A Combination of Modern and Traditional

It is İstanbul's endless variety that fascinates its visitors. The museums, churches, palaces, grand mosques, bazaars, and sites of natural beauty are countless. While you’re relaxing on the western shores of the Bosphorus at sunset and watching the crimson evening light reflected on the other continent, it’ll become clear why so many centuries ago settlers chose to build a city on this remarkable site. In such moments, you can understand why İstanbul is truly one of world’s most magnificent cities.

İstanbul is Türkiye's most developed and largest city, with the latest discoveries indicating that the history of human habitation here goes back some 400,000 years. The purple years of İstanbul started in 330 when Emperor Constantine declared the city the capital of his empire – royal purple was the color of the Byzantine imperial family. Until 1453, when it was conquered by the Ottomans, the city served as the capital of the Byzantine Empire. During the reign of the Byzantines, İstanbul known at the time as Constantinople, was adorned with a number of great monuments, which made it the most magnificent city in the world – this was true even during the declining years of the empire.

Historic Areas of İstanbul

The Historic Areas of İstanbul, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985, cover four main areas: The Archaeological Park, the Süleymaniye Mosque and its associated conservation area, Zeyrek Mosque and its associated conservation area, and the City Walls of İstanbul. In its evaluation report, the International Council on Monuments and Sites has stated that one cannot conceive of the UNESCO World Heritage List without İstanbul, which has been associated with the world’s major political, religious, and artistic events for over 2,000 years. The cultural property in this area includes unique monuments and masterpieces of universal architecture. Two of these monuments are Ayasofya-i Kebîr Cami-i Şerîfi (Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque) , built by Anthemius of Tralles and Isidore of Miletus in AD 532-537, and the Süleymaniye Mosque, a masterpiece of Mimar Sinan (“Architect Sinan”) or Mimar Koca Sinan (“Great Architect Sinan”). The 6,650-meter-long city walls of Theodosius II, with its second line of defenses created in AD 447, has been one of the world’s leading references in military architecture.