1. Land Walls

Google Slides Presentation.
(Spanish version)

For the images in the lesson click the link on the right. --->

The Theodosian Walls were built in the fifth century under the authority of the emperor Theodosius II (who reigned from 408-450). Parts of these massive walls had already been constructed by then (such as the monumental Golden Gate).
These walls defined the boundaries of the City of Constantinople throughout the medieval period. They were absolutely massive: not a single wall, but three separate walls and a moat. The largest wall was the inner wall: 15 feet thick, 40 feet above the ground, and guarded by 92 towers each over 60 feet tall (here's a drone video flying the Theodosian land walls today from north to south).

But how did citizens of and visitors to Constantinople experience these walls? The city was only rarely under seige and so in day-to-day life the walls contained the great gates through which visitors and residents poured into and out of the city.

For extra information see this Byzantine Legacy website by David Hendrix.

Here are two 3-D reconstructions of the Golden Gate (Porta Aurea)