Istanbul Turkey

The only city to straddle continents, Istanbul has been occupied for around 3000 years. Apparently Byzas lead some people from the city of Magara (near Athens) to build a new city. On consulting the oracles of Delphi he was told to build it "opposite the land of the blind". When they arrived on Seraglio Point they saw the Phoenician colony of Chalcedon on the other side and realising they themselves were on the way more beautiful side, decided that the people of Chalcedon must have been blind when choosing their spot thus making Chalcedon the oracles' "land of the blind". They founded their city between the Golden Horn and Lygos, naming it after their leader...Byzantion....

So the Greeks colonised the city during the Hellenistic invasion in 750-550BC and it was briefly taken over by the Persians, besieged by Phillip of Macedonia in 340BC (after which the city walls were repaired with tombstones) and finally the Romans came. This bit seems a bit iffy where the Greeks were 'under Roman protection' and everything was in the wording really. But ultimately control was with the Romans. In 325AD Constantine 'rebuilt' the city and had an official city opening on 11 May 330AD naming it New Rome (Roma Nova) and the capital of the empire now known as the Byzantium Empire (um but most people simply called the city Constantinople).

Then came the Ottoman. 1453 brought Mehmet II to conquer Constantinople, and the Fat Lady Singing for the Byzantium/Roman Empire. Istanbul was the capital of the Ottoman Empire until Turkey became a Republic in 1923 and the capital of Turkey was declared to be Ankara...

Now hows that for 'A Brief History of Istanbul'. Ok ok there were many many more battles and significant trades, moving of city walls, building of important buildings etc etc. but you get the jist of it right?

Here we have it. Istanbul. This is the old part of town taken from a bridge over the Golden Horn. Open this pic, enlarge it and pan across to get an idea of the city. Pity about the overcast bit but it gives you an idea of the number of mosques in the city and maybe you can 'see' the rolling hills (thank goodness for the trams)

The entire city covers an area of 5712 km2, So yes, this is a tiny part.

When I get more time we can explore some of those important buildings, those important people built, mostly (all except 1 I think) in this part of town. Yes yes yes, there is way way more than just this But we only had 2 and half days...