Istanbul, Turkey. HDR

This city has seen remarkable times. Greek colony, invasions and rebuilding, Persian, Spartan, Athenian and Roman control. It was called Byzantium and Nova Roma, Constantinople and Istanbul. Crusaders took and trashed the city only to surrendered it back to Byzantine empire a half a century later.

The origin of present Turkish state called, Republic of Turkey, is from Turkic people inhabiting the area near Aral Sea.
These people, greatly influenced by Persia, moved west and conquered most of Persia and Anatolia, acquiring Sunni Islam as their religion.

In the 13 century their empire declined, and Mongols overcame the area. Anatolia was divided into a patchwork of Turkish principalities. One of the principalities near the border of Byzantine Empire was led by tribal leader Osman I from whom the name Ottoman is derived. With some reversals, Ottomans conquered most of the Byzantine Empire and eventually Mehmed II captured Constantinople in 1453.

After the defeat of the Ottoman empire during World War I, most of the empire was reclaimed by local people, leaving Anatolia and a small area on the European side of Constantinople in Turkish hands. In 1930 the city was renamed Istanbul, the Turkish pronunciation of the Greek words “eis tin Polin” meaning “in the city.”

Istanbul is partly in Europe and partly in Asia. The old, European part of the city is surrounded by water on three sides: Golden Horn, where two creeks move out into the sea, the southern end of Bosporus and the sea of Marmara which in turn falls into the Mediterranean.

A very good view of the Istanbul Historic peninsula is from the medieval Galata Tower on the northern shore of Golden Horn.