On 25 July 1660 a fire in Constantinople, now Istanbul, consumed two thirds of the city, burning down more than a quarter million homes and killing upwards to 40,000 people.

Professor Marc Baer of Tulane University wrote ‘that the fire began in a store that sold straw products outside the appropriately named Firewood Gate…The strong winds of Istanbul caused the fire to spread violently in all directions.’

Nasuh Pagazade Omer Bey stated in February of 1663, ‘Thousands of homes and households burned with fire. And in accordance with God’s eternal will, God changed the distinguishing marks of night and day by making the very dark night luminous with flames bearing sparks, and darkening the light-filled day with black smoke and soot.’

Source: The Great Fire…by Marc David Baer, Int. J. Middle East Studies, 2004. Graphic: The Great Fire of Constantinople, artist unknown.