Istanbul is Turkeys' smaller version of herself.
Turkey has historically been a crossroad of Civilizations, and Istanbul is where all the crossroads meet and overlap onto each other, entangling inextricably into a maze.
Every traveller can find amusement here. For thousands of years people have lived in this city, leaving layer after layer of relics and landmarks. In a short walk, one can see roman columns, byzantine churches, ottoman public wells and art nouveau buildings. And all of them seem to have been absorbed and reused by the successor civilization, modelling itself on the predecessors.
Turkey has historically been a crossroad of Civilizations, and Istanbul is where all the crossroads meet and overlap onto each other, entangling inextricably into a maze.
Every traveller can find amusement here. For thousands of years people have lived in this city, leaving layer after layer of relics and landmarks. In a short walk, one can see roman columns, byzantine churches, ottoman public wells and art nouveau buildings. And all of them seem to have been absorbed and reused by the successor civilization, modelling itself on the predecessors.
Istanbul is the real melting pot of Turkey. Well after the traumatic events of the War of Independence (1919 - 1923), different populations lived side by side their own way. But even after the loss (because such it was for the city) of most of her Greek citizens, Istanbul attracts so many foreign residents that cosmopolitanism is still a very evident feature.
As in a true sea town, as Byzantium, and then the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Constantinoples were, the traveller feels at home in Istanbul. Maybe for it reminds of everyone's home, or because it looks like something so totally different to give a constant feeling of renewal, in spite of its own antiquity.
From Alexander the Great to the Oriént Express, a stop by the Bosphorus has been in every travel story.
As in a true sea town, as Byzantium, and then the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman Constantinoples were, the traveller feels at home in Istanbul. Maybe for it reminds of everyone's home, or because it looks like something so totally different to give a constant feeling of renewal, in spite of its own antiquity.
From Alexander the Great to the Oriént Express, a stop by the Bosphorus has been in every travel story.
If Turkey is a stream of emotions, Istanbul is its source. And as such, the natural entry gate to the Country.
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