Is this generally realised?
For nearly a thousand years, the largest "Christian" city, & notwithstanding being sacked by "Latin"
Roman Catholic forces in the 3rd Crusade, Constantinople was the major European metropolis.
Often excluded in historical considerations of European development, & regarded as 'Asian' since
the Ottoman conquest, never-the-less, Istanbul is today, the most populous city in Europe,
& by quite a margin, over London.
In fact, it is often not realised that even Sydney & Melbourne, Australia's two largest cities - are as big
as Paris & Berlin.
Edit: Corrected typo.
Edited by J.A.W. - 21-Sep-2015 at 17:21