Fall of Constantinople

May 29, 1453

After fifty-three days, a small gate left unbarred admitted Ottoman janissaries into the breached walls. Emperor Constantine XI tore off his imperial insignia and died anonymously in the melee. Mehmed rode into Hagia Sophia that afternoon, ordered it converted to a mosque, and announced the Middle Ages were over. The last remnants of the Roman Empire, enduring over fifteen hundred years since Augustus, perished in a single day.