Istanbul Not Constantinople

We will begin our Europe 2014 tour in Turkey. Our Tour Director and the local city guides will share facts and information about the country and its people as well as the history as we tour the country.  However, it is always helpful to have some background knowledge of the  places you visit before you go there, so I will be posting information about places we will see or  things we will do while on tour.

Turkey is bordered by the Black Sea to the north, the Aegean to the west and the Mediterranean to the south.  Turkey is in the Anatolian region of west Asia with a small section in southeastern Europe separated by the Turkish Straits (Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara and Dardanelles).  Turkey was a major power in Europe starting from the late 13th century when the Ottomans created an empire encompassing much of  Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa.  The  Ottoman Empire collapsed following its defeat in World War I,  and the Turkish War of Independence led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his colleagues, resulted in the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923, with Atatürk as its first president.  The official language is Turkish and the majority of the population is Muslim.

Our first destination is Istanbul.  Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey. It is located on the Bosporus Strait and covers the entire area of the Golden Horn, a natural harbour that divides the city. Istanbul is the only city in the world to extend into more than one continent, Europe and Asia.  Istanbul began as the city of Byzantium in the 7^th Century BCE. 

Byzantium became a part of the Roman Empire in the 300s. During this time, the Roman emperor Constantine the Great undertook a construction project to rebuild the entire city. His goal was to make it stand out and give the city monuments similar to those found in Rome. In 330, Constantine declared the city as the capital of the entire Roman Empire and renamed it Constantinople. The Walls of Constantinople are a series of defensive stone walls that have surrounded and protected the city since the time of Constantine.

In 532 the anti-government Nika Revolt broke out among the city’s population and destroyed it. After the revolt, Constantinople was rebuilt and many of its most outstanding monuments were constructed- one of which was the Hagia Sophia. Constantinople became the center of the Greek Orthodox Church.

Constantinople prospered significantly however, the factors leading to its success, also made it a target for conquering. For hundreds of years, troops from all over the Middle East attacked the city.  As competition persisted between the Catholic Latin Empire and the Greek Orthodox Byzantine Empire, Constantinople was caught in the middle and began to significantly decay. It went financially bankrupt, the population declined, and it became vulnerable to further attacks as defense posts around the city crumbled.

In 1261, in the midst of this turmoil, the Empire of Nicaea recaptured Constantinople and it was returned to the Byzantine Empire. Around the same time, the Ottoman Turks began conquering the cities surrounding Constantinople, effectively cutting it off from many of its neighboring cities.

After being considerably weakened by constant invasions and being cut off from its neighbors by the Ottoman Turks, Constantinople was officially conquered by the Ottomans, led by Sultan Mehmed II on May 29, 1453 after a 53-day siege. During the siege, the last Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, died while defending his city. Almost immediately, Constantinople was named as the capital of the Ottoman Empire and its name was changed to Istanbul. Upon taking control of the city, Sultan Mehmed sought to rejuvenate Istanbul. He created the Grand Bazaar (one of the largest covered marketplaces in the world) and brought back fleeing Catholic and Greek Orthodox residents.  In addition, he brought in Muslim, Christian, and Jewish families to establish a mixed populace. Sultan Mehmed also began the building of architectural monuments, schools, hospitals, public baths, and grand imperial mosques.

From 1520 to 1566, Suleiman the Magnificent controlled the Ottoman Empire and there were many artistic and architectural achievements that made it a major cultural, political, and commercial center. By the mid-1500s, the city’s population also grew to almost 1 million inhabitants. The Ottoman Empire ruled Istanbul until it was defeated and occupied by the allies in World War I.

Following its occupation by the allies in World War I, the Turkish War of Independence took place and Istanbul became a part of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. Ankara, a centrally located city in the Republic of Turkey, was named the capital instead of Istanbul. For many years the city of Istanbul saw very little development.  In the 1940s and 1950s Istanbul re-emerged and new public squares, boulevards, and avenues were constructed, forcing the demolition of many of the city’s historic buildings.

In the 1970s, Istanbul’s population rapidly increased, causing the city to expand into the nearby villages and forests, eventually creating a major world metropolis. Istanbul's many historical areas were added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1985. In addition, because of its status as a world rising power, its history, importance to culture in both Europe and the world, Istanbul was designated the European Capital of Culture for 2010.