Tourist Pages

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul Photo Gallery by Victor Ovies

Straddling the Bosphorus, its skyline studded with domes and minarets, Istanbul is one of the truly great romantic cities. Its history tracks back from Byzantium to Constantinople to its place at the head of the Ottoman Empire. Today it hums as Turkey's cultural heart and good-time capital. In this sprawling, continent-spanning city you can tramp the streets where crusaders and janissaries once marched; admire mosques that are the most sublime architectural expressions of Islamic piety; peer into the sultan's harem; and hunt for bargains in the Kapalı Çarşı (Grand Bazaar).

Istanbul extends both on the European (Rumelia) and on the Asian (Anatolia) side of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world which is on two continents.

The daily life in Istanbul which continues side by side with the fussily protected Roman, Byzantine and Turkish monuments is colourful and live. Istanbul can be considered as the capital of Turkey in terms of commerce, entertainment, culture, education, shopping, tourism and art activities. More than half of the population lives and mostly works in the European side. The large amount of people living in the residential areas in the Anatolian side uses the bridges and sea transportation to go to work every day in the city which has been the most popular stop for the voyagers throughout the history.

The best times of year to visit Istanbul are from April to June and September to October, roughly the months of spring and autumn respectively. During these months, temperatures are in the consistently mild range of 16-25°C (61-77°F) and the humidity is not too bad, plus the crowds aren't as big a nuisance as in the summer months. The winter months from November to February have the highest rainfall (80-100mm/30-40in per month), and it's when spirits are most likely to be dampened.