"Istanbul by luiggi" Istanbul by luiggi

Due to her geographic location, Istanbul has always been a settlement area from early ages onwards. And besides connecting the two continents, Europe and Asia, Istanbul has become a center where various cultures and religions are combined, surrived and succeeded each other.
Istanbul of the day conforms the definition of a great city, not only with her population and the area she covers but also with the variety of cultures and ways of living. This cultural structure which enables a good number of elements that contradict with each other and yet exist together even one in another, is the produce of an accumulation of about one thousand years. Although first settlements in Istanbul were observed in prehistoric periods, continual settlements, however, have started in the colonial period. Foundations of Istanbul of our days were laid during recent periods of the Roman Empire. Byzantium and Ottoman periods are the most significant stages in the history of Istanbul. In both of these periods, Istanbul has preserved her features of being a political and religious center and has become the religious center of both, the Christianity and the Islam. Therefore, she was ornamented with many great monuments with different functions belonging to these
two religions. Although Ankara was elected to be the capital during the Republic period, Istanbul conserved her characteristic of being the cultural capital.

Travelogue:

Istanbul Scenes
The city consists of three parts in general; On the European side, the Historic Peninsula to the south of the Golden Horn and the Galata District to the north, and the New City on the Asian side. The European side of the city is a trade and business center, whereas the Asian side is more of residential area. Istanbul is established on the both sides of the Bosphorus, that connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and separates Asia and Europe. The 7 km. long narrow inlet, named as the Golden Horn, divides the European side of the city into two. Because of its location between Asia and Europe, the city always had a great geopolitical importance, Today, Istanbul is still a political and commercial center for the Balkan and Middle Eastern Countries and the Turkic Republics of Central Asia. The settlement, known as Byzantium after its founder, took the name Constantinople, the city of Emperor Constantine?, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. It was then known as Istanbul after the conquest of the Ottomans, and became one of the biggest and the most crowded city of Europe.

Travelogue:

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.