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| Original and reconstructed walls of Constantinople on the European shore |
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| Reconstructed section - it runs for perhaps a mile or more |
I have visited Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul several times and on one trip managed to spend an afternoon at the outstanding Military Museum. It covers the history of the Turkish people from the Dark Ages to modern times.
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| Reconstructed gateway to the city |
The most dramatic exhibition zone is that dealing with the Ottoman capture of Constantinople in 1453. The diorama display is outstanding and although I have shown a couple of shots on the blog before I have never shown all of the pictures in a single post.
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| Looking north east from the Asian shore |
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| Panning west from the last shot |
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| A further western pan |
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| Look at the trenches in the foreground |
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| Close in detail |
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| The Sultan |
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| Looking north west |
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| Looking to the European shore - the massive tower in the background still stands |
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| Refer on to the siege gun shots later in the post |
I have started at the top of the page with a few shots of the walls of Byzantium as they stand now. One shows an unreconstructed wall section on the European shore and the others reconstructed parts of the walls.
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| General |
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| Armoured Cavalryman |
What follows then are several shots taken from the diorama itself which is set off with a magnificent curved painting of the Asian Shore being attacked with the Bosphorus in the background.
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| Un cropped shot to show scale of the diorama |
No real explanations needed from me.
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| Turkish soldier |
At the end are some shots of massive Ottoman artillery pieces from the period. I have sprinkled a few uniform mannequins and paintings throughout.
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| 11 ton cannon see plate |
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| 11 ton cannon |
The interesting aspect for me is the similarity of dress and tactics right into the 1680-1720 period. I have always fancied building a Turkish force to fight the Imperialists and Russians. You never know where Warfare Miniatures might travel in the future!
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| 15 ton cannon |
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| 15 ton cannon |
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| Turkish soldier |
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| Various troop types |