Istanbul

Brief information

Istanbul is organized around the strait: the Bosphorus divides the city between Europe and Asia, while bridges and tunnels stitch these shores back together into the everyday urban fabric. That is why its history can be read not only through the names of empires, but also through the map itself: the city stands between the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara, and, farther on, the Mediterranean, on a route that for centuries was convenient for trade and power.

An important shift in perspective: Istanbul was the capital of several empires, but it did not become the capital of the Republic of Turkey; after 1923, that role went to Ankara. At the same time, the city retained its importance as a commercial, industrial, and cultural center. Thus the former capital remained the main place where different eras are visible side by side, rather than merely following one another in a textbook.

What to notice first

It makes sense to look at Istanbul as a city divided by water and held together by crossings. The Bosphorus separates the European part from the Asian part, the Golden Horn cuts the European part into two more zones, and the bridges, tunnels, and water transport show that the boundaries here are not only natural, but also urban. This arrangement explains why the landmarks in the original description are grouped by shores and districts rather than simply listed.

The second focus is the traces of changing functions. The partially preserved hippodrome recalls the Roman-Byzantine city. Hagia Sophia is important not as a single famous name, but as an example of how, after the Ottoman conquest, major Orthodox churches were converted into mosques. At the scale of the city, this appears as the coexistence of different types of structures: palaces, mosques, churches, fortresses, bazaars, towers, and underground cisterns.