| The church was named in honor of St. Sophia in Constantinople, which was the mother church of the Orthodox world. |
| Such was the fate of the Vandal king, Gelimir, paraded through Constantinople in 534 in a procession evoking the triumphs of ancient Rome. |
| At one time Ani had a population of over 100,000, rivalling Baghdad and Constantinople. |
| The most powerful church leaders were the bishop of Rome, called the pope, in the West and the patriarch of Constantinople in the East. |
| In 1204 the Crusaders and Venetians attacked Constantinople and sacked the city. |
| There was a mass exodus of Greeks and Armenians from Constantinople, as from the rest of Turkey. |
