Istanbul (redirected from Stamboul)

Istanbul (ĭs'tănbl`, ĭstan`bl), city (1990 pop. 6,748,435), capital of Istanbul prov., NW Turkey, on both sides of the Bosporus at its entrance into the Sea of Marmara. Its name was officially changed from Constantinople to Istanbul in 1930; before A.D. 330 it was known as Byzantium. (For the history of the city, see Byzantium and Constantinople.)

The Modern City

One of the great historic cities of the world, Istanbul is the chief city and seaport of Turkey as well as its commercial, industrial, and financial center. Manufactures include textiles, glass, shoes, motor vehicles, ships, and cement. The European part of Istanbul is the terminus of an international rail service (formerly called the Orient Express), and at Haydarpaşa station, on the Asian side, begins the Baghdad Railway. Yeşilköy International Airport is nearby.

Always a cosmopolitan city, Istanbul has preserved much of its international and polyglot character and contains sizable foreign minorities. The city experienced explosive population growth in the 1970s and 80s (it tripled in size), with the Turkish Muslim majority increasing. The present administrative districts of Istanbul include Fatih and Eminönü on the European side and Kadiköy (ancient Chalcedon) and Üsküdar (Scutari) on the Asian side. Massive efforts have been made to keep up with recent growth by modernizing the city's infrastructure and municipal services. In 1973 the European and Asian sections of the city were linked by the opening of the Bosporus Bridge, one of the world's longest (3,524 ft/1,074 m) suspension bridges. This was followed by the Second Bosporus Bridge (3,322 ft/1,012 m), completed in 1988. The first section of a new subway system opened in Sept., 2000.

Istanbul is the seat of Istanbul Univ. (founded 1453 as a theological school; completely reorganized 1933), a technical university, Univ. of the Bosporus (formerly Robert College), Marmara Univ., Mimar Sinan Univ., and Yildiz Univ. It is the see of the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, of a Latin-rite patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church, and of a patriarch of the Armenian Church.

Points of Interest

The city is visited by many tourists and is a popular resort. The environs of Istanbul, particularly the villas, gardens, castles, and small communities along the Bosporus, are famed for their beauty. The part of Istanbul corresponding to historic Constantinople is situated entirely on the European side. It rises on both sides of the Golden Horn, an inlet of the Bosporus, on one of the finest sites of the world, and like Rome is built on seven hills. Several miles of its ancient moated and turreted walls are still standing. Outside the walls and N of the Golden Horn are the commercial quarter of Galata, originally a Genoese settlement; the quarter of Beyoğlu (formerly Pera), which under the Ottoman sultans was reserved for foreigners and their embassies; and Hasköy, the Jewish quarter.

The Golden Horn is crossed by two bridges, the new Galata Bridge (which replaced the famous old Galata Bridge) and the Atatürk Bridge. The former leads into the historic quarter of Stambul, the city's ancient core, abutting the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. The quarter of Phanar in the northwest, near the former site of the palace of Blachernae of the Byzantine emperors, contains the see of the Greek Orthodox Church and is inhabited mainly by Greeks. Some palace walls still stand. Excavations on the sites of the former Byzantine palaces have found fine works of art, and Istanbul has many monuments of the Byzantine past. Remains of the imperial residence, the Great Palace, were unearthed in 1998. The chief monument surviving from Byzantine times is the great Hagia Sophia. Originally a church, it was converted into a mosque after the Ottoman conquest in 1453 and is now a museum.

The city was destroyed (1509) by an earthquake and was rebuilt by Sultan Beyazid II. Turkish culture reached its height in the 16th cent. and from that period date most of its magnificent mosques, notably those of Beyazid II, Sulayman I, and Ahmed I. They all reflect the influence of the Hagia Sophia—yet are distinctly Turkish—and give the skyline of Istanbul its unique character, a succession of perfectly proportioned domes punctuated by minarets. In the gardens by the Bosporus stand the buildings of the Seraglio, the former palace of the Ottoman sultans, now a museum. The Seraglio, begun by Muhammad II in 1462, consists of many buildings and kiosks, grouped into three courts, the last of which contained the treasury, the harem, and the private apartments of the ruler. In the 19th cent. the sultans shifted (1853) their residence to the Dolma Bahçe Palace and the Yildiz Kiosk, N of Beyoğlu on the Bosporus.

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Istanbul

 formerly Constantinople ancient Byzantium

The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) with its distinctive ensemble of six minarets, Istanbul.

