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 Missing image IMG_0199.jpg Suleymaniye Mosque seen from Tepebaşı (January 2005) Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul) is the largest city in Turkey. Until 1930 this city was commonly known by its original Greek name Constantinople by westerners; some writings named it Stambul, especially in the 19th century. In Classical Antiquity it was known as Byzantium or Byzantion. With a population of between 11 and 15 million people, Istanbul is the most populous city of Turkey and by some counts one of the largest cities in Europe, although the city straddles the Bosporus strait. The city is also the administrative capital of Istanbul Province. Founded by the Roman emperor Constantine on the site of the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium, and called Constantinople after him, it became the eastern capital of the Roman Empire and later the capital of the Byzantine Empire. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1453 it became part of and soon capital of the Ottoman Empire. Before the conquest Turks called the city İstanbul, but officially used the name Qustantaniyyeh (قسطنطنيه), that means "City of Constantine" in Arabic. Only on March 28, 1930, was the city officially renamed Istanbul. Constantinople, the old city is mainly located on the south west corner of the Bosporus strait, which separates Europe from Asia and the Black Sea from the Marmara Sea. However, the modern city is much larger and covers both European and Asian sides of the Bosporus. Famous tourist destinations include Sultanahmet, Kilyos, Sariyer, Eyüp and Taksim on the European side, and Beykoz, Sile, Üsküdar, Kadiköy and Adalar (the Prince's Islands) on the Asian side. Although Istanbul is no longer the capital of Turkey, it is still arguably the most important city to Turkish industry, commerce and culture and the most important import and export center.
Etymology of the nameMissing image Sofiaayia.jpg Interior of Aya Sofia. Built as a church in 532-537 it was for centuries the largest enclosed space in the world. The Turks converted it to a mosque, and it became a museum in 1934 The name Istanbul comes from the Greek words (eis tin Poli) εις τήν Πόλι(ν) meaning "to/at the City" (the City/Polis being Constantinoupolis) . Two more examples of modern Turkish town names are İzmit (from Iznikmit which was Nicomedia and İznik (from Nicaea). While the Arab writers used Qustantiniyye, the Ottomans used also many epithets as its name: Pay-i taht, "the foot of the throne"; Asitane; and Islambol, "lots of Islam".
HistoryByzantium was the original name of the modern city of Istanbul. Byzantium was originally settled by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas. The name "Byzantium" is a Latinization of the original Greek name Byzantion (Βυζάντιον). Bυζαντιον is pronounced roughly Booz-dan-tee-on. After siding with Pescennius Niger against the victorious Septimius Severus the city was besieged by Rome and suffered extensive damage in 196 AD. Byzantium was rebuilt by the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus and quickly regained its previous prosperity. The location of Byzantium attracted Constantine the Great who, in 330 AD, refounded it as Nova Roma or Constantinoupolis (Constantinople,Greek: Konstantinoupolis or Κωνσταντινούπολη or Κωνσταντινούπολις) after a prophetic dream was said to have identified the location of the city. The East Roman Empire which had its capital in Constantinople from then until 1453, has often been called the Byzantine Empire or Byzantium by modern scholars. The name is a reference to the Roman emperor Constantine I who made it the capital of the Roman Empire on May 11, 330 AD. Constantine named the city Nova Roma (New Rome), but that name never came into common use. The combination of imperialism and location would play an important role as the crossing point between two continents (Europe and Asia), and later a magnet for Africa and others as well, in terms of commerce, culture, diplomacy and strategy. At a strategic position, Constantinoupolis was able to control the route between Asia and Europe, as well as the passage from the Mediterranean Sea to the Euxinos Pontos (Black Sea). Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire. In Byzantine times the Greeks called Constantinople i Poli ("The City"), since it was the centre of the Greek world and for most of the Byzantine period the largest city in Europe. It was captured and sacked by the Fourth Crusade in 1204 and then re-captured by Nicaean forces under the command of Michael VIII Palaeologus in 1261.  On May 29 1453 the city fell to the Ottoman Turks (See the Fall of Constantinople) and was part of the Ottoman Empire until its official dissolution on November 1 1922. The Ottoman Turks called the city Stamboul or Istanbul. Since then it has remained a part of the Republic of Turkey (first declared on January 20 1921, generally recognized on October 29 1923). When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved from Constantinople to Ankara. Istanbul became the official name in 1930. Places to visit
The cross-continent European walking route E8 trail begins/ends here, running 4700km to Cork, Ireland. Seismic riskIstanbul is situated near the North Anatolian fault, an active fault which has been responsible for several deathly earthquakes in contemporary history. Studies show that there are high risks of a devastating earthquake near Istanbul in the forthcoming decades.[1] (http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/tt/1999/aug25/quake.html)[2] (http://archives.cnn.com/2000/NATURE/04/28/istanbul.quake.enn/) The proximity of the Marmara sea also indicates high risks of a tsunami should an earthquake occur. The difficulties of imposing suitable building rules is likely to result in a large number of collapses, especially in cheap masonry dwellings.[3] (http://atlas.cc.itu.edu.tr/~barka/pubs/ist_haz/istanbul.html) Education
AirportsDistrictsAdalar Avcilar Bagcilar Bahçelievler Bahçesehir Bakirköy Bayrampasa Besiktas Beyoglu Buyukçekmece Beyköz Çatalca Eminönü Esenler Fatih Gaziosmanpasa Gungoren Kadiköy Kagithane Kartal Kuçukçekmece Maltepe Pendik Sariyer Sultanbeyli Sile Sisli Tuzla Umraniye Üsküdar Zeytinburnu Sport
See alsoBuildings
Istanbul as capital of...
External links
bg:Истанбул cs:Istanbul cy:Istanbul da:Istanbul de:Istanbul et:Ä°stanbul fr:Istanbul nl:Istanboel he:איסטנבול id:Istanbul it:Istanbul ja:イスタンブール pl:Stambuł pt:Istambul ro:Istanbul sv:Istanbul tr:Ä°stanbul uk:Стамбул zh:伊斯坦堡
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