Genel

Ortakoy is one of the nicest neighborhoods of Besiktas district in the European side of Istanbul on Bosphorus Strait, right under the first Bosphorus bridge. In Turkish it means “middle village” because it was in the middle of the strait, and […]

Beylerbeyi Palace, summer residence of the sultans is located at Beylerbeyi neighborhood on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus. It was ordered by the sultan Abdulaziz and built between 1861-1865 by head architects Sarkis Balyan and Agop Balyan, imperial architects of […]

The Galata Tower is one of the highest and oldest towers of Istanbul. 63 meter (206 feet) high tower provides a panoramic view of the old town. It was built in the 14th century by the Genoese colony as part […]

Galata is one of the oldest neighborhoods of Istanbul located at the north of the Golden Horn, towards Taksim Square. Galata was surrounded by walls constructed by the Genoese until the 19th century. These walls started at Azapkapi near the […]

Taksim Square is the most known modern city center of Istanbul. Many hotels and restaurants are in or near the Square and on Istiklal Street, and there is a local bus terminal for public transportation and the main subway station. Istiklal pedestrian street […]

Kizil Adalar, English Princes Islands, historically Demonesi Insulae, group of nine islands (Adalar) in the Sea of Marmara a few miles southeast of Istanbul; they are part of Turkey. There are permanent inhabitants on the smallest island, Sedef Adasi (ancient Antirobethos), and on […]

Chalcedon, modern Kadikoy, ancient maritime town on the eastern shore of the Bosphorus, opposite modern Istanbul, Turkey. It was originally a Megarian colony founded in the early 7th century BC on a site so obviously inferior to that of Byzantium (Istanbul) on the […]

Uskudar, formerly Scutari, former city, northwestern Turkey, now a district of Istanbul. It lies at the foot of the Bulgurlu Hills on the Asiatic side of the Bosphorus Strait opposite central Istanbul. Known as Chrysopolis in ancient times, it was a […]

Rumeli Castle (Rumeli Hisari) is an Ottoman fortress dating to 1452. It was built by Ottoman sultan Mehmed II (Mehmed the Conqueror) in preparation of the conquest of Constantinople. The castle is situated on the shore of the Bosphorus Strait […]

Boasting the status of an Istanbul landmark, Maidens Tower or Leander’s Tower, is built up on a rock facing Uskudar at the mouth of the Bosphorus. According to the myth narrated by the Roman poet Ovid, young Leander fell in […]