A rare city on earth boasts such a location as Istanbul. He stands in Asia with one foot, the other in Europe. For many centuries in the hands of its rulers was a Bosphorus Strait connecting the Mediterranean Sea with a passage to the Black, through the miniature marble sea.
For many centuries he thundered around the world, like a formidable Constantinople. He was the capital of many powers, until Turkey transferred the capital of a newly formed state to Ankaru in 1923.
Istanbul, an extremely attractive place for those who like to combine business trips with a luxurious vacation, and the study of all world history with an unforgettable shopping. Here, as in the Turkish bazaar, there is everything. And the glory of the Turkish bazaars was born here, at the Topkapa Palace, in the very center of the mighty Constantinople.
Constantinople was the capital of Ottoman, and before that – Byzantine and Latin, and even earlier – the Roman Empire. Therefore, the feeling of local residents that they live in the “capital of the world” have a clear historical justification.
The climate Istanbul is very comfortable for guests from Europe and Anglo-American. He is a subtropical, softened by the action of the 3rd seas. There is no exhausting heat and breath of the winds of Asian deserts.
The list of attractions that are preserved in Istanbul will not fit into the pages of a thick book. There is absolutely everything here. Of course, the most interesting is the Istanbul bazaar. It occupies a huge territory. To go around it in one day only can only be a marathon runner. Rows with gold and fabrics, clothes, sweets and spices stretch on kilmeters. Silver and weapon minting. Precious stones and essential oils. So the bazaar looks like the last millennium, only a row has disappeared, where slaves were once sold.
In addition to the satisfaction of the most ancient instinct – shopping, in Istanbul there are a number of monuments, from which the heart of any person who is in love with art and beauty is compressed. Above the bay of the golden horn, the minaretes of the blue and Suleiman mosques rise. Museum in the Topkapi Palace will talk about the life of the family of an ordinary sultan. The priceless frescoes of the era of Christianity are preserved in numerous temples of the Byzantine era and thematic museums. But there are still the remains of the luxury of the Romans and a particle of a variety of forms of contemporary art is represented.