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Istanbul, formerly Constantinople (Nova Roma) and before that Byzantium,
lies at the point where Europe and Asia meet on the Bosphorus. The only
city in the world to be on two continents, this is Turkey's most
important and diverse city from both a cultural and economic
perspective. Officially, Istanbul currently (2014) has over 14,000,000
inhabitants. Due to the strong influx of Turks and Kurds from Eastern
Anatolia and people from other nations, especially from the Islamic
countries of the former Soviet Union, experts assume a population of
between 15 and 20 million. The east/west stretch is over one hundred
kilometers, the north/south stretch is around 50km.
Istanbul is
located on the strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara with
the Golden Horn as a natural port. Due to its strategically favorable
location, the Greeks founded around 660 BC. the city of Byzantium. In
the following centuries the city was under changing influences until it
was 146 BC. connected to Rome as a free city. Under Emperor Constantine
the Great (AD 306 - 337), Christianity became the state religion and the
city prevailed over Alexandria Troas to become the "Nova Roma" (New
Rome). Only a little later the name Constantinople prevailed. In the
year 476 AD the Western Roman Empire disintegrated, whereas the Eastern
Roman Empire with Constantinople as its capital remained in existence
for almost 1000 years. During the Crusades (1095 - 1204) the city was
badly plundered by the "Christians", including the Venetian Doge Enrico
Dandolo. Later, peoples from the East advanced into Asia Minor and
conquered large parts of the Eastern Roman Empire until finally only
Constantinople remained, which was finally taken by the Turks under
their Sultan Mehmet Fatih (the Conqueror) in 1453. Now the Ottoman
Empire became a world power, whose expansion only ended with the failed
siege of Vienna around 1683.
In the 19th century the Ottoman
Empire suffered numerous defeats and lost large areas, Greece became
independent, and the Balkan states established themselves. The term
"sick man on the Bosphorus" refers to this time. During the First World
War, Turkey stood by Germany and its allies and was eventually occupied
by Allied troops and - with the consent of Sultan Mehmet VI. - be
completely smashed and divided among the neighboring countries. Under
the Turkish general Mustafa Kemal Paşa (Atatürk), the Turks successfully
organized the resistance and founded the Turkish Republic in 1923.
Turkey got a modern constitution based on Western European models
(separation of church and state, equal rights for women, compulsory
education, etc.), İstanbul lost its status in favor of Ankara as the
capital of the young republic. For decades, İstanbul lay dormant before
an upswing began in the 1990s, which has accelerated sharply to this day
and has placed the city among the world leaders in terms of population
and economic growth. Many areas and places in Anatolia already have
"their" quarters in Istanbul, where more people now live than in their
original homeland. The mass influx of poor and conservative religious
people from eastern Anatolia to the greater Istanbul area has made the
rise of the Islamic Welfare Party possible. Its highest representative,
the current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was formerly Mayor of
Istanbul.
For centuries, Istanbul was a city of diversity and
contrasts: due to its geographical location, the city has always been a
preferred trading center and cosmopolitan due to the tolerant attitude
of the Turkish sultans: in addition to Turks, many Greeks, Jews,
Armenians, Genoese and others lived here. The Greeks were still subject
to severe reprisals in the middle of the last century, so that their
number has now greatly decreased. Today, Istanbul is a city of stark
contrasts between rich and poor, between modern Central European and
conservative Islamic.
The name Byzantium is now obsolete. The term Constantinople, on the
other hand, is still used at times, but then it usually refers to the
oldest part of the city on the peninsula around Sultanahmet. The entire
urban area is now also known internationally as Istanbul (Turkish:
İstanbul). Other common terms:
Konstantinopoulis
(Constantinople): The still common Greek term, not only among
revisionists.
Carigrad (imperial city) or variations thereof:
obsolete designation in several Slavic languages. i.a. the main arterial
road from Sofia to the southeast is named Carigradsko Šosse.
The name
Istanbul itself can be derived from the Greek and comes from the saying
I Stin Polis (in the city; in the city), thus indicating the
supra-regional meaning: Istanbul is the city, everything else is
province.
Regarding all of the following information (costs for entrance fees and transport, etc., opening times, information that connects Central Europeans with timetables, etc.), it should be noted that things can change at any time in a country like Turkey, but do not necessarily have to. Therefore, all information here must be seen as without guarantee. Really up-to-date information can only be obtained on site. Only one thing is certain in Istanbul: Chaos reigns here! The amazing and beautiful thing about it: It still works!
The absolute highlights
Topkapi Palace
. Former residence of the sultans until 1853, in the treasury with art
treasures that are unique in the world. Open: Wed-Mon (Apr-Oct)
9:00-18:45, (Nov-Mar) until 16:45. Price: Museum 60 TL, + Harem 30 TL, +
Hagia Irene 35 TL. Accepted forms of payment: cash.
Haghia Sophia or Aya Sofya (Saint Wisdom)
(Aya Sofia). For a long time the most important church in Christianity,
rededicated into a mosque after the conquest, used as a museum between
1934 and 2020 and used again as a mosque from 2020 as a result of a
judge’s decision, which impairs classical art through the application of
pagan symbols. However, you are now walking on a very cozy green carpet.
Open: summer daily 9:00-19:00; Winter Tue-Sun 9:00-17:00. Price: free.
Accepted forms of payment: cash.
Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii).
Built under Sultan Ahmet I as part of a huge complex. It is also called
the Blue Mosque because of the blue tiled interior. Open: Sat-Thu
8:30-11:00, 13:00-14:00, 15:30-16:45.
Sülemaniye Mosque (Süleymaniye
Camii). This mosque is considered by many to be the most perfect
structure of Ottoman architecture.
At Meydanı (Atmeydanı, Former
Hippodrome), Binbirdirek Mh., Sultan Ahmet Parkı No. 2 . Here was the
Roman hippodrome, the racecourse, today there are still three famous
columns here: Dikilitas, Yılan Sütün, Örme Sütün.
Yerebatan Sarnıcı
(Sunken Palace, also Yerebatan Sarayı or Yerebatan Cistern). Largest
historical water reservoir from Byzantine times. Open: 9:00-18:30.
