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ISTANBUL |
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Arriving in ISTANBUL can come as a shock. Most visitors head for the
old city in and around Sultanahmet , where though you're still
technically in Europe, there are immediate differences: back streets
teem with traders pushing handcarts, stevedores carrying burdens twice
their size, and omnipresent shoeshine boys. Men still monopolize the
public bars and teahouses, while many women cover their heads, averting
their gaze. Yet this is merely one aspect of modern Istanbul; only a
couple of kilometres to the north you'll find the former European
quarter of Beyoglu , with its trendy bars and cutting-edge dance clubs,
while north again are the pavement cafés and restaurants of Ortaköy and
the swish Bosphorus suburbs of Arnavutköy, Bebek and Etiler. These days
the city has a social and cultural diversity to match any of its Western
counterparts.
Istanbul is the only city in the world to have played capital to
consecutive Christian and Islamic empires, and retains features of both,
often in congested proximity. Byzantium , as the city was formerly known,
was an important trading centre, but only gained real power in the
fourth century AD, when Constantine chose it as the new capital of the
Roman Empire . Later, as Constantinople , the city became increasingly
dissociated from Rome, adopting the Greek language and Christianity and
becoming, effectively, the capital of an independent empire. In 1203 the
city was sacked by the Crusaders, and when the Byzantines, led by
Michael VIII Palaeologus, regained control in 1261, many of the major
buildings had fallen into disrepair, with the empire itself greatly
diminished in size. As the Byzantines declined, the Ottoman Empire
prospered, and in 1453 the city was captured by Mehmet the Conqueror,
who shortly after began rebuilding works. In the following century, the
victory was reinforced by the great military achievements of Selim the
Grim and by the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, whose conquests
helped fund the greatest of all Ottoman architects, Mimar Sinan. By the
nineteenth century, however, the glory days of Ottoman domination were
firmly over. Defeat in World War I was followed by the War of
Independence , after which Atatürk created a new capital in Ankara -
although Istanbul retained its importance as a centre of trade and
commerce. In recent years , the population of the city has reached
twelve million, a fifth of the country's total, and is still on the rise,
adding further to the cacophony and congestion.
The city is divided in two by the Bosphorus , which runs between the
Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, dividing Europe from Asia. At right
angles to it, the inlet of the Golden Horn cuts the European side in two.
The old centre of Sultanahmet, occupying the tip of the peninsula south
of the Golden Horn, is home to the city's main sightseeing attractions:
the cathedral of Aya Sofya , Topkapi Palace and the Blue Mosque , and as
such many people find that they spend all their time here. Annoying
hustlers mean first impressions can be negative - but thankfully
omnipresent tourist police have done much to clear out the worst, and
will respond quickly to any problems you may have. Further west near the
explorable city walls lies the Kariye Camii , which contains the city's
finest surviving Byzantine mosaics and frescoes. Across the Golden Horn
to the north, the Galata Tower offers superb panoramic views over the
city.
The City
The old imperial centre of Istanbul stretches from the Sultanahmet
district northwest to the Süleymaniye mosque complex, the covered bazaar
and the remains of the city walls. To the north, across the Galata
Bridge, the old Levantine areas of Galata and Pera are home to one of
the city's most famous landmarks, the Galata tower. Close by is the
entrance to the Tünel , an underground funicular railway running from
Karaköy up to the start of Istiklâl Caddesi, home to many of the city's
restaurants and much of the nightlife, and on to Taksim Square , the
heart of modern Istanbul.
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