(credit: © Robert Frerck—CLICK/Chicago)

City and seaport (pop., 2000: 8,803,468), Turkey. Situated on a peninsula at the entrance to the Black Sea, Turkey's largest city lies on either side of the Bosporus and thus is located in both Europe and Asia. Byzantium was founded as a Greek colony in the 8th century BC. Passing to the Persian Achaemenian dynasty in 512 BC and then to Alexander the Great, it became a free city under the Romans in the 1st century AD. The emperor Constantine I made the city the seat of the Eastern Roman Empire in 330, later naming it Constantinople. It remained the capital of the subsequent Byzantine Empire after the fall of Rome in the late 5th century. In the 6th–13th centuries it was frequently besieged by Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, and Russians. It was captured by the Fourth Crusade (1203) and turned over to Latin Christian rule. It was returned to Byzantine rule in 1261. In 1453 it was captured by the Ottoman Empire and made the Ottoman capital. When the Republic of Turkey was founded in 1923, the capital was moved to Ankara, and Constantinople was officially renamed Istanbul in 1930. Many of the city's historic sites are located in the medieval walled city (Stamboul). Among its architectural treasures are the Hagia Sophia, the Mosque of Süleyman, and the Blue Mosque. Its educational institutions include the University of Istanbul (founded 1453), Turkey's oldest university.

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Istanbul

a port in NW Turkey, on the western (European) shore of the Bosporus: the largest city in Turkey; founded in about 660 bc by Greeks; refounded by Constantine the Great in 330 ad as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire; taken by the Turks in 1453 and remained capital of the Ottoman Empire until 1922; industrial centre for shipbuilding, textiles, etc. Pop.: 9 760 000 (2005 est.))

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Istanbul 

the largest city and seaport in Turkey, the country’s industrial, commercial, and cultural center, and the administrative center of Istanbul II (province). Situated in a hilly area on both sides of the Bosporus near the Sea of Marmara, Istanbul lies partly in Europe (most of the city) and partly in Asia. Its location at the intersection of the sea route from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean and overland routes from Southeastern Europe to Southwest Asia contributed to its growth. The climate is subtropical and Mediterranean, with a mean January temperature of 5.2°C and an August temperature of 23.6°C. The annual precipitation averages 633 mm. Area, 285.4 sq km. Population, about 2.8 million (1975).

Istanbul is divided into 14 administrative districts. The city is governed by a city council elected for four years. Between the sessions of the council the city is administered by a municipal board headed by a chairman. The city council has jurisdiction over the local budget, taxes and duties, and city planning. The city’s districts have municipal departments.

Istanbul was the capital of Turkey from 1453 to Oct. 13,1923. (For the history of Istanbul before the Turkish conquest in 1453 seeCONSTANTINOPLE.) As the capital of the Ottoman Empire it became a major trade and industrial center owing to its extremely favorable location. The strategic importance of the Black Sea straits facilitated the growth and strengthening of the city. When the Ottoman Empire began to decline in the late 17th century, the European powers struggled for control over Istanbul and the straits. The conflict was part of the Eastern Question, which contributed to the outbreak of World War I.

The first Turkish workers’ organizations were founded in Istanbul in the early 20th century, and a Communist group arose here in 1918. During the national liberation struggle of the Turkish people (1918–22), and especially after the Entente troops occupied Istanbul on Mar. 16,1920, the city was the stronghold of the reactionary sultan and his entourage. But even under these conditions the patriots of Istanbul supported the national liberation struggle that had begun in Anatolia. On Oct. 6,1923, nationalist Turkish troops entered Istanbul, and later that month the capital of Turkey was transferred to Ankara.

Some 2,200 of Turkey’s industrial enterprises are located in Istanbul and its suburbs, including about one-third of the country’s manufacturing enterprises. The city’s food and condiments industry produces flour, meat and dairy products, confectionery, alcoholic beverages, and tobacco products. The city also manufactures textiles, clothing, leather footwear, chemicals, cement, and wood products. Its machine-building industry includes shipbuilding, electrical-engineering, and assembly plants. Another major industry is printing. The largest enterprises are factories producing tobacco products, matches, light bulbs, and motor vehicles.

