Walls of Xi'an and Constantinople

Most heard about the massive Walls of Constantinople, the capital of the mighty Byzantine Empire. However, few might know about an equally magnificent series of fortifications that protected the imperial capital of another empire on the other side of the globe - the Walls of Xi'an. The walls still stand today after two millennia of destruction and restoration. Let's explore this Constantinople of the East! Let's explore this gem of the East together!

[@My-nl6sg]

Instead of focusing on layering defences and obstacles strategically like Constantinople's walls, the walls of Xi'an are used in defence with their sheer thickness. Xi'an's walls have almost the same thickness as it's height, making it more like a series of connected hills with cliff-faces surrounding the city, therefore it is near impossible to take the city by attempts of destroying the walls or attempting to blast through it. Even in the age of guns and cannons, the ancient walls of Xi'an still stands as effective defensive structure against ground invasions or attacks.

[@Maximillian966]

10/10 would watch again.

[@user-zh6lg6uf4j]

Both videos are really interesting. I'd like to see this walled city in person some day This video was put up in 2015 .
It's 11/2017 right now and if for some reason you can't make anymore videos thanks for these.

[@jamesstepp1925]

Liked the video and I subscribed, but no new videos?

[@stsk7]

great vid. thanks

[@hoboite1]

What great video!! Thank you!

[@shokem]

My eyes are open to the wonders of history

[@MehdiProductions]

make more videos

[@gardenlizard1586]

Brilliant

[@cd459]

I support this channel

[@olmedomiro5476]

excelente! learnings lot about Chinese history. Greetings from Panama....

[@delondestan8961]

Nice~

[@Wilhelm8e]

you are good with Chinese history. Hope to see more videos from you

[@shivmaple1013]

MORE!! I NEED MOREE!! LOL

[@iDoH2o]

fkin legend

[@delondestan8961]

The first name of xian 西安 was Changan 長安 , eternal peace in English.

[@Dylan_Goodboy]

So sad he only made 2 videos.

[@jameswu7850]

I believe a sea channel multiplies the power of any walls.

[@ramond.f4u212]

Xi'an and constantinople is great city of history in the world

[@jamesstepp1925]

I would love to hear how the walls withstood modern artillery. No other walls or fortifications in the history of warfare have managed to do that. Light artillery maybe, but the monster cannons that took out Constantinople would have breached them.

[@lordwind9745]

Nanjin had similarly impressive walls, Japanese artillery in WWII managed to make a breach after a week of bombardment.

[@jamesstepp1925]

@@lordwind9745 Yes, once modern artillery was developed fortifications that depend on curtain walls for their defense became death traps. They can still be effective against forces that do not have artillery, but even light mortars can lob rounds over the walls and make movement within the fortress problematic to impossible.
Rubble and trenches supported by rubble can still be incredibly effective though, as long as they have overhead cover. Once your infantry gets dug into rubble fields with trench supports to allow movement, they can be incredibly difficult to remove. A perfect example of that is the battle of Stalingrad in WW2. Your only real choice is either siege, bypass them or accept the casualties on your side to dig them out. Or nuclear, biological or chemical weapons anyway depending on what kind of war you are in and your moral compass with WW1 trench warfare as an example of that.
The Xi'an and Constantinople defenses are an incredible testament to the hard work and ingenuity of our ancestors. Today they are a beautiful historic reminder of the past and well worth the visit so we can develop an appreciation for the people who lived in those times. It's just that modern warfare has moved on.

[@egooidios5061]

This is what actually looks like China to me. I hope I can visit someday!!!!

[@musAKulture]

constantinople is more comparable to xiangyang, which i often compared to budapest. used to be two cities on opposite sides of the yangtze river, both heavily fortified, and with their conquest by the mongols came the downfall of the song empire. now the two cities have joined, but the walls remain.

[@HelWow110]

今天的西安城墙是明时建的吧，这两个都不是同时代的不好比较吧。

[@My-nl6sg]

先今的西安城墙是明朝时建的，但是唐代的长安（西安）城比现在的古城的面积要要大得多

[@Georgios1821]

BC not BCE

[@starhawck]

Thicc

[@theliteralmaginotline5638]

Istanbul not Constantinople

[@lenormand4967]

TheMaginotLine CITY OF CONSTANTINE IS THE NAME APPLICABLE TO THE ERA BEING ANALYZED.

[@gamingthisera6339]

at that time it was Constantinople

[@musAKulture]

it does make sense, since he used the modern name of xian instead of chang'an. needs to be consistent with the names.