Price: Special price for foreigners 20 TL.
Galata Bridge (Galata
Köprüsü). The Galata Bridge is described by many as the very heart of
Istanbul.
Beylerbeyi Sarayı (Beylerbeyi Palace; on the European bank of the Bosphorus near the Kabataş tram stop. Also best accessible by ferry, Beylerbeyi pier). Main residence of the Sultan since 1853. Both the palace and the harem (including Atatürk's deathbed) can only be visited as part of a guided tour. The tours take place every 20 minutes in Turkish and English. Open: Tue-Sun 9:00-17:00, Dolmabahçe until 16:00. Price: Dolmabahçe 60 TL + Harem 40 TL + varies per outbuilding (daily number of tickets limited).
Rüstem Pasha Mosque (Rüstem Paşa Camii) . At Eminonu Square:
beautiful blue Iznik tiles.
New Mosque (Yeni Camii) .
Completed in 1663, on Eminonu Square, numerous pigeons, the
complex of this mosque includes the "Egyptian Bazaar"
Eyup Camii (Eyup Sultan Camii). Situated at the end of the
Golden Horn, best reached by boat, Istanbul's holiest
mosque, on the edge of an idyllic cemetery. Here are the
relics of the standard-bearer of Mohammed, is visited daily
by numerous pilgrims who swell to crowds of thousands on
Fridays and Sundays, so a tourist visit on another day of
the week is recommended. Walking uphill through the cemetery
you come to a nice vantage point, the Piyer Loti Cafe (named
after Pierre Loti, French writer, 1805-1923, who was a
frequent guest here). This place can also be reached by
cable car.
Mosque of Conqueror Mehmet II (Fatih Camii).
Built 1463-1470, destroyed by an earthquake in 1677, rebuilt
1767-1771, large mosque complex with kitchens, hospital,
Koran schools etc., today a center for religious Turks.
Prince Mosque (Şehzade Camii) . Located near the Şehzadebaşi
traffic junction and the Valens Aqueduct, the "apprentice
piece" of the famous master builder Sinan, in a beautiful
park.
Tulip Mosque (Laleli Camii). Located between
Aksaray transport hub and University on Ordu Caddesi, pretty
mosque built in 1663, with a small bazaar in the basement.
Beyazıt Mosque (Beyazıt Camii). In the university district,
built at the beginning of the 16th century, very beautiful
cleaning fountain, is currently being extensively restored
(June 2015).
Sultan Selim I Mosque (Selimiye Camii).
Located in the Fener district on one of the hills of
Istanbul, completed in 1522, beautiful tile decoration.
Mihrimah Mosque (Mihrimah Camii). Located on the city wall
near Edirnekapı, a work by the architect Sinan from 1555, it
has been restored almost "to death" in recent years and
looks like new! (as of June 2015)
Nuruosmaniye Mosque
(Nuruosmaniye Camii). Just east of the Grand Bazaar,
completed in 1756, Baroque style.
Sapphire Center (Istanbul Sapphire). Shopping and conference
center opened in 2011 with a viewing platform on the 55th
floor. This is the tallest building in Turkey, but it costs
18 lira to enter the elevator and there are no stairs.
Location in Sisli, the metro stops in the basement, station
4.levent, not to be confused with levent.
Column of
Constantine or Burnt Column (Çemberlitaş). Located near the
tram station of the same name and the Grand Bazaar. Column
erected in 330 with a statue of Emperor Constantine, in 1105
it was severely damaged, the top three segments and the
effigy fell to the ground and were destroyed. Later, the
remains of the column had to be secured with iron collars.
Aya Irini (Hagia Irene - Irene Church). located in the parks
of Topkapı Sarayı, probably built around 300, largely
unadorned inside today, usually only open for concerts (very
good acoustics); the council of 381 took place here, and in
Ottoman times the church served as a depot. Various
excavations (remains of buildings, columns, etc.) can be
visited in the immediate vicinity.
Fethiye Camii - former
Pammakaristos monastery church. Email: contact@muze.gen.tr .
located in the district of Fener, one part is used today as
an Islamic prayer house, in another part very beautiful
mosaics can be seen, advance booking (at Hagia Sophia)
necessary.
Little Hagia Sophia (Küçük Ayasofya) .
formerly Sergios and Bacchus Church. Located between the
Blue Mosque and the Sea of Marmara, it was part of Emperor
Justinian's palace.
Covered Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı). around
4500 shops offer a lively and colorful picture,
unfortunately very much geared towards tourists today, but
you can still find small (art) handicraft businesses. See
"Shopping" for more information. Grand Bazaar, Grand Bazaar
Istanbul.
Theodosian City Wall. Approx. 6700m long late
antique fortress from the Sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn,
numerous gates (Edirne Kapı, Sulukule Kapı, Top Kapı etc.),
Yedikule (Seven Towers Fortress) on the Sea of Marmara.
Tekfur Palace (Tekfur Sarayı). located at the Theodosian
city wall near the Chora monastery church (Kariye Camii
Müzesi), ruins of a former imperial palace.
Rumeli Hisari
Fortress. Fortress at the narrowest point of the Bosphorus.
Galata Tower (Galata Kulesi) . Height: 66.90m, diameter:
8.95m, wall thickness: 3.75m, landmark of Beyoğlu district,
beautiful view, elevator (25.00TL, as of March 2017)
restaurant, nightclub.
Maiden's Tower (Kız Kulesi) .
legendary tower on a small island in the Bosphorus, near the
Asian district of Üsküdar, beautiful view, cafe, restaurant.
A detail for lovers: in the entrance area of the main post
office in the district of Sirkeci there is a large, many
decades old thermometer. It has two scales (Fahrenheit /
Centigrade) and, appropriately, indicates a third
temperature in addition to the freezing point ("glace") and
the human body temperature ("chaleur humaine"): "Senegal",
at 47 °C.
Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarayı)
Baths of Roxelana (Haseki Hürrem Hamami)
New Mosque (Yeni Cami)
Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı)
Note: For the state museums mentioned here, i.e. for the most
important ones, there is a museum pass for TL 85.--, which is valid for
five days and entitles you to visit each museum once. It not only saves
money, but also the sometimes long queues in front of the cash register.
