................................................................
2. What were the serious challenges for Mehmed II? ............................................................................................
3. How did the fleet enter the Bosphorus? ............................................................................................
4. How long did the siege last? ............................................................................................
5. Who was the winner? ............................................................................................
35