25. Until the Plague Decimated It
Unfortunately, after speaking of its majestic size as a city, one must also discuss the massive downfall of its population: the plague. After centuries of warfare, the people of Constantinople were weakened and provided easy pickings for the new emergence of the Black Death. By many estimates, the city was reduced from around 800,000 to only 50,000. That scale of loss of life is almost unimaginable today.
