Istanbul, Turkey İstanbul, formerly Constantinople, ancient Byzantium, the largest city and main port of Turkey. It was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire. The old walled city of Istanbul lies on a triangular peninsula between Europe and Asia. Sometimes as a bridge, sometimes as a barrier, Istanbul for more than 2,500 years stood in the midst of religious, cultural and political upheavals. For many years it was one of the most popular cities in the world The name Byzantium can be traced to the Byzas, a Greek leader of the city of Megara, who, according to legend, took over the peninsula of Thracian tribes and built a city about 657 BCE In 196 CE, after destroying the city in the wake of its civil war, Roman Emperor Sepimius Severus rebuilt it and named it Augusta Antonina in honor of his son. In 330 CE, when Constantine the Great gave the city his capital, he called it New Rome. The currency, however, continued to be stamped by Byzantium until it ordered the incorporation of Constantinopolis. By the end of the first millennium, Greek speakers reportedly referred to travel there as eis tēn polin, “to the City,” rather than to “Constantinople.” By the 13th century, the Greek name had become the city's name: Stinpolin. Through a series of speeches for centuries, the name became Istanbul.



Urban agglom., 14,744,519. The city consists of about 9 square miles (23 square km), but the current municipal boundaries are much simpler. The first peninsula city has seven hills, necessary for Constantine's "New Rome". Six are corpses of the longest limb of the Northern Province; another high point alone on the southwest corner. On its slopes are numerous mosques and other historical landmarks that were incorporated as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. Traditionally, the waters that cleanse the peninsula are called the "three seas": the Golden Horn, the Bosporus, and the Sea of ​​Marmara. The Golden Horn is a deep valley some 4 miles [7 km] long.

Early inhabitants he saw it as the shape of a deer horn, but modern-day Turks call it Haliç (“Canal”). Bosporus (İstanbul Boğazı) is a channel that connects the Black Sea (Karadeniz) with the Mediterranean (Akdeniz) by way of the Marmara Sea (Marmara Denizi) and the hardships of the Dardanelles. A small Gold horn separates old Istanbul (Stamboul) in the south from the “new” town of Boyoğlu in the north; The wider Bosporus separates Europe's Istanbul from the coastal city regions of Asia - üsküdar (ancient Chrysopolis) and Kadıköy (ancient Calcedon). Like historical power, natural forces take Istanbul very seriously. The major rivers of Russia and central Europe - the Danube, the Don, the Dnieper, and the Dniester - make the Black Sea colder and less watery than the Mediterranean. The waters of the Black Sea flow southward through the Bosporus, but below them the warm, salty waters of the Mediterranean run north like a mighty river that cuts through the same channel. The weather 

The northeastern northeast wind, or poyraz, comes from the Black Sea, occasionally wintering in the Balkans known as the karayel, or “black veil,” which can freeze the Golden Horn and even the Bosporus. The lodos, or southwest wind, can blow storms over the Marmara Sea. City planning Fires, earthquakes, riots and attacks have hit Istanbul over and over again, more than 60 fires and more earthquakes are important enough to be recorded in history. The trajectories of these disasters have been eroded by the waves of major urban development: today broad streets cut through the historic old city, and paved streets lined with old wooden houses occupy modern high-rise buildings, office parks, and supermarkets. Parts of the walls of Stamboul remain. The walls of the earth, which separate the peninsula from the mainland, were broken once, by the sultan sultan Mehmed II (Conqueror) in 1453, in what has come to be known as the Cannon Gate (Top Kapısı). The walls are 7 miles long and have double wires - the interior is made of 413, the outside is 447 - protected by a trench. The inner wall is 9 meters (9 meters) high and 5 meters wide and is filled with towers 18 meters (18 meters) and about 55 meters (55 meters). Of the 92 turrets raised on the outer wall, 56 are still standing.


The walls of the sea were built in 439. Only fragments remain of their 9-meter (9-meter-tall) rocks near the Golden Horn. Strong, these walls had 110 towers and 14 gates. The walls along the Marmara Sea, about five miles [8 km] from Seraglio Point, which bend down to the bottom of the peninsula to join the earth's walls, had 188 towers; they were only about 20 feet [6 m] high, for the currents of Marmara provided excellent protection against enemy forces. Many of these walls are still standing. Within the city walls are seven hills, the peaks of which are soft over the years but the slopes are steep and hard to work with. Geographers count them from the tip of the peninsula, continuing inland through the Golden Horn, the last hill standing alone as the earth's walls reach the Sea of ​​Marmara. The bridges in Galatia and Atatürk cross the Golden Horn to Beyoğlu. Each day before dawn their spaces are opened wide to allow for access to the ships at sea. The Provincial Coast, which is used by water buses, is a junction of ports, warehouses, factories, and occasional historical sites. Boats to the Asian side of Istanbul leave under the Galata Bridge.