This pass is available at the ticket offices of all participating
museums. Attention, something changes here often, currently you get e.g.
B. the museum pass for TL 85 for 72 hours, but it is valid for 5 days!
(June 2015)
Archaeological Museum (Arkeoloji Müzesi), Osman Hamdi
Bey Yokuşu Sokak, Gülhane (in the immediate vicinity of Topkapı Sarayı,
tram stop: Gülhane; ferry: Eminönü) one of the most important museums of
its kind, Anatolia and Troy exhibitions, exhibition "8000 years
Istanbul, Alexander Sarcophagus, Children's Museum etc. Closed on
Mondays.
Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art (Türk ve Islam Eserleri
Müzesi; located at At Meydani tram stop) . Sultanahmet; Faience art,
metalwork, carpets, etc. Generously laid out, numerous explanations also
in English and pleasantly warm on hot summer days. Price: TL 30.
Mosaic Museum (Mozaik Müzesi). in the immediate vicinity of the Blue
Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii), beautiful mosaics from the Byzantine
period. The entrance is somewhat hidden in the Arista Bazaar. A small
but nice museum with very good descriptions, also in German! Open:
closed on Mondays. Price: TL20.
Chora Monastery Church (Kariye Camii
Müzesi) . former Byzantine church near the land wall at Edirnekapı, the
best preserved and most famous mosaics from Byzantine times, entrance
fee TL 45. Restoration work is currently (September 2018) in progress.
The whole building is scaffolded and only the vestibule can currently be
visited inside. Open: closed on Wednesdays.
Sakıp Sabancı Museum.
Museum of Sabancı University in Emirgan, Ottoman calligraphy and
paintings. The museum pass is not valid here!
Pera Museum (Pera
Muzesi). Phone: +90 (0)212 334 99 00, email: info@peramuzesi.org.tr.
Near Istiklal Caddesi, in the former Hotel Bristol in Tepebaşı,
traditional and contemporary Turkish art. The museum pass is not valid
here! Payment types accepted: cash, debit card.
Santral Istanbul.
Museum complex in Silahtarağa in Eyüp district, in a former coal-fired
power plant (santral). The museum pass is not valid here. Open: Tue –
Sun, 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Price: TL7.
Istanbul Modern (İstanbul Modern) .
since December 2004 in an old warehouse in the port of Karaköy,
permanent and changing exhibitions of paintings by Turkish artists from
the 19th century to the present day. The museum pass is not valid here,
but you can buy it there.
Industrial Museum (Rahmi M. Koç Müzesi).
located on the Golden Horn near the highway bridge, Hasköy Vapur
İskelesi ship station, carriages, bicycles, cars, ships, a submarine and
others. The museum pass is not valid here!
Constantinople City Walls
Location: Hisaraltı Cd 19-25, Sümbül Efendi Mh.
Constantinople City Walls are early medieval military fortifications that were constructed by the Byzantine Emperors to defend medieval Istanbul against attacks. Constantinople was protected by several defensive walls, however most famous were constructed in the 5th century by Byzantine Emperor Theodosius. Constantinople City Walls were built in 408- 13 AD under supervision of architect Anthimius. Destructive earthquake of 447 AD badly damaged parts of the wall, but it was subsequently renovated. For additional protection of a wall Byzantine engineers dug a massive ditch around the defenses. Constantinople was protected by three layers of city walls. The inner city wall was the largest and the tallest of the three. It was strengthened with over 100 towers that have six to eight corners. Its semi round layout was intended to deflect projectiles thrown by the enemy. Istanbul grew significantly in the late 19th and early 20th century. In 1980 it forced UNESCO to put Constantinople City Walls under its protection. Whole regions of the original medieval wall were reconstructed to its original form and appearance.
In addition to the classic sightseeing, which is already extensive
enough, Istanbul offers numerous opportunities for activities that
represent exotic charms for Central Europeans. What you should not go to
Istanbul for is water sports, which can be practiced better elsewhere.
Although there are baths by the sea, the water quality is not really
good anywhere, there are also very dangerous currents for swimmers, and
you cannot venture far into the water anywhere. You should quickly
forget the perhaps attractive plan to swim across the Bosporus from
Europe to Asia (at the narrowest point that would be only 660 m).
Swimming in the Golden Horn is by no means recommended. Although the
water quality has improved significantly since the construction of the
new Galata Bridge and the demolition of numerous small factories and
businesses that used to discharge their sewage untreated into the sea,
numerous jellyfish and other inconveniences make it inadvisable to go
there to swim. You can enjoy bathing pleasures in Istanbul in the
following institution:
hammam
A visit to the hammam (Turkish
steam bath) is a welcome change from sightseeing and gives you the
opportunity to get to know another culture from a different perspective.
The Turkish bathing culture is rooted on the one hand in the religious
rules of Islam (regular cleaning under running (!) water, on the other
hand in the bathing culture of the Roman Empire. Most hammams in
Istanbul are many hundreds of years old and are also worth a visit for
this reason. Architecturally there is a hammam with a central dome
around which smaller domes are arranged.The floor, often still heated
from below, and the walls are made of marble.
A visit to the
hammam should go something like this: After entering the hamam, you are
assigned a changing room and a kind of loincloth, called a peştamal. You
enter one of the side domes, where you can warm up and pre-cleanse, or
go straight into the main dome, where you can lie down on the platform
in the middle of the room, the so-called navel stone, to sweat. In one
or more secondary domes are small water basins, each with a hot and a
cold water tap. With the help of a tin bowl you can pour water over
yourself. After you have sweated for at least half an hour and your
pores have opened, you are called by the lifeguard (Tellak) and washed
from head to toe. This is done with a rough washcloth so that the top
(dead) layer of skin comes off and can be washed away, for which purpose
water is repeatedly poured over the skin. Afterwards you get a massage
after being wrapped in a thick layer of soap foam for a final and
thorough cleaning. This massage can be quite rough, the lifeguard pulls
and tugs at the limbs, presses on the spine that it cracks again and
again, but the Turkish masseurs are true masters of their trade and
"straighten your bones again". Finally, you are dried off and sit,
wrapped in towels, in a cooling room and can have drinks brought to you.
