Award-winning map 17"x11" | 11"x7.5" |
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Map awarded 4th place in CorelDRAW's ART 4 competition.
(If anyone has the ART 4 CD, I'd appreciate a copy.) |
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Istanbul may seem a shock. Although you will be staying in European Istanbul, the city is a historical mixture of Western, Middle Eastern and Asian cultures, as well as heir-apparent to modern Turkey, with its unique language and alphabet. Once known as Constantinople, the city is our international meeting destination.
Traders with handcarts are ubiquitous. Tearooms, restaurants, hamams (public steam rooms or baths), hotels and hospices and even the city's theaters bespeak the influences of Mycenaean, Byzantine, Persian, Greek, Roman, Orthodox and Catholic Christian, Hebrew, Islamic, Kurdish, Germanic and Ottoman invaders and settlers who simply added newer layers of culture to this city founded in the 13th Century B.C.
Located at the narrowing of the Sea of Marmara into the strategic Strait of Bosphorus waterway, Istanbul derives its fabulous history from its vantage point where Asia meets Europe—where East meets West. Easily defensible, surrounded by water on three sides and by the famous City Walls of Theodosius II, Constantinople/Istanbul was a trading crossroads and the center of government.
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Symbol of the Ottoman Empire as well as the actual location of government operations between 1453 and 1922, Topkapi Saray (Palace) serves today as a museum. Arranged in the Islamic tradition around a series of courtyards, Topkapi housed the Divan (Throne), the council of state, and the famous Harem, where the Ottoman concubines lived—and later ruled through the weaknesses of the Sultans. As more administrative duties were absorbed by the Ottoman rulers, Topkapi came also to serve as their official residence. |
Such rulers as Byzas the Megarian, Alexander the Great, the emperors Constantine and Justinian, Mehmet the Conqueror, Selim the Grim and Suleyman the Magnificent gave the city and the surrounding state leadership in art, religion, music and eating practices. Despite being conquered regularly, Constantinople/Istanbul was the source of military power for a vast area until the 20th Century.
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Beyoglu (center) and Karaköy (right) are leading economic districts in Istanbul, as well as uniquely Turkish tourist attractions. From this location, a French-built underground funicular (counterbalanced inclined railway) will carry you past Galata Tower (upper left) to the top of the hill overlooking Taksim. This is a stop on several of the Istanbul tours or it can be achieved by walking, although a taxi ride speeds the visit. Our international meeting headquarters—the Istanbul Hilton Hotel in Taksim—is straight ahead over the hill. |
Modern Istanbul dates from the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1909 and the Turkish revolution of 1920-22, when the capitol was moved to Ankara. Now serving solely as the economic centerpiece of the Turkish republic, Istanbul is a cosmopolitan location with nightlife and cuisine rivaling the best of Europe, Asia and the Americas.
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Looking northeast into Karaköy and Taksim across the Galata Bridge from the Cagaloglu/Beyazit/Sultanahmet districts of Istanbul, the twin minarets of Yeralta Camii (Yeralta Mosque) are visible in the immediate center. The Galata Kulesi (Galata Tower) is prominently visible on the far left horizon. Several other churches converted by the Ottomans into mosques or built as mosques are also visible. This bridge is the main highway link for Istanbul; it is also used by thousands of pedestrians daily, does service as an open bazaar of sorts and serves as a ferry dock as well. |
Old Istanbul, better known as the Sultanahmet district, Topkapi, Beyazit and Fatih is located south of a short waterway called the Golden Horn. The business and commercial districts of Karaköy and Beyaglu have spread north of the Golden Horn from an ages-old Genoese colony called Galata. Across the Bosphorus, Üsküdar is the part of Istanbul considered Asia.
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The Fatih Camii (Mosque of the Conqueror) is one of the few Moslem mosques not confiscated as museums by the Turkish revolutionaries of the 1920's. Located northwest of the still impressive ruins of the Aqueduct of Valens, the church was built in 1470 and completely rebuilt after an earthquake in 1766. In the background, the huge roof of Istanbul's covered bazaar, Kapali Carsi, is seen to the right of the Suleymaniye Camii minaret. Both Atatürk Bridge and Galata Bridge across the Golden Horn are also visible. |
On the opposite side of this special section is a colorful map of Istanbul, on which are highlighted some of the suggestions we've received for sightseeing during your free days at international meeting. Feel free to bring this map with you to Istanbul—the company travel desk will provide you with tour opportunities.
Once you arrive in Istanbul, you'll enjoy the luxury of staying at the Istanbul Hilton Hotel in Taksim. From here, you'll have leisure time to enjoy one of the optional bus tours we've scheduled to Istanbul's many sights. See the Constantinean Aqueduct of Valens, which is being restored to its pre-Ottoman glory. Look around as you tour the streets—Istanbul is jammed with statues and monuments; you never know when you'll see the next one.
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From the Bosphorus, Istanbul's famous seawall is a landmark for the steady traffic of touring boats, cruise liners and freighters. On the hill is the stately Sultan Ahmet Camii (Blue Mosque) with its six inspiring but controversial minarets (they were thought to rival the importance of Mecca). Even larger, though obscured by trees, is Aya Sofya Camii (right), a Christian church captured in the fall of Istanbul in 1453 and converted to a mosque by the Ottoman invaders. |
Make sure you visit Sultan Ahmet Camii, better known as the Blue Mosque, with its fantastic blue Moslem tilework. See Aya Sofya, the oldest church in the world—and one of the great architectural wonders of ancient construction. A number of the other churches, many converted into state museums, showcase Istanbul's historic growth. There are also art museums, archaeological museums and botanical gardens spread throughout Istanbul. And don't forget Topkapi Palace and the other historical sites of the Byzantine, Constantine and Ottoman empires.
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The interior of the Aya Sofya Camii (also called Hagia Sophia—the Church of the Divine Wisdom), built in 532 by the Emperor Justinian, is an amazing part of the Constantinesque artistic legacy still viewable in Istanbul. The church only became Catholic in 1452, in hope of inviting European Christians to aid the city's defense against Islamic marauders. The intricate tilework was hand applied to the entire inside of the 30-meter (100-foot) high dome by the invading Ottomans after 1453. |
See you in Istanbul! |
