How did the loss of one city change the history of Europe? In the Middle Ages, Constantinopleâs perfect geographic locationâpositioned along a land trade route between Europe and Asia as well as on a strategic seaway from the Black Sea to the Mediterraneanâ made the city extremely desirous, and as a result, prone to attack. Under the control of the Roman and Byzantine Empires, Constantinople became known as "the Eye of the World," a center of government, trade, art, religion, and learning, and was even more desirous. Rulers built three sets of walls to protect Constantinople from attacks by Asiatic tribes. But the cityâs fall to the Turkish Ottomans in 1453 marked the official end of the Byzantine Empireâand the end of the Middle Ages. Learn how the fall of Constantinople became one of historyâs most pivotal moments.