The last stop for our ship was Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey and one of the world’s great cities. It has a population of 13.5 million and is unique in the world as the only city to span two continents, Europe and Asia. The two continents are separated by the Bosporus, a strategic channel connecting the Mediterranean and Black Seas and providing an outlet for Russia, the Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and others to the world’s shipping routes. The Bosporus is one of the world’s busiest shipping channels.
Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its re-establishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires—the Roman Empire (330–395), the Byzantine Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered it in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold from which the last caliphate ruled. In 1923, Turkey became a secular, democratic republic and established its capital in Ankara.
Istanbul’s strategic position along the historic Silk Road, rail networks to Europe and the Middle East and the Bosporus have led it to be called one of history’s “Crossroads of Civilization”.
I begin with a picture of the Hagia Sofia, taken as our cruise ship approached its berth in Istanbul. A pretty impressive first impression! Hagia Sofia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on February 1, 1935.
The rest of today’s pictures are presented as a slideshow, a cross section of the many pictures I took in Istanbul.
