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May 29, 1453

Exactly 555 years ago an era ended, the world changed. For over a thousand years these amazing walls, built by Theodosius in 412 AD and extending 6½ km from the Sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn, kept out all invaders.

But the first, the last, and the only time they were breached was by Mehmet II’s army. Byzantium was vanquished. Christian Constantinople fell and the Islamic Ottomans rose to power.