Istanbul is a major transportation nexus. A main railroad line connecting Central Europe with Turkey, Syria, and Iraq passes through the city. The Istanbul harbor extends along part of the Bosporus, the Golden Horn, and the northeastern part of the Sea of Marmara. Istanbul handles up to 40 percent of the country’s import cargo (holding first place among Turkey’s ports) and about 15 percent of the export freight (second place). In 1973 the port handled 6.3 million tons, or 15 percent of the freight turnover of the Turkish ports. The city has an international airport. The largest Turkish banks and various foreign insurance companies and agencies are located in the city.

The Golden Horn, an inlet, divides the European part of the city into two parts: Eminönü, or Old City, and Beyoğlu, or New City. Situated on a peninsula south of the inlet, the Old City, with its narrow streets and numerous mosques, has essentially preserved its medieval appearance. Lying north of the entrance to the Golden Horn, the New City includes Karaköy (formerly Galata), a trade and port district, and Beyoglu proper (formerly Pera), a business and cultural center. The third part of the city, Üsküdar, is situated on the Asian mainland and includes villas along the Sea of Marmara (Moda District) and large army barracks. Ferries and bridges connect the different parts of Istanbul. The longest bridge, a 1,560-m bridge across the Bosporus, was built between 1970 and 1973.

Modern Istanbul owes its appearance to the architecture of three epochs. Byzantine architecture is represented by the ruins of fortress walls, imperial palaces, and a hippodrome, as well as by underground cisterns and churches. Under Turkish rule most of the churches were converted into mosques, among them the fifth-century basilica of St. John of Stoudios (Imrahor Cami); the Hagia Sophia; the Church of St. Irene, built in 532 and rebuilt between the sixth and eighth centuries; the sixth-century Church of SS. Sergius and Bacchus (Kücük Aya Sofya); the seventh-century Church of St. Andrew (Koca Mustafa Cami); the Church of St. Theodosia (Gül Cami), built in the second half of the ninth century; the Myrelaion (Bodrum Cami), constructed in the first half of the tenth century; the Church of St. Theodore (Vefa Kilise Cami), built between the second half of the 11th century and the 14th century; the 12th-century Pantokrator complex (Zeyrek Kilise Cami); and the church of the Chora Monastery (Kariye Cami), rebuilt in the 12th century and containing mosaics from the early 14th century.

Dating from the Turkish Middle Ages are the fortresses of Anadolu Hisari (late 14th century), Rumeli Hisari (1452), and Yedikule (1455). Among the finest mosques of this period are the Fatih Cami (built in the 15th century and rebuilt after it was destroyed in the 18th century), the Mosque of Sultan Bayazid (1497 to 1503 or 1505, architect Kemaleddin), the Sehzade Mosque (1548, architect Sinan), the Suleiman Mosque (1550–57, architect Sinan), the Yeni Cami (1597–1663), and the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed (1609–17, architect Mehmet Aga). Noteworthy secular structures in the Topkapi palace complex include the Çinili Kiosk (1472, architect Kemaleddin), the Erivan Pavilion (1635), and the Baghdad Pavilion (1638). The city was built up with houses whose second story projected over the narrow streets. Several outstanding fountains date from this period.

In the 18th century the architecture of Istanbul yielded to West European influences. Eclectic buildings were erected in the 19th century and functionalist buildings in the 20th century. Modernization of the city began in the 1950’s with the laying out of thoroughfares and intensified housing construction. Examples of the large public buildings and hotels being erected include the Hilton Hotel (1952, by the American architectural firm SOM and the Turkish architect Elde) and the Cultural Center (1969. by H. Tabanloğlu).

Istanbul has three universities: the University of Istanbul, the Technical University of Istanbul, and the Bogazichi University. Other higher educational institutions include the Istanbul Academy of Economics and Commercial Science, the Academy of Fine Arts, and the Conservatory. Among learned societies are the Turkish Medical Society, the Turkish Biological Society, and the Chemical Society. The largest libraries are the Istanbul University Library, the Technical University Library, the Süleyma-niye Library, and the Beyazit Library.

The principal museums are the Hagia Sophia Museum, the Istanbul Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Painting and Sculpture, the Topkapi Palace Museum, and the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art. Theatrical performances are given at the Municipal, Kenter, Harbye. Fatih. Gültepe, and Kadyköy theaters and at the Maxim Opera Hall.

REFERENCES

Iusupov, A. P. Stambul. Moscow, 1970.
Kömürcüyan, E. C. Istanbul tarihi. Istanbul, 1952.
Mantran, R. La Vie quotidienne à Constantinople. Paris, 1965.