The Fall of Constantinople

The fall of Constantinople in 1453, led by Ottoman sultan Mehmed II, had a significant impact on the world. Constantinople became the new Ottoman capital, marking a shift in power. The fall severed trade routes to the East, spurring the Age of Exploration. The Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque, and many scholars fled to Italy, helping to fuel the Renaissance. The event is widely considered the end of the Middle Ages.

I visited Constantinople (Istanbul) last year (2025). I stayed in downtown and had to enter to it through the gate in the old wall of Constantinople the photo of which I used in my quilt. From the threshold of my hotel, I could see domes and minarets of Hagia Sophia.

I used Canva to make sketches of the parts of my photos and printed them on  fabrics, ironed on sheets of freezer paper. Then I machine embroidered them and used Inktense pencils to color the domes and walls of Hagia Sophia. The background is machine quilted.

The portrait of the Sultan Mehmed II was machine embroidered. It measures 4×4 inches.