May 16–23, 1453 · Blachernae Palace sector, northern walls Theater
May 16–23, 1453
Unable to breach the Blachernae sector walls with artillery alone, Ottoman engineers — including Serbian miners from Novo Brdo — began digging tunnels beneath the walls to collapse them from below. Byzantine defenders, led by the Scottish engineer Johannes Grant (serving the Emperor), counter-mined: digging parallel tunnels, listening for the sound of Ottoman digging through bowls of water placed on the ground, then breaking into the Ottoman tunnels and fighting them underground. At least six tunnels were discovered and neutralized — Byzantine troops fought the miners in complete darkness, collapsed their tunnels with smoke and fire, or flooded them with water. Every Ottoman mining attempt failed.
Commanders