!!!Istanbul

by: Dmitry Moiseenko and
Stas Sedov,
members of the [AirPano Team|Geography/About/Consortium/AirPano,_Team] that is a member of the [global-geography Consortium|Geography/About/Consortium]. \\

23 September 2015

with kind permission of [AirPano|http://www.AirPano.com]

Istanbul is a wonderful city with unique history. Being the former
capital of the Roman, Byzantine, Latin and Ottoman Empires, the modern
Istanbul has lost the status of the capital, but it is still the third
largest city in Europe.

[{Image src='01_Hagia Sophia.jpg' caption='Hagia Sophia' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='489'}]

The interesting fact about the city is that having the population of 14
million people, Istanbul has around 13 million visitors annually. The
Bosphorus strait splits the city into the European and the Asian parts.
Each of them has preserved monuments of different epochs and has its
unique atmosphere. In addition to magnificent mosques, the monuments of
the Roman-Byzantine period are of exceptional interest.

[{Image src='02_Above the Galata Bridge.jpg' caption='Above the Galata Bridge' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='276'}]

By the first half of the 5th century Constantinople (the name for
Istanbul between 1453 and 1930) had spread beyond the walls designed by
its founder Constantine the Great. In order to protect the city from
barbarians, Theodosius the Second ordered to build a new wall which
length was 5630 meters at that time. In the end of the 19th century the
walls began to be demolished as they bounded the continuing growth of
the city. But, fortunately, several sections of that wall were restored
with the support of UNESCO.

[{Image src='03_Emirgan Park.jpg' caption='Emirgan Park' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='637'}]

Another witness of antiquity is the 17-meters tall Roman triumphal
column in Fatih district. It was erected in the middle of the 5th
century and was dedicated to the Byzantine Emperor Marcian. Meanwhile,
the local name for the column is Kiztasi, the Turkish for "The column of
the girl". Apparently, this name was born in the Ottoman period and
refers to the winged female figures represented on the pedestal. But
there is also a legend that the column tilted every time when a girl who
secretly lost her virginity walked by.

[{Image src='04_Blue Mosque.jpg' caption='Blue Mosque' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='618'}]

Not far from this column stands the Valens Aqueduct, built in 368-375.
Having connected two neighboring hills, it had become a significant step
in the development of the water-supply system of Constantinople. The
initial length was more than 1000 meters with the height of 26 meters.
The present-day remnants of the aqueduct have 971 meters in length and
20 meters in height. Right up to the middle of the 19th century, the
lead pipes integrated in the aqueduct served to provide the city with
water. Nowadays, the aqueduct is a popular tourist attraction of
Istanbul.

The place of the ancient hippodrome built by the Romans in 203 is
currently occupied by Sultanahmet Square — the main square of Istanbul.
It consists of two parts: the square between Hagia-Sophia and the Blue
Mosque and the square of Hippodrome itself. Columns and obelisks of the
Byzantine period and even the German Fountain presented by Kaiser
Wilhelm the Second are still remarkable sights of the square.

[{Image src='05_Bosphorus Bridge.jpg' caption='Bosphorus Bridge' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='565'}]

The most ancient Turkish monument of the city is the Anatolian Castle,
sometimes referred as the Anadoluhisari, situated in the Asian part of
Istanbul. Among other Byzantine temples we can't help mentioning the
Church of the Holy Saviour in Chora and the Church of Theotokos
Pammakaristos where the large collections of mosaic have been preserved,
the bigger collection can only be found in Hagia Sophia Basilica. One of
the most famous palaces of Istanbul is the Topkapi Palace. Having a
total area of 700 000 sq. meters, it is situated at the confluence of
the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara and surrounded by
the 1400-meter long wall.

[{Image src='06_Istanbul, Turkey.jpg' caption='Istanbul, Turkey' alt='' width='900' popup='false' height='349'}]

All this is only a part of a huge number of Istanbul landmarks. But even
all of them taken together can not be compared to the fame of Hagia
Sophia Basilica. It had remained the largest Christian cathedral for
more than a thousand years, with the height of 55.6 meters and the dome
diameter of 31 meters, until the Saint Peter's Cathedral in Rome was
built.

We have already shown you Hagia Sophia Cathedral as a part of our
previous tour in Istanbul, but the new panoramas will help you to get
better acquainted with the outstanding creations of ancient architects
and many other monuments of the city.

We are very grateful to our guide Ataman Cagri Ozturk, who signigicantly
helped us in obtaining flight permission for our photo shoots.

\\ \\
[15 Panoramas of Istanbul|Geography/Asia/Turkey/Pictures/Panoramas_of_Istanbul]










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