This process can vary slightly depending on the hammam and should
take at least about 2 hours. Traditionally, the sexes are strictly
separated, although there are sometimes no full-time washerwomen in the
women's department, but instead the visitors wash and massage each
other. Women can be completely naked here, while men always wear their
peştamal around their waists (nor are they touched by the washer or
masseur in this region). Recently, there have also been mixed hammams
for men and women for tourists, women are usually provided with a bikini
in the design of the Peştamal, the bathing staff here can consist of men
and women, but also only men. The prices in such hammams are usually
significantly higher. In addition, the massage treatment in tourist
hammams is often not very "Turkish", i.e. comparatively rough, but in a
rather soft way.
The quality of the services offered and the
prices vary greatly between the individual hammams. It is advisable to
look at the website (easily found via Google) for the individual hammams
and also study the reviews on the Internet - similar to those for
hotels.
A visit to a good hammam is an experience in itself that
should not be missed. Afterwards you feel like "reborn" and have the
feeling that you have never been so clean.
Some Hamamı in
Istanbul:
1 Ayasofya Hürrem Sultan Hamamı (Haseki Hamamı). The bath
was built in 1556 and named after the scheming chief wife Süleyman I
Roxelane.
2 Çemberlitas Hamamı . The hamam was built in 1584 by the
most famous Ottoman architect, Mimar Sinan.
3 Cağaloğlu Hamamı .
allegedly one of the 1000 places on earth that one is said to have
visited before one dies, has received some bad reviews as a tourist
rip-off.
Galatasary Hamamı
4 Suleymaniye Hamamı. almost 500 years
old, mixed hammam aimed at tourists (note: only mixed groups and
families are admitted, no singles either!)
Gedikpaşa Hamamı. Built in
1457, in the bazaar district.
Tarihi Vezneciler Hamamı, near the
university district, Bozdoğan Kemeri Caddesi No. 2. Built in 1481, still
very traditional but mixed (!) Hamam.
Tarihi Nişancı Hamamı, Türkeli
Caddesi 29, not far from Laleli Camii.
Çinili Hamamı, in Üsküdar
(Asian shore), near the mosque of the same name.
In general, it
is advisable to visit a hammam at a time when it is not very busy, as
otherwise the treatment can be a bit like an assembly line. Peak
activity usually prevails in bad weather and from the late afternoon. It
makes sense to call in advance (if necessary through the hotel). The
tourist Süleymaniye Hamami offers a solid service, but it is advisable
to visit at a time when it is still not very busy, i.e. first thing in
the morning at 10 am!
cooking classes
Cooking courses are
offered by various providers. First we shop together, then Turkish
dishes are prepared in small groups and eaten together.
5
Istanbul Cooking School, Tarlabasi Bulv. No:117 D:2, Beyoğlu. Tel.: +90
545 554 6677. Courses in German. Open: Every day 10.30 a.m. – 3.30 p.m.
or 3.00 p.m. – 8.00 p.m. Price: The course costs 65 US dollars, which
can also be paid in lira or euros.
6 cookistan istanbul cooking
classes. Tel.: +90 535 574 50 10. Courses in German. Open: Every day
9.15 a.m. – 2.30 p.m. or 4.00 p.m. – 9.00 p.m. Price: The course costs
110 US dollars, in cash, no credit cards
bus tours
Various
providers offer bus tours to sights in Istanbul. Hop-on/hop-off is
usually offered, you buy a ticket for 24 hours or longer and can get on
and off at the stops as often as you like during this time. The offers
are not cheap compared to other European cities, but they offer the
opportunity to visit some of the main sights in a short time without
much preparation. Tours mostly start from Sultan Ahmed Square between
the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia next to the main road.
Get
YourGuide. Price: A 24-hour ticket costs around €30, for a family with 2
children €90.
Big Bus Tours. Price: A 24-hour ticket costs around
€30, for a family with 2 children €75.
Relaxation with a
difference: the hookah
After it seemed almost forgotten, it has
experienced a renaissance in recent years: the water pipe, called
nargile in Turkish. Although there has been a strict smoking ban in
public spaces in Turkey for several years, which is surprisingly largely
complied with, it is permitted outdoors. In addition to eating Turkish
sweets, enjoying tea or coffee, you can also have a water pipe brought
to you in such establishments. The service brings hygienic disposable
plastic mouthpieces for each person, regularly puts on new charcoal, and
so nothing can stand in the way of several hours of enjoyable "chilling"
between soft cushions. Board games (chess, checkers, backgammon) are
usually also available. All in all, a very inexpensive pleasure that not
only tourists, but above all locals pay homage to.
The hookah
tobacco is also flavored with natural substances. So it smells like
apple, banana, peach and other things in Nargile cafes. The nice thing
about it: It doesn't stink at all. Even after a long evening in a closed
room, skin, hair and clothes do not smell like cold tobacco smoke at all
the next day. A circumstance that has turned otherwise militant
non-smokers into enthusiastic hookah smokers. There are different
opinions about the harmfulness of this type of smoking. The fact is that
numerous substances (tar, etc.) are filtered out by the water, which
gradually takes on a brown colour.
Regular events
Turkey
celebrates its founding on October 29th. On the national holiday,
streets and public squares are decorated with the Turkish flags and
there are ceremonies such as speeches, or orchestra and dance
performances in the different parts of the city during the day. The
highlight, however, takes place in the evening between the Maiden's
Tower and the Bosphorus Bridge. At 7:00 p.m. the celebration begins with
a light show, from 7:30 p.m. the big fireworks display at Ortaköy Square
starts, reaching a height of up to 250m over the Bosphorus, with
appropriate background music.
By plane
Istanbul has two international commercial airports (the
former Atatürk International Airport, which can still be found in some
old travel guides, was closed in 2019):
Istanbul Airport
Istanbul New Airport (IATA: IST) has been operational since April 2019.
It is 50 km northwest of the city and is one of the most modern and
largest airports in the world.
