Page "Constantinople" Paragraph 65

Mehmed ’ s main concern with Constantinople had to do with rebuilding the city ’ s defenses and repopulation.

Building projects were commenced immediately after the conquest, which included the repair of the walls, construction of the citadel, and building a new palace.

Mehmed issued orders across his empire that Muslims, Christians, and Jews should resettle the city ; he demanded that five thousand households needed to be deported to Constantinople by September.

From all the Empire, war prisoners and deported people were sent to the city: these people were called " Sürgün " in Turkish ().

Two centuries later, Ottoman traveler Evliya Çelebi gave us a list of the groups which were deported in the city with the respective provenience.

Still now, many quarters of Istanbul, like Aksaray, Çarşamba, and others get their names from the town of provenience of an group.

However, many people escaped again from the city, and there were several outbreaks of plague, so that in 1459 Mehmet allowed the deported Greeks to come back to the city.

This measure apparently had no great success, since French voyager Pierre Gilles writes in the middle of 16th century that the Greek population of Constantinople was unable to mention any name of the ancient Byzantine churches transformed in mosques or abandoned.

This shows that the population substitution had been total.