I. Romaniot Roots
Constantinople housed the Romaniot, Greek-speaking Jews with distinctive liturgical rites. Benjamin of Tudela marveled at their synagogues.
II. Sephardic Metropolis and Hebrew Printing
After 1492, expelled Iberian Jews transformed Constantinople into the largest Jewish city in the world. → Ladino in the Ottoman World
III. Empire, Republic, and Emigration
Most Constantinople Jews settled in Israel after the twentieth century's upheavals. Today's Istanbul Jewish community maintains synagogues whose Torah readings follow Masoretic cantillation.