There are connections from the
German-speaking countries from numerous airports, whereby Austrian
Airlines and SWISS, for example, have discontinued their routes due to
the omnipresence of Turkish Airlines, which serves some destinations
many times a day:
Turkish Airlines from Basel, Berlin, Bremen,
Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Graz, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne/Bonn,
Leipzig/Halle, Munich, Nuremberg, Salzburg, Stuttgart, Vienna and Zurich
Lufthansa from Frankfurt am Main
Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen Airport
Since 2001, Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen Airport (IATA: SAW) (Turkish: Sabiha
Gökçen Hava Limanı) has existed on the Asian side about 30 km south-east
of the Üsküdar district domestic traffic is used.
If you change
here from a Turkish domestic flight to an international flight, your
luggage will be checked through, but you have to wait in line at the
exit and security check. The lines are long here even in the off-season.
If you are really in a hurry, you will be offered a “fast track” card
for €10, without a receipt, with which you can use the diplomatic
counter. Transfer times of less than two hours can be very tight. In the
transit area, there are plenty of shops and fast food restaurants on the
upper level, but no information or service from the airlines. There are
few sockets, you have to look for working ones.
The following
airlines fly direct to Istanbul-Sabiha Gökçen from German-speaking
countries:
Hub is here for Pegasus Airlines. From Basel, Berlin,
Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna
and Zurich. Numerous transfer connections to former Soviet republics and
the eastern Mediterranean.
Lufthansa's joint venture with Turkish,
the holiday airline with precarious working conditions SunExpress, also
has a hub here. From Berlin, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main,
Hamburg, Hanover, Münster/Osnabrück, Munich, Stuttgart, Vienna and
Zurich.
arrival
Also from Sabiha Gökçen Airport there are
airport buses every half hour from 3.30 a.m. to 1.00 a.m. for 15 TL (May
2019; Havaş bus routes) e.g. to Taksim Square. The express bus E10 of
the Istanbul transport company to the port in Kadikoy (timetable) is
much cheaper (approx. €2.00) and not slower, from where you can also
quickly take the ferry (approx. €0.40) to the European part can reach.
The buses start right in front of the airport building. A taxi costs
around €50. Airport transfers by minibus (up to 6 people) are available
from around €25 (Anatolian side).
Car rental companies are in the
arrivals hall. There is also a post office and lockers there.
By
train
Trains to Asia used to depart from Haydarpaşa Station, located
on the Asian shore. To get from one station to the other, you took a
ferry across the Bosphorus. The train station was abandoned after the
Bosporus Tunnel was put into operation, and the beautiful station
building is to be converted into a hotel. Due to the complete
restructuring of rail traffic that began in 2012 and is scheduled to be
completed in 2031, there is no real "main station" due to the
construction of tunnels and high-speed lines, but rather several stops
that also offer transfers to the Marmaray local railway line:
Bakırköy Train Station (Bakırköy Tren İstasyonu; Metro M3). Also
regional trains to Kapıkule, Çerkezköy and Uzunköprü.
Söğütlüçeşme
Train Station (Söğütlüçeşme Tren İstasyonu; several Metrobüs lines).
Tel: +90 (216) 345-0997. YHT to Ankara and Konya. Security checks before
access to the platform.
Sirkeci Railway Station (Sirkeci Garı).
Maramayray train station. In the historic train station is the railway
museum, which can be visited free of charge.
Connections to the
capital by YHT (bullet trains) are frequent during the day. At night,
the Ankara Express runs in eight hours, with further stops in the
Istanbul area in Bostancı, Pendik and Gebze. The departure time in both
cities is at 10 p.m. (as of 2021). Further intermediate stations are
İzmit, Arifiye, Eskişehir and Sincan.
International trains
The
few international trains from/to Europe (Sofia and Bucharest only)
operate from Istanbul-Halkali (from Sirkeci train station (25 km) the
local bus BN1 or a TCDD shuttle bus for ticket holders. Journey time up
to 90 minutes. The Marmaray bus is faster. Train.). Hardly any shops in
the station area, no ATM. The machines where you buy the Istanbul Kart
(50 TL without credit) only take cash, no credit cards. So, travelers
arriving in Halkali, it is best to bring at least 100 TL in cash with
them.
The train service to Edirne and further towards Eastern and
Central Europe is currently not taking place. The connection to
Thessaloniki was discontinued indefinitely due to the financial crisis
in Greece.
By bus
Buses operated by private bus companies are
the main carrier of public transport in Turkey. Price comparisons are
worthwhile, differences can be 20-25%. Traveling by bus only makes sense
within Turkey and the neighboring Balkans. All in all, traveling by bus
from Central Europe is hardly cheaper than a cheap flight (one-way
flights are offered for well under €100), but it is considerably more
strenuous and of course much more time-consuming.
Reservations
are recommended during public holidays, especially a week around Kurban
Bayramı (June 28, 2023) and the end of Ramadan (April 22, 2023);
otherwise tickets are easily available before departure.
Buyuk
Otogar
The Büyük Otogar, often also Esenler Otogar after the
district, with an area of more than 24 hectares, with 168 ticket
offices/departure terminals, shops, restaurants, a police station, metro
station, clinic and mosque, forms a small city in itself, which extends
over several floors. From here you can reach all destinations in Europe
and Turkey. There is a hotel on the top floor of each of the two wings.
Otogar (official: 15 Temmuz Şehirler Otogar, Esenler Otogar),
Bayrampaşa (Metro 1: Otogar. ISL Airport direct bus, 70 min. City buses:
39O, 75O, 76O, 83O, 91O, 303B, İST-3). Tel: +90 535 571 8966. Open: 24
h.
Harem Otogar
Mainly long-haul routes to the Asian part of
Turkey from this terminal on the Asian side.
Harem Otogar (It
takes 1 hour from Taksim Square. Ferry: Harem Sirkeci Gişeleri (from
Eminönü). Numerous buses to Harlem Perolar. Metro: Ayrılık Çeşmesi, at
Haydarpaşa Station: 1km walk. City buses 139 and 139 from/to Şile and
Ağva.). Departures to popular destinations such as Ankara or Antalya
almost always every hour.
Emniyet Otogar
Centrally located is
Emniyet Otogar (Aksaray; Metro 1A, 1B, 2: Yenikapı İstasyonu. Bus 80,
80T: Langa). Long-distance buses to the countries of the Balkans and to
Azerbaijan to Baku via Georgia (Tbilisi) and Iran. The two main
providers are Alpar Turizm and Vardar Turizm. Several travel agencies in
the surrounding streets.
