26. The City Was Massive
At its height, Constantinople was indeed a vast city, especially for its era. During the 9th and 10th centuries, it’s estimated that Constantinople had as many as 800,000 residents. Given the relatively low world population at the time, and how much less populated cities used to be, Constantinople was truly a pinnacle of civilization and one of, if not the, largest cities in the world. To put it in perspective, London, which would go on to be one of medieval Europe’s largest cities, had roughly only 40,000 residents at the time.