Istanbul is an old city; you can see the remains of many ancient civilizations and their culture in harmony with Turkish culture. The old versus the new, the traditional versus the modern is a conflict a visitor often observes. The city is full of contrasts, and colourful views, where the blowing winds from the seven peaks of Anatolian Olympus merge into each other... Where Amazon's cooled their b
odies in the waves that break apart from the Black Sea and roll mightily against the shore … Where love is symbolised in the Maiden's Tower ... Where stand the rocks of Symplegad that brought nightmares to the Argonauts ...
Built on seven hills on Asia and Europe ... Capital of three empires ... Where romance and traffic jam go hand in hand ... Lively and exciting ...A world metropolis ...
Sometimes described as 'the crossroads of Europe and Asia', Istanbul - formerly Constantinople - is a vast, heaving metropolis with an imperial history that stretches back for more than 1,600 years. No longer Turkey's capital but still the cultural heart of the nation, this city of 13 million sprawls across both sides of a land bridge spanning two continents. Istanbul's unique position on the Bosphorus Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean, has resulted in the city being a jealously guarded centre of world trade since the Byzantine era.