In the street
Driving your own car to
Istanbul is definitely not worthwhile in times of cheap flights. From
Munich via Ljubljana, Belgrade, Sofia to Istanbul it's about 1800km, if
you don't want to drive via Bulgaria but via Greece, it's about 350km
more. You have to pay not insignificant tolls on the motorway sections.
In Istanbul itself, your own vehicle is only a hindrance and costs
parking fees. If, for whatever reason, you do not want to do without
your own vehicle, there is also an alternative car train between Villach
and Edirne at certain times, which in summer 2019 in the cheapest
compartment for a person with a car simply costs € 438. or various ferry
connections by ship from Italy.
By boat
Istanbul is an
important destination for numerous cruises. Until the completion of the
expansion of the new Galataport cruise terminal (probably 2020), cruise
ships will dock a little closer to the golden horn.
Hayderpasha
Cargo Dock (Haydarpaşa Limanı), Selimiye Mahallesi, 34668
Üskudar/Istanbul.
with another quay at the station
From
the Black Sea there are 2019 combined cargo/passenger ferries:
Ukrferry from Odessa-Chornomorsk, twice a week in 27 hours, in 2019 a
one-way trip in the cheapest cabin (m.V.) costs US$ 85. Single trips
make a stopover in Varna, Bulgaria.
In the summer, three passenger
ferries a week travel from Burgas in Bulgaria to Istanbul. Arrival in
Istanbul is early in the morning, so you can drive back after a day's
stay. Turkish passengers coming from Istanbul can enter Bulgaria without
a visa for 48 hours. Prices 2019 US$ 35-45.
road traffic
The traffic in Istanbul still seems completely
chaotic to a Central European. The inner city area is characterized by
narrow and often steep streets with cobblestones and potholes. A few
wide and multi-lane roads have to absorb the sometimes very heavy
traffic, there are often traffic jams and progress is very slow. The
driving style is characterized by alternating acceleration and braking,
legal traffic rules are still not observed, even red traffic lights are
often run over - also by the police - speed limits are hardly ever
observed. You can't say that they drive aggressively, somehow everyone
looks out for everyone else, but it is expected that - unless you're
standing in a traffic jam - you're expected to "swim with" the flow of
traffic just as quickly. For a driver unfamiliar with the area, this
means pure stress, because if you are "too slow" on the road, you are
constantly honked at, overtaken (often very closely) and cut off. It is
strongly recommended that if you have driven your own vehicle to
Istanbul, leave it in a secure car park and get around elsewhere. By the
way, motorways and the Bosphorus bridges are subject to tolls.
Eurasia Tunnel (Turkish Avrasya Tüp Tüneli; In Europe on Kennedy
Caddesi, in Asia on Harem İskele Caddesi). is a 5.4 km long road tunnel
under the Bosphorus. The passage is paved for trucks, buses, motorcycles
and bicycles. The tunnel shortens the travel time compared to the bridge
by about 1.5 hours. Price: car 19.20 TL, minibus 28.80 TL.
In
Europe on Kennedy Caddesi
In Asia at the Harem İskele
pedestrian traffic
In the historic center, which has been partly
traffic-calmed by numerous bollards, it is a good idea to get around on
foot with the help of a good city map. Orientation is relatively easy
due to the hill structure. On the top of every hill there is usually a
well-known mosque, heading "down" sooner or later you end up at the sea.
Watch out for cars, even in the narrowest streets, you will almost
always be honked at in good time. Beware of unsecured building pits and
entrances to shops and other rooms in the basement, the narrow and steep
stairs are always completely unsecured. Otherwise, "letting yourself
drift" through the alleys in the approximate direction of your
destination has its very special appeal, as you often discover
interesting details behind many corners and experience surprises.
Crossing one of the multi-lane highways when there are no (or only
one switched off) traffic lights or underpass far and wide can become an
adventure. Hardly any driver stops voluntarily, as a Central European
you have to step onto the road with a certain contempt for death and be
able to assess well whether the braking distance is sufficient for the
oncoming vehicle or whether there is enough space to avoid it. As a
consolation: No Turk will intentionally hit you or even run over you!
By bicycle
Cyclists used to be exotic in Istanbul. Apart from the
hill structure, the uneven cobblestones and the potholes, you risk an
accident: In contrast to a pedestrian, it is not agile enough to be able
to quickly avoid it, in contrast to the motorized road users it is too
slow, cycling in Istanbul is tedious and quite dangerous. But something
may change here, meanwhile you can see more and more cyclists here and
there. (as of 2015)
taxi
Taxis are quick and cheap to get
around. You can stop the uniformly yellow taxis (signed Taksi) with a
hand signal. Attention: Drivers often don't understand a street name
(there are too many of them). What is important is the name of the
district and the name of the destination (a specific sight, a hotel,
etc.). You should also make sure that the taximeter is switched on.
Hotels often work together with certain taxi drivers, who are then well
informed and do not have to look for a specific destination themselves.
However, one should bear in mind that the taxi is also hopelessly stuck
in traffic at certain times. Furthermore, it is often the case that taxi
drivers first drive from a point in the city center to the ring Kennedy
Cadddesi - Atatür Bulvarı, and there they continue in a circle until
they reach the city center again. This is often a big detour! It is
often advisable to walk, or - if possible - to use rail transport. Up
until the 1990s, Istanbuls were considered the most polite and honest in
the world. Rapid immigration, with numerous people fleeing the country
behind the wheel, has put an end to this.
A dolmuş is a shared
taxi (minibus) and costs a little more than regular city buses but less
than a taxi. They are easy to spot as they are yellow like the taxis and
have a dolmuş sign on the roof. Dolmuş drive through the city on fixed
routes, but are more flexible and sometimes make short detours to drop
someone off; you can also get on and off at any time. The destination is
on a sign behind the windshield and you pay based on distance (you
should check with local fellow drivers). In the meantime, however, the
dolmuşe mainly drive outside the touristically interesting areas and are
therefore hardly relevant for normal Istanbul tourists.