Istanbul has three of the longest bridge bridges in the world: the Bosporus I (Boğazici) Bridge (completed 1973), with an area of ​​1,074 meters (3,074 meters); Bosporus II, Fatih Sultan Mehmed Bridge (1988), 1,090 meters (1,090 meters); and Bosporus III, Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge (2016), 1,408 meters (1,408 meters). Two lanes under the Bosporus, one for passenger trains and one for cars, opened in 2013 and 2016 respectively. Beyoğlu, regarded as the "modern Istanbul," still exists, as has been the case since the 10th century, in the outer quarter. War and fire have left behind only a handful of buildings built before the 19th century. The road from the Golden Horn is steep, and the funicular railway runs between the waterfront of Galatia and the Pera Plateau. At the top are large hotels and restaurants, tourist offices, theaters, an opera house, embassies and many Turkish government offices. From the 10th century onward, Galatia was a forum for foreign merchants - especially those of Genesis - who enjoyed foreign privileges on other walls. After the Ottomans took over the city in 1453, 



all foreigners who were not citizens of the empire were banned in this quarter. In the embassies of the interior there were combinations that included schools, churches and hospitals of various nationalities. Eventually Galatia became so flooded that a wave of the building rose up the slope to the open country of Pera. For centuries, foreigners who wished to visit Stamboul, where the court was housed, could do so only if they accompanied one of the sultan's Janissaries (the leading military).

Construction of Istanbul Byzantine monuments There is nothing left of Byzantium that Constantine chose as the location of New Rome, and there is almost nothing left of the mighty city he built there. Constantine's column, the Burnt Column (Çemberlitaş), a pit of porphyry drums lined with iron laurel leaves, stands near the Nuruosmaniye mosque complex, but there is no evidence that any building in the city dates back to his time. Constantine completed the Hippodrome Sepimius Severus had already begun, but it was expanded and rebuilt by successors until the 5th century. Only its curved end, with three columns near central Spain - the stone removed from Egypt by Roman Emperor Theodosius I, the stonestone of Constantine VII (Porphyrogenitus; 905-9959 CE), and the Delphic column made of three intertwined serpents (now headless), he was thrown behind the Greeks defeated the Persians in 479 BCE. Of the many pillars that adorned Constantinople, there is still the foundation of the list of emperors Arcadius (who ruled 383-408) in the quarter of Cerrahpaşa; column of Emperor Marcian (who ruled 450-477), known in Turkish as Kıztaşı (Virgin's column), in the Fatih section; and, in the courtyard of the Palace of Topkapı, a well-preserved Corinth column is thought to have originated with the reign of another emperor, Claudius II (Gothicus; 268-270). Crossing the valley between the third and fourth hills is a two-stone aqueduct built 366 by Emperor Valens. Some of the great open waters of the Byzantine period are now operating the market gardens. The closed springs, of which there are more than 80 remaining, include one of Istanbul's most beautiful and mysterious buildings, the Basilica Cistern, known in Turkish as Yerebatan Sarayı ("Underground Palace") or Yerebatan Sarnıcı ("Underground Pit"), near Hagia Sophia; its 336 columns rose from stagnant, dark water to a circular roof.



 The Golden Gate is a victory bow from about 390. Built on the Theodosius II defenses, along the road to the land and sea wall. The marble foundations of their two massive towers are still standing, and three columns adorned with columns extend between them. A well-preserved example of the Byzantine palace construction is the shell of a three-story rectangular brick structure, lined with patterns and stripes. Dating about 1300, it is called the House of Constantine (Tekfur Sarayı) and is attached to the world wall near the Golden Horn. The largest legacy from the capital of the empire that perished 25 weeks by Byzantium. Many of them are still used - like Muslims. The largest church is considered one of the world's largest buildings. This is Hagia Sophia, whose name means “Divine Wisdom.” A man who lived at the time with his neighbor, St. Irene, dedicated to “Divine Peace.” Many art historians consider Hagia Sophia's dome (32 m wide) to be the most beautiful in the world.

 The church, which was associated with its pastors and St. Irene, it is said, was built by Constantine in 325 on the foundations of a pagan temple. It was expanded by Emperor Constans and rebuilt after the 415 fire by Emperor Theodosius II. The church was burned again at Nika's rise in 532 and was rebuilt by Justinian. The present-day building is actually the 6th-century building, although an earthquake toppled the dome in 559, after which it was rebuilt smaller and the entire congregation was strengthened outside. It was restored in the middle of the 14th century. In 1453 it became a Muslim church with minarets, and a large chandelier was added. In 1935 a museum was created. The walls are still hanging with Arabic calligraphic discs.


