Pore over cabinets of ancient treasures at the V&A's new celebration of Istanbul's past

'Constantinople to Istanbul: One City, Two Empires' is a major exhibition at the V&A transporting visitors to one of the world's great cities and its best-known landmarks, from the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia to Topkapı Palace and the Galata Tower. Staged by the V&A, it explores 1,600 years of the city once called Constantinople and now Istanbul, the imperial and religious capital of the Byzantine (AD 330–1453) and Ottoman (1453–1922) empires, and the first exhibition in the UK to tell this story in full. It brings together rarely seen works dating back to the 4th century from the V&A collection and national and international loans, including fine silks and textiles, ceramic tiles, mosaics, tableware, precious metalwork and jewellery, sculpture, architectural furnishings, works on paper, manuscripts and paintings.