Local
public transport
istanbul card
The most convenient way to pay is
with the Istanbul card, which is the size of a credit card (Istanbul
Kart). It costs 50 TL (August 2022) and can always be recharged at the
machine. It is accepted on all public transport in Istanbul, with a
single journey costing about half that of a paper ticket. Several people
can ride it at the same time and children up to and including 5 years of
age ride for free.
You hold the card against a display at the
turnstiles or with the driver on the bus and can thus pass. One card can
also be used for several people. If each person has their own Istanbul
card, a discount is granted for the next means of transport when
changing within a certain period of time. Credits remain valid for two
years. It is already available at the airports and is highly recommended
for anyone who wants to use public transport more often. On the displays
you can see what amount is debited and how much credit is left on it.
People over 60 get a "social card," which is about a third cheaper.
The monthly pass called Mavi Kart pays off if you make three trips a day
without changing, or two with several changes.
By bus
The
city's bus network is very dense, unfortunately there are no binding
route or timetables. You stand at the bus stop and wait. When the bus
with the correct number comes by, hand signals to the driver that you
want to get on. Always get in with the driver so that you can pay with
the Istanbul Card (see below) at the machine. If you get on the back of
the bus when the bus is full, the driver will ask you to let the other
passengers pass your Istanbul Card to the front to pay.
The metro
bus network that opened a few years ago has led to a significant
reduction in individual transport. Metro buses run from 6:00 a.m. to
midnight on dedicated traffic areas from Avcılar on the European side to
Kadıköy (Sögütlüceşme) on the Asian side. They also cross the Bosphorus.
Subway
The subway (Metro) is being expanded rapidly, see the
route network plans. With the extension to Yenikapı you can then change
to the Metro/S-Bahn/ferry there. In Aksaray/Yusufpaşa there is a
possibility to transfer to the tram (Tramvay) to Kabataş.
tram
Istanbul has four tram lines (Tramvay), the most important for tourists
is the T1, which runs from Bağcilar to Kabataş via Zeytinburnu.
Operating hours approx. 6 a.m. to midnight. The clock is every 5 minutes
during the day, even at night you never wait longer than 10.
With
the Tünel, which has connected the northern bridgehead of the Galata
Bridge with Istiklal Caddesi since 1875, Istanbul has one of the oldest
subway lines in the world. Through this, the short route of the
nostalgia tram, line T2 (Nostalji Tram) leads along the
traffic-restricted Istiklal Caddesi today. There are cable car
connections at both end stops, the new Füniküler underground funicular
connects Kabataş with Taxim Square. From Beyoğlu it goes to Karaköy.
Routes (as of March 2022):
T1: Bağcilar (Metro M1B) ↔ Zeytinburnu
(Metro M1A) ↔ Topkapi (Tram 4) ↔ ↔ Aksaray (M1) ↔ Grand Bazaar ↔
Sultanahmet (Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia) ↔ Eminönü (T5 under
construction) ↔ Karköy ↔ Kabataş (T2 ).
T3: ring line in Kadikoy
T4: Topkapi (T1) ↔ Mescid-i Selam
T5: Alibeyköy Otogar ↔ Alibeyköy
(M7) ↔ Cibali ↔ [under construction] Eminonu
The suburban trains
of the Turkish State Railways were discontinued for several years due to
extensive changes in the rail infrastructure. The first line to go into
full operation in March 2019 was the new railway line called Marmaray,
which runs under the Bosphorus. It connects Gebze with Halkalı over
63km.
Ferries
Numerous ferries travel along the Golden Horn
and between the European and Asian parts of the city. Departure times
can be found on the website of the Şehir Hatları Municipal Shipping
Company. The ferries run at intervals of between 15 and 30 minutes,
departing between 6.30am and 7.30am and ending between 8.00pm and
10.30pm (about an hour shorter on Sundays and public holidays). The
conditions here change again and again, unfortunately you can only find
out for sure on site. Drinks and snacks are often offered on the ferries
at fair prices.
Such boats are the most beautiful and stress-free
way to explore Istanbul and offer fantastic views of the city. Central
Eminonu Ferry Terminal is at the southern end of the Galata Bridge. On
the left (west) of the bridgehead at Eminönü Haliç İskelesi, the ferry,
which runs along the Golden Horn on the Beşiktaş - Adalar route, leaves
once an hour, somewhat hidden. To the right of the bridgehead, the
ferries that travel along the Bosphorus and the frequent ferries to the
Asian shore to Üsküdar, the Harem bus station (also car ferry), the
Haydarpaşa train station and Kadıköy depart from three piers at Sirkeci
Terminali. From here you can also go directly to Hatti.
At the
northern end of the Galata Bridge there is the Karaköy Pier (not to be
confused with Kadıköy!), a little further north of Kabataş, where you
can transfer to the T1 tram line and the funicular to Taksim Square.
1 Grand Bazaar or Covered Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı). open Monday -
Saturday, 09.00 - 19.00, the visit is still an experience, today
unfortunately heavily geared towards tourists. There are still a few
traditional handicraft shops and shops with special goods. The prices
can be negotiated here, sometimes they are written down, but then often
- but not always - many times overstated. It is strongly recommended to
find out about the true value of a product beforehand! The old rule of
offering half the price quoted by the dealer and then meeting somewhere
in between can no longer be regarded as universally valid. Basically,
you have to assume that the prices are higher here.
2 Egyptian
Bazaar, Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı). in Eminonu, as the name suggests,
is a real paradise for the eyes and nose. Around the Egyptian Bazaar and
between it, the Grand Bazaar and the Süleymaniye Camii, there is a
myriad of shops and street vendors where you can get just about anything
in every imaginable quality, from food to textiles, jewellery, household
items, toys, tools to to counterfeit branded watches and counterfeit
Viagra. Here you can still experience pure oriental bazaar feeling, this
is where the locals shop.
3 Istiklal Caddesi. Pedestrian zone in the
Beyoğlu district, accessible from the Galata Bridge, also by subway
"Tünel". A stroll along this very Western-oriented promenade is also
highly recommended. International clothing companies have their branches
here, but there are also boutiques, bookshops, antiquarian shops, etc.
