MY CITY: CONSTANTINOPLE

1. If you were a traveler on ancient the Silk Road, why would I want to stop in your city?

I would stop because there are lots of food sources. This is important because Constantinople is the last final place on the Silk Road. The travelers would be very tired, so the people will stop  at Constantinople to load up on fruit and vegetables.

2. What was the most interesting thing you learned about your city?

The thing I found interesting was that in Constantinople a long time ago, it was once a roman settlement. So, some of the buildings in there were Roman style, and some of the buildings were original Constantinople style. Some of the old Roman buildings still exist today.

3. Would you want to visit your city today (in 2011?)  Why or why not?

No I would not. Because, now, Istanbul just has tall skyscrapers, and not much of the historical things. I think that going there would be a waste of time, because now it just looks like an ordinary city with no history.

4. How does the physical geography of your place affect the culture of the people who lived in your city?

Constantinople is flat with no hills or mountains, so it was easy to build houses and buildings. This meant that people didn’t have to go up hills or faraway to buy their goods and other products.

5. How do you think your research of your city can help answer the question, “What Happens When East Meets West?”

The research helped because now I know what kind of goods Constantinople traded when other people came from the east and the west.

6. Explain what happened in the String Silk Road.

In the string Silk Road, there were strings going in all directions, crossing over other people’s strings. This was because if one city wanted to trade with another city, they had to first trade with a city which was closer to them. So, if there was no trading, each individual city would not be able to survive.

7. How did the String Silk road game help answer the question, what happens when East Meets West?

It helped because you could see clearly when two cities meet in trading. There might be arguments about the goods, or maybe the city who wanted to trade with another city might have to trade through another city to get to the original city.

Here is a picture which I think represents Constantinople.

Thanks,

George Wood