 

The Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus was founded by Justinian between 527 and 536 as a thanksgiving sacrifice. The two soldiers allegedly appeared before Emperor Anastasius I to assist Justinian, who had been sentenced to death for conspiracy. The church is built like an octagon held inside a rectangle, with a Byzantine interior covered. It is also called the Küçük Ayasofya Mosque (little Sophia) and can be considered the parent of Justinian architect Hagia Sophia. The Church of the Holy Savior in Chora, converted into the Kariye Mosque, is located near the Adrianople Gate. It was restored in the 11th century and was restored in the 14th; the building is now a museum famous for its 14th-century paintings, marble, and masterpieces. Above the main site is the head of Christ with the inscription, "The land of the living." When the church was converted to Islam, it acquired narthex (a fenced area between the main entrance and the nave), portico, and minarets. The region of Galatia is dominated by a massive tower that shares its name. The tower was built by the merchants of Genoa in 1349 as a fortress and fortified their fortified walls.

Turkish monuments When the Turks took over Constantinople, they merged seven hills with houses and minarets, changing the landscape of the city. Like the Greeks, Romans, and Byzantines, the new emperors loved the city and used much of its wealth and power in its decoration. The Ottoman Empire, which lasted from 1300 to 1922, continued to build important new structures almost to the end of their line. Their most famous mosques were built from the mid-15th to the middle of the 16th century, and the largest of these designers was named Sinan. They were Atik Sinan (Elder), Sinan of Balıkesir, and Mimar Koca Sinan (Great Architect Sinan). Although the structure was strongly influenced by the Seljuq Turks of Persian culture, the style was incorporated into the Hellenic and Byzantine traditions of the city. Marim Koca Sinan's art - and his burial place - is the Süleyman Mosque (1550-57), 

promoted by Hagia Sophia, but not copied. It is considered one of the world's largest buildings. Perhaps the most famous of all Istanbul's mosques is the Blue Mosque, the mosque of Ahmed I (Ottoman sultan from 1603 to 1617), with six minarets instead of four standard ones. Muslims of the 18th century and later exhibited the effects of bringing in European architects and architects, who produced Baroque Islamic architecture (such as the Mosque of the Fatih, rebuilt between 1767 and 1771) and Neoclassical styles, as in the Dolmabahçe Mosque of 1853. , now the Nav Museum. Great Muslims were often built with auxiliary structures. Among these were the schools of the Qur'ānic (meditation), bathhouses, the hostels and kitchens of the poor, and the tombs of royalty and nobles. There are more than 400 springs in Istanbul. Some simply flow from the walls, but others, built as public gifts, are booths. 



The best of these was built by sultan Ahmed III in 1728, after the apse of Hagia Sophia. It is square, with marble walls and bronze plaster, a mix of Western Rococo style. To its north, near the Golden Horn and occupy the entire region of the region, the Seraglio (palace Topkapı) sultan, surrounded by a strong wall. It was founded in 1462 by Mehmed II and served as the seat of the sultans until the early 19th century. It was in this palace that foreign embassies were authorized, and they were ushered through the State Gate, or Bab-ı Hümayun, badly translated by Westerners as “Subl Porte.” Seraglio has small buildings assembled around three courts. The most important buildings are the Köşk iliinili (Tiled Pavilion), built in 1472; Audience Room (Arz Odası); 



Hırka-i Şerif, a shrine containing the remains of the Prophet Muhammad; and the beautiful Baghdad Kiosk, commemorating the Baghdad conquest in 1638. Seraglio has sultan treasures and has important collections of manuscripts, china, weapons and textiles. After the departure of the Old Seraglio, the Sultans built palaces around the Bosporus, such as the Beylerbeyi Palace (1865), the magnificent Dolmabahçe Palace (1853), the Çırağan Palace (built in 1874 and burned in 1910), and the Yıldı Palace. -Abdülhamid II, Ottoman sultan from 1876 to 1909. The Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı), founded in the early part of the Turkish Empire but now prone to burns and earthquakes, had 4,000 shops around two houses distributing it. The region is graded. It is still busy with life and pursuit of magic. The Egyptian Bazaar shaped like an L (Mısır Çarşısı) - so named because it is close to the Yeni Valide Mosque, the Cairo tax-paid construction - was once a spice market. In recent times stores expanded their products to include dried fruit, jewelry, linen, and other items.