Istanbul, straddling the Bosphorus, seen from Asia
Istanbul, seen from the Bosphorus
Istanbul, like Tehran, like New Delhi, is one of those cities where one's first impression is determined by one's direction of approach. Coming into Istanbul from the east, after travelling overland the length of Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, etc., I was struck by how Western, how European, how ... familiar Istanbul felt. However, we ran into tourists arriving in Istanbul from Europe and they remarked on how exotic Istanbul felt. In Istanbul, East meets West.
More photos after the jump.
The Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the empire to the ancient city of Byzantium in 330 AD, renaming it Constantinople. The ruins of the walls of early Constantinople are still visible.
The hippodrome was the entertainment center of Constantinople, home to circuses and horse and chariot races with seating for 100,000. Two obelisks (one brought from Egypt in the fourth century and the other built for the hippodrome in the tenth century) are the most significant monuments remaining in what is today a public plaza.
The sixth century Hagia Sophia was the world's largest church for a thousand years. Converted to a mosque in 1453, it's now a museum.
In 1453, Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmud II (the Conqueror). For over 400 years, Topkapi palace was home to Ottoman emperors, along with palace intrigue in the harem and among the eunuchs.
The seventeenth century Blue Mosque was the first to incorporate six minarets in its design.
One of a continuing series.
Start:
Around the World in 800 Days
Previous:
Izmir, Troy, Canakkale, Gallipoli
Next:
Kavala, Platamon and Thermopylae, Greece
2 comments:
Your series of memories from your trips of your youth are always delightful...I lived in Europe in the 70s and visited quite a number of places, and it is difficult to explain to younger people what an impact it was to see in real life things that were visible only in dusty old history books.
The world is much more than the Internet and Wikipedia and the Travel Channel, as astonishing as that might be...may the next generation live to experience the world in situ...(but, being modern, they probably have no idea what that means)...
Bill
Bill, thanks for reading. I have a feeling that each generation is more well-traveled than the last. And that is bringing people together making the world as a whole a better place, although the news headlines show it isn't an entirely smooth transition.
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