For more than 1,000 years, Constantinople was the heart of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. It was a beautiful, rich city. There were great buildings and valuable art.
The Mese was the main street. Mese is the Greek word for “middle.” If we could go back in time and walk down the Mese, what would we see?
The street is more than 80 feet wide. That’s wide enough for victory parades. These happen when an emperor comes home with his army after winning battles. Shops line the street. The sellers and buyers come from many lands and speak many languages. If you stop to listen, most people use the common language, Greek.
