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Captured by Mehmed II in 1453, Constantinople became the symbolic heart of the Ottoman Empire. As Finkel shows, its conquest fulfilled prophecy, unified Rumeli and Anatolia, and signaled spiritual legitimacy. Necipoğlu highlights how Mehmed refashioned it into a cosmopolitan capital blending Roman, Persian, and Islamic aesthetics.
Why I chose it: I wanted to understand why this one city held such enduring symbolic and strategic value for so many empires.

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Edirne was the capital before Constantinople’s fall and where Mehmed II prepared his siege. Finkel notes Edirne as the place where the Ottoman court first developed an imperial culture and where Mehmed built the fortress-cutting cannon.
Why I chose it: I didn’t know the Ottomans had another capital before Istanbul, so I was curious about its role in the empire’s formation.

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Founded in 670 CE, Qayrawan was one of the earliest Islamic urban centers in North Africa and home to the Great Mosque. Like Mehmed’s mosque complex in Istanbul, it asserted legitimacy through architecture.
Why I chose it: I was unfamiliar with Islamic history in North Africa and wanted to see how it paralleled the eastern empires we studied.

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Once a capital of the Seljuks, Merv was a major Silk Road city. Its ruins reflect the architectural and intellectual heritage that influenced later Islamic empires.
Why I chose it: I had never heard of Merv and was struck by how large and influential it once was.

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The Tigris runs through Baghdad and helped shape the Abbasid Caliphate. Its strategic position enabled agriculture, trade, and cultural exchange that shaped Islamic golden ages.
Why I chose it: I wanted to include a natural feature that explains how geography enabled empire and knowledge production.

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Known as the “Mother of Cities,” Balkh was a key spiritual and cultural center in Islamic and pre-Islamic times. It connects with Dede Korkut's portrayal of the Oghuz Turkic westward migrations.
Why I chose it: I wanted to understand more about Central Asian influences on early Islamic culture and identity.

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The Rub’ al-Khali is one of the harshest deserts on earth and shaped the nomadic culture of early Arabs. Like the steppes in Dede Korkut, this terrain produced resilience and mobility.
Why I chose it: I’ve seen deserts in stories, but I never realized how important this one was for shaping Islamic and Arab identity.

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The Zagros Mountains divided empires and created difficult terrain for expansion and communication. As Finkel notes, mountains shaped imperial military decisions.
Why I chose it: I often overlook topography when thinking about politics, so this helped me understand how landforms mattered.

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Akko was a vital Crusader port and later an Ottoman stronghold. Its layered history reflects centuries of religious warfare and urban transformation.
Why I chose it: I’ve always been curious about how cities changed hands between empires, and Akko is a powerful example.

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Taurus AVM, İşçi Blokları, Mevlana Bulvarı, Çankaya/Ankara, Türkiye

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Taurus AVM, İşçi Blokları, Mevlana Bulvarı, Çankaya/Ankara, Türkiye

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Taurus AVM, İşçi Blokları, Mevlana Bulvarı, Çankaya/Ankara, Türkiye

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An ancient city where East meets West, Tarsus was significant in Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic eras. It mirrors the cultural fluidity seen in Dede Korkut’s stories of Turkic migrations.
Why I chose it: I didn’t know this city existed, but its mix of cultures drew me in. It shows how geography helped spread religion and language.