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[[File:Byz-1450.jpg|thumb|250px]] The Byzantine Empire never truly recovered from the blow dealt to it by the Crusaders.  Following the fall of the city to the Latins in 1204, the Empire was reduced to a mere shell of its former self. On May 29 1453, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, fell to the [[Ottoman Turks]] after a long cannon bombardment.  

[[File:Byz-1450.jpg|thumb|250px]] The Byzantine Empire never truly recovered from the blow dealt to it by the Crusaders.  Following the fall of the city to the Latins in 1204, the Empire was reduced to a mere shell of its former self. On May 29 1453, Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, fell to the [[Ottoman Turks]] after a long cannon bombardment.  

The Ottoman conquerors, whose original capital had been located in Sofa, now in [[Bulgaria]], renamed the city [[Istanbul]] and turned the great church of that city into a mosque.

The Ottoman conquerors, whose original capital had been located in Sofa, now in [[Bulgaria]], renamed the city [[Istanbul]] and turned Agia Sophia, the great church of that city into a mosque and later into a museum.

==Further reading==

==Further reading==