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Istanbul, which was known as capital of
the capital cities, and created huge
peace geographies with reigning to first
Roma, and then Eastern Roman (Byzantium)
Empire and continents, and was the
capital city of Ottoman Empire, is going
to a modern future with preserving
magnificence of history with proud.
Variety in Istanbul is really charming
the visitors. It is serving infinite
nuances with its museums, churches,
palaces, mosques, bazaar places and
natural beauties |
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When you lean against backside at the
coast of the strait, you feel Istanbul
as "center of the world" and understand
why people select this extraordinary
place centuries before with watching the
reflection of the red at sun set from
the houses at the coast.
What is now called Asian Istanbul was
probably inhabited by people as early as
3000 BC. Eventually, in the 7th century,
Greek colonists led by King Byzas
established the colony of Byzantium, the
Greek name for a city on the Bosphorus.
Byzas chose the spot after consulting an
oracle of Delphi who told him to settle
across from the "land of the blind
ones." Indeed, Byzas concluded, earlier
settlers must have been deprived of
their sight to have overlooked this
superb location at the mouth of the
Bosphorus strait. This proved an
auspicious decision by Byzas, as history
has shown Istanbul's location important
far beyond what these early Greek
settlers might possibly have conceived.
Byzas gave his name to the city:
Byzantium.
In the early 100's BC, it became part of
the Roman Empire and in 306 AD, Emperor
Constantine the Great made Byzantium
capital of the entire Roman Empire. From
that point on, the city was known as
Constantinople.
The mid 400's AD was a time of enormous
upheaval in the empire. Barbarians
conquered the western Roman Empire while
the Eastern, also called the Byzantine
Empire, kept Constantinople as its
capital. In 532 during the reign of
Justinian I, antigovernment riots
destroyed the city. It was rebuilt, and
outstanding structures such as Hagia
Sophia stand as monuments to the heights
Byzantine culture reached.
The attribute that made the city so
desirable, its incomparable location for
trade and transport between three
continents, was also its nemesis. For
the next several hundred years Persians,
Arabs, nomadic peoples, and members of
the Fourth Crusade (who for a time
governed the city) attacked
Constantinople.
Finally, weakened by almost constant
battle, the Ottoman Turks lead by Sultan
Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in
1453. Renamed Istanbul, it became the
third and last capital of the Ottoman
Empire. It was the nerve center for
military campaigns that were to enlarge
the Ottoman Empire dramatically. By the
mid 1500's, Istanbul, with a population
of almost half a million, was a major
cultural, political, and commercial
center. Ottoman rule continued until it
was defeated in WWI and Istanbul was
occupied by the allies.
When the Republic of Turkey was born in
1923 after the War of Independence,
Kemal Ataturk moved the capital to the
city of Ankara. But Istanbul has
continued to expand dramatically; today
its population is approximately twelve
million and increases at an estimated
700,000 immigrants per year. Industry
has expanded even as tourism has grown.
It continues to be a city that creates
its own history.
There are many interesting museums,
castles, palaces, mosques and churches.
Some of the interesting districts of the
city are: Haydarpasa, Uskudar, Eyup,
Galata, Perapalas, Ortakoy, Bosphorus,
Taksim, Eminonu and Sultanahmet. |
