Welcome to Istanbul, the city where past and present blend vividly and history endures in its monuments, museums, palaces, bazaars, street life and on the Bosphorus shores.
Seat of power of three successive world empires (the Eastern Roman Empire, 330-1054,the Byzantine Empire dated from the Great Schism 1054 to 1453, and the Ottoman Empire, 1453 -1923), former Byzantium, later Constantinople, this citadel impresses to this day by its strategic location, at the meeting point of Asia and Europe displaying breathtaking panoramic views of the two continents and sees, the Marmara and the Black Sea.
We begin our Photographic Tour with a Bosphorus view: the turquoise waters of the Marmara and the walls surrounding Topkapi Palace; from Topkapi terrace gardens one can see the Asian side, Uskudar (Scutari) - the medieval road of trade with Anatolia. Farther up - a suspension bridge: the Bosphorus Bridge at Ortakoy. It's interesting to mention the present bridge opened in 1973, being the first on the Bosphorus but the idea of connecting the continents dates back to the 6th c. BC when the Persian emperor Darius I had it built for its army. At the time the bridge was made of boats.