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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
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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 of 50 years. On May 2Q, 1453, Sultan Fatih Mehmet,
known as the Conqueror, captured the City with a military maneuver
considered 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,
am 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
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th,
o dsT°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
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