Timeline Wednesday 6 April 1453

Events on Wednesday 6 April 1453 2

• 1453 The 53-day siege -- 6 April to 29 May 1453 The siege of Constantinople lasts 53 days. The defenders number approximately 7,000 -- 5,000 Byzantines and 2,000 Genoese under Giovanni Giustiniani Longo -- against an Ottoman army perhaps fifteen times larger. Urban's cannon batters the Theodosian Walls daily; the defenders repair them each night. Mehmed transports 70 ships overland on greased logs around Galata into the Golden Horn (22 April) -- one of the greatest logistical feats in military history. On the night of 28-29 May, the final assault overwhelms the exhausted defenders after Giustiniani is wounded. Constantine XI dies on the walls. The Ottoman Empire inherits Byzantium.
• 1453 The siege -- 53 days The siege of Constantinople (6 April - 29 May 1453) lasts 53 days. The defenders number approximately 7,000 -- 5,000 Byzantines and 2,000 Genoese and Venetian volunteers under the Genoese captain Giovanni Giustiniani Longo. The Ottoman cannon batter the walls daily; the defenders repair them each night. Mehmed transports 70 ships overland on greased logs around the Genoese colony of Galata to enter the Golden Horn (22 April) -- one of the most audacious logistical feats in military history. The defenders hold for 53 days against odds of perhaps 15 to 1. They are the last Romans.