We set off on our New Year’s trip, with the first stop being the stunning Istanbul. Although the journey from the airport to the city was a bit of a thrill, we finally arrived safely. Our driver tried his best to shorten the journey to get us to the center faster, but he couldn’t avoid the notorious Istanbul traffic jams either. He even tried to extort some extra money from us, citing the traffic, but after I reminded him that he knew exactly what to expect when he accepted the ride, he stayed quiet.
The city is simply fantastic! Traces of the thousand-year-old past are visible on every corner. And the Turkish cuisine blew us away. We have already tasted many delicacies. The Turkish Delight is my real favorite among sweets, it is really great, but I also really enjoyed the roasted chestnuts sold on the street, which are one of my favorites.
We walked around the city a lot, visiting the monumental Grand Bazaar and the spice-scented Egyptian Bazaar. One of our best experiences was trying a real Turkish bath (Hamam) next to the Hagia Sophia. We enjoyed every minute of this cultural adventure!
The local mass transportation network is really good in Istambul, and the price if really affordable, but many of the most important landmarks are in walking distance if you accomodated in the city center.
Istanbul’s history is unique in the world, as it is the only metropolis that spans two continents and was the capital of three world empires – the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. The city’s location is determined by the Bosphorus Strait and the Golden Horn, which has made it one of the most important strategic and commercial points in the world for millennia.
The city was founded in 667 BC, when Greek settlers settled the area under the name Byzantion. According to legend, the founder, Byzas, following the advice of the Delphic oracle, settled on the shore opposite the “city of the blind” (Chalcedon), recognizing the genius of the protected harbor of the Golden Horn. During the Roman era, in 330, Emperor Constantine recognized the importance of the place and moved the seat of the empire here. He intended the city to be the “New Rome,” but it eventually became known as Constantinople, and for over a thousand years it was the bastion of Christian and Greek culture.
During the Byzantine era, Constantinople was the most magnificent and richest city of the Middle Ages, where science and art flourished. It was during this period that the largest Christian church in the world, the Hagia Sophia, was built, a masterpiece of architecture. The city was thought to be impregnable, thanks to the mighty Theodosian Walls, which had repelled besiegers for centuries. However, in 1204, the city was sacked by the knights of the Fourth Crusade, after which Constantinople never regained its former glory.
The turning point came in 1453, when Sultan Mehmed II, “the Conqueror,” captured the city after a long siege, ending the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople became the capital of the Ottoman Empire, and the Golden Age of Islam began. The sultans adorned the city with mosques, palaces (such as Topkapi) and public baths, while Istanbul remained a religiously and ethnically diverse metropolis, where Jews, Christians and Muslims lived side by side. In the 16th century, under Suleiman I, the city reached the height of its power, when the architect Mimar Sinan created the monumental domes that still define the city.
After the decline of the Ottoman Empire, the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed in 1923, and although the capital moved to Ankara, Istanbul remained the economic and cultural heart of the country. In the second half of the 20th century, the city began to grow explosively, its population swelling from a few million to almost twenty million. The mighty Bosphorus bridges were built, physically connecting Europe and Asia, modern skyscrapers rose from the ground in the Levent district, while the historic peninsula became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Today, Istanbul is a vibrant, chaotic, yet fascinating metropolis, where modern malls and luxury yachts sit alongside ancient bazaars and Byzantine church ruins. The city is the driving force not only of Turkey but of the entire region, where millennia of the past can be felt on every street corner, from the scent of steaming Turkish coffee to the muezzin’s call to prayer to the salty breeze of the Bosphorus.
