The walls were originally build by Septimiun Severus and Constantine the Great, but those walls are gone. The ruins that are visible today were built during the reign of Theodosius II in 413 A.D. These walls have a very interesting structure. Let us discuss the Land wall first as it was the largest. The first line of defense was a moat, 18 meters wide and 7 meters deep. During a siege, this was flooded. Next came a smaller wall called a Parateichion. It's purpose was to make it hard to build a bridge across the moat or to climb out of the moat. Next was the outer wall with occasional towers (96 in all) built into it. The outer wall was 8 meters high and approximately 2 meters thick. The towers were 15-20 meters high. There was a small distance, then the inner walls were built. This wall also had 96 towers of the same heights as the outer wall but its basic dimensions are different. It was 13 meters high and 3-4 meters thick.

Eight gates were scattered along the length of the wall. One that many people go in and out of without realizing it is part of the ancient wall system is at Topkapi. It is through this gate in 1453 that the Moslems entered, finally toppling the Byzantium Empire.

The sea wall is a single row wall with 9km bordered the Marmara Sea, and 5km bordering the Golden Horn. The part bordered the Marmara was 12-15 meters high with 150 towers and 8 gates. The part bordering the Golden Horn and 100 towers and 14 gates. I find the city walls interesting. First, they have survived for so long and second, they were able to protect the culture living behind them for centuries be that Byzantium or Moslem.

Here, I only describe one section of the walls. The walls encircle the old city, from the Sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn. These 4 miles of 5th-century walls include a few gates, fortresses, towers, and castles, mostly in ruins.

Rumor has it that a movie was made in the palace and that there are tunnels that go throughout the palace. Some intrepid explorers have found their way in, and there is also a sign near the entrance where it looks like you might be able to pay to enter. You shouldn''t count on this though, and don''t count on a taxi finding this place either. Finding the Walls and Palaces Walk directly away from the front of Chora, and you will eventually hit the walls. From here, head right along the wall, having the wall on your left. You will see the Palace of Porphyrgenitos. Further down is Blachernae Palace. We never made it as far as Blachernae Palace, and the guidebooks left it unclear whether Blachernae and Porphyrgenitos were the same structure. Personal Experience The walls of Theodosius are fascinating. People live and work right next to these walls, and yet there are no signs announcing these historic walls. There are no tours here, only us. We climbed the walls, walked along their tops, explored little niches where we often found discarded trash. I brushed the ancient walls with my fingers, delighted to be so close to a piece of Byzantine history.

We continued further to find Blachernae Palace and the connected Palace of the Porphyrgenitos. I have heard that there are tunnels inside. I love tunnels. Supposedly a caretaker will let you in. After exploring for some time, we did find it and there wasn''t much there. A parking lot and a soccer field behind it. In the parking lot, some gypsy children tell us that they will hold our bags if we wish to climb over the wall. Climb in...to a thirty foot drop - I think not!. I suspect they had ulterior motives. The caretaker wasn''t at his post and there appeared to be no other entrances. We''re not even sure which palace we''ve found, as they are listed separately in one of our guidebooks. But we took pictures, gorgeous black and whites. Then, we leave to get a taxi to Yedikule Fortress.