City resting on a hill
Can your walls repel the tide of change
Under Pantocrator's rule
Did your golden domes reveal
The frailty of the consequence
The conqueror was real
Where the Emperor once reigned
Only shadows of the glories remain
No one sings your plaintive song
Of the Kontakion strain
Echoing through heaven's gate
Too lovely to sustain
We're looking back to see your frescoed walls
Where is the road that takes us to Byzantium
Once your borders had no end
And your dream was like a shining light
To the nations you surround
Did your golden domes reveal
The frailty of the consequence
The conqueror was real
We're looking back to see your frescoed walls
Where is the road that takes us to Byzantium...
We're looking back to see your frescoed walls
Where is the road that takes us to Byzantium...
Can your walls repel the tide of change
Under Pantocrator's rule
Did your golden domes reveal
The frailty of the consequence
The conqueror was real
Only shadows of the glories remain
No one sings your plaintive song
Of the Kontakion strain
Echoing through heaven's gate
Too lovely to sustain
Where is the road that takes us to Byzantium
And your dream was like a shining light
To the nations you surround
Did your golden domes reveal
The frailty of the consequence
The conqueror was real
Where is the road that takes us to Byzantium...
Where is the road that takes us to Byzantium...
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I just learned about the fall of the Byzantine Empire (western Roman Empire) which happened on May 26, 1453 when The capital of Constantinople fell. When i came across this song i immediately thought of the fall of Constantinople. The song talks about walls which relates to the walls of Constantinople which withheld sieges for thousands of years. The song also says that this is where the emperor's once reigned; the last emperor led the final defence of the city before he was killed. The empire was reduced to the size of Constantinople and used to be the entire mediterranean sea; this is shown in the lines "Only shadows of the glories remain" and "Once your borders had no end". The biggest hint to this song being the fall of Constantinople is the beginning and the end of the song where you can here cannon fire behind the church-like quire singing.