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ISTAHBUL - THE QUEEN OF CITIES
The Bosphorus divides Istanbul between two continents, Europe and Asia. This sparkling, deep blue strait of water 1? miles long, flows from the Black Sea in the north, to the Sea of Marmara in the south, leading directly into the Dardanelles through the Aegean and subsequently to the Mediterranean. Two bridges span the Golden Horn, which is an inlet on the European side of the Bosphorus, and was so named in ancient times because it curves like the horns of a bull and glitters like gold under the setting sun.
Six thousand years of history have surged restlessly across the land of modern-day Turkey, and for two thousand six hundred years Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul held the center of the stage. Through the centuries the City has been given many names by many peoples - the Greeks called it Byzantium; the Arabs knew it as Anthusa, City of Prosperity, Home of Bliss; and the Romans named it first Antonia then Nova Roma and finally Constantinople; the Slavs knew it as Zarigrad and now. since the time of KEMAL ATATURK, the Turks have called it Istanbul (meaning "to the City").
In 657 BC the Dorians founded % z a n t i u m during one of their expeditions to the Black Sea. The name was taken from the mythical Byzes, a son of the sea-god Poseidon, Like Rome, the City was built on seven hills and was the goal of many conquerors. In AD
193
the Emperor Septimius Severus added the City to the Roman Empire.As the strength of the Roman Empire gradually declined the great Emperor Constantine, in
326 AD,
moved the capital to Byzantium and renamed it Nova Roma, laier giving it his own name. He built a &reat-
2
-new city wall, many miles in length, and between the -new wall and the old he built a whole new town for which he brought priceless treasures from the four corners of his empire. By the Sixth Century during the reign of Justinian and his Empress Theodora the wealth and power of Constantinople were dazzling the world. The magnificent mosaics, brilliantly hued frescoes, superb craftsmanship in all oi* the arts, and the ideas of the intellectual, juridical and philosophic movements current in Constantinople spread throughout the Western world«
In
1204
Constantinople was captured for the fourth time in her history by the Crusaders. A period of conquest which lasted for only a short span of50
years. On May2Q, 1453,
Sultan Fatih Mehmet, known as the Conqueror, captured the City with a military maneuverconsidered one of the great military achievements of history, Fatih the Conqueror was a young man of only
24
years when he made the City capital of the Ottoman Empire,a m r. mrlf 1? 2-3 the City bef?an another era under the genius of KEMAL ATATÜRK who renamed it Istanbul and gave it a new life under
X S X m ?+th,odsT°f ^ e e d o m and progress. Although no longer modern Turkey s capital, Istanbul s population is constantly increasing and its fame as one of the most beautiful and exciting of Mediterranean cities still grows.
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Kişisel Arşivlerde İstanbul Belleği Taha Toros Arşivi
