Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire (330 - 395), the Byzantine or East Roman Empire (395 - 1204 and 1261 - 1453), the Latin Empire (1204 - 1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453 - 1922). Strategically located between the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara at the point where Europe meets Asia, Byzantine Constantinople had been the capital of a Christian empire, successor to ancient Greece and Rome. Throughout the Middle Ages Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city, known as the Queen of Cities (Vasileuousa Polis).

Depending on the background of its rulers, it often had several different names at any given time; among the most common were Byzantium, New Rome, although this was an ecclesiastical rather than an official name, Constantinople and Stamboul.