Blue Mosque

Due to her geographic location, Istanbul has always been a settlement area from early ages onwards. Besides connecting the two continents, Europe and Asia, Istanbul has become a center where various cultures and religions survived and combined with each other.

Istanbul of the day conforms the definition of a great city, not only with her population and the area she covers but also with the variety of cultures and lifestyles. This cultural structure which enables a good number of elements that contradict with each other and yet exist together even one in another, is the product of an accumulation of about one thousand years. Although first settlements in Istanbul were observed in prehistoric periods, continual settlements, however, have started in the colonial period. Foundations of Istanbul of our days were laid during recent periods of the Roman Empire.

Topkapı Palace

Byzantium and Ottoman periods are the most significant stages in the history of Istanbul. In both of these periods, Istanbul has preserved her features of being a political and religious center and has become the religious center of both, the Christianity and the Islam. Therefore, she was ornamented with many great monuments with different functions belonging to these two religions. Although Ankara was elected to be the capital during the Republic period, Istanbul conserved her characteristic of being the cultural capital.

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