In the sixth Ramsay Lecture for 2021, world-famous historian, author and broadcaster, Professor Bettany Hughes OBE, takes us on ‘dazzling historical journey through the many incarnations of one of the world’s greatest cities’ – Istanbul. 

In her lecture, Istanbul, Constantinople, Byzantium – the Queen of Cities, Professor Hughes draws upon her in-depth research, shares new archaeological discoveries, ancient stories and geographic insights to illuminate Istanbul’s past as the cradle of civilisation formerly known as both Constantinople and Byzantium.  Bettany discusses the various cultures, religions, and peoples that have inhabited and blended the city over time.  She examines the introduction of Christianity and the Ottoman take-over whilst delving deeply into the city’s proud history of asylum and its record on social justice.  Please join us on this journey through a city that is known as the gateway between the East and the West.