The shops there are often open late into the night. Also on the way
there around the Galata Tower there are numerous interesting shops.
4
Kadikoy internet (Kadıköy) . For those who want things to be more
tranquil and less touristy, there is a food market that is particularly
worth seeing in this district on the Asian shore, as well as original
antique shops, junk dealers and other interesting shops. Accessible by
ferry from Eminöni.
In normal shops outside of the Grand Bazaar,
the prices are posted and mostly non-negotiable. If they are not written
down, the customs of the Grand Bazaar apply: inform yourself well in
advance! If you are lucky enough to live in a small family-run hotel in
Istanbul, you can often get good tips from the hotel staff on where you
can buy something on serious terms.
You will often be approached
on the street and guided to "his" shop. Usually this is a smuggler and
receives a commission from the real owner of the shop, which is then
added to the price. However, there are many poor people in Istanbul who
have to earn their living - or part of it - in this way.
In
Istanbul, apart from most hotels and a few restaurants, you can
practically only pay with cash. Therefore, there are numerous ATMs,
where queues often form to withdraw money. You can also withdraw money
with credit cards or Maestro cards from most machines.
Weekly
markets - Semt Pazarları
Every day there is a weekly market in a
different district:
Monday: Sarıyer İstinye, Fatih Unkapanı,
Çengelköy Pazarı
Tuesday: Kadıköy Salı Pazarı, Beyoğlu Cihangir,
Beşiktaş Arnavutköy, Fatih Balat, Beykoz Anadolu Hisarı, Princes'
Islands Kınalıada Pazarı
Wednesday: Fatih Çarsamba Pazarı,
Eminönü Sultanahmet, Beşiktaş Ortaköy, Sarıyer Pazarı, Kadıköy Bostancı,
Uskudar Kuzguncuk, Princes' Islands Heybeliada Pazarı
Thursday:
Golden Horn Beyoğlu Sütlüce, Eminönü Kadırga, Şişli Feriköy, Prince
Islands Büyükada Pazarı
Friday: Eyüp Pazarı, Sarıyer Yeniköy,
Üsküdar Pazarı, Princes' Islands Burgazada Pazarı
Saturday:
Beşiktaş Pazarı, Golden Horn Beyoğlu Sütlüce, Beykoz Çayırda, Sarıyer
Hisarüstü
Sunday: Kasımpaşa İnegol Pazarı
Along with French and Chinese, Turkish cuisine is one of the most
well-known cuisines in the world. It is as colorful as the country's
cultural mosaic and consists of countless and different tastes. The
country's different climate zones play a major role in the development
of regional specialties. The eastern Black Sea coast is a good example
of this. Due to high rainfall, wheat cannot be grown there. Therefore,
corn and cornmeal are the staples of this cuisine. In contrast, the
Southeastern Anatolia region is famous for kebabs, as it is mainly used
for animal husbandry. As an olive depot, the Aegean is known for
delicious vegetable dishes. In addition, the dough pies of the
north-west region (Thrace) are very popular. The refined cuisine of
Istanbul is enriched by these different dishes of the regions.
In
general, Turkish cuisine is characterized by the varied preparation of
vegetables. A special feature here is the use of yoghurt. Meat dishes
usually consist of poultry, lamb and also beef. There is of course no
pork, it is only offered in very touristy restaurants, although the
quality often does not match the prices. Fresh fish and seafood are
available in abundance and at relatively low prices. For those with a
sweet tooth: there are countless dreamlike desserts!
The cost of
a meal varies greatly. Almost everywhere you can eat extensively (soup
and Main course with salad, if necessary also dessert) and drink. Bread
and water are usually free, mineral water, sodas, fruit juices and
alcoholic (these are not available everywhere) drinks have to be paid
extra. A glass of tea usually costs TL 2.-- (approx. € --.35). Of
course, the prices also depend heavily on the location of the respective
restaurant, which is why it is advisable to compare them; they are
usually posted on large menus in front of the restaurant. The quality of
the food is almost always very good, even in the simpler places that are
mostly frequented by the locals.
Alcohol is not served in many
bars, the best thing to get is raki, an aniseed schnapps that is drunk
diluted with water. Beer is only available in either touristy or
western-facing bars (e.g. in and around Istiklal Caddesi), is
comparatively expensive and is sold in quantities of 0.33, 0.5 (TL
10.--) and 0.7 l offered. Wine is only available in more expensive
restaurants. There is also Turkish wine, which by the way is not bad at
all!
Tourists sometimes like to be charged extra "service" or
"tax". Of course you can complain. However, waiters often earn very
poorly and try to improve their salary in this way. The writer of these
lines likes to look for a "regular place" during a stay in Istanbul.
From the second visit onwards, you will practically always be served
particularly attentively and in a friendly manner, and you will often
get a small dessert or tea for free at the end of the meal.
Caution is always advisable with purely touristic (organized) excursion
destinations: Here one does not expect the guest to come back and as
soon as he has taken a seat and ordered, he is only regarded as a victim
of rip-offs.
A new "sport" among the individual restaurants seems
to be that they fight for a good rating on the TripAdvisor Internet
portal. After paying, you are often asked to write a comment there. This
has the great advantage for the guests that they can find out about
places there in advance. In the restaurants that have been rated well in
the last time, you will most likely be served well and need not fear
"rip-off".
Edible and drinkable things are also available on every corner and end of the street: Freshly squeezed fruit juices (orange juice, pomegranate juice), chestnuts, grilled corn on the cob, doner kebab of course, and near the Golden Horn also mussels and fish rolls. Remember here that the hygienic standard can possibly cause problems for your Central European stomach and pay attention to fresh preparation. For a very quick snack, we warmly recommend the sesame rings, called Simit, which are available everywhere and are usually sold for TL 2.00.
Istanbul's nightlife is widely considered to be the most intense in
Europe, if not the world, at the moment. This applies above all to the
bohemian district of Beyoğlu, here in particular to the pedestrian zone
of Istiklal Caddesi between the Tünel mountain station and Taksim Square
and the adjacent streets. There are countless restaurants, cafes, bars,
jazz clubs, discotheques, etc. There is something for every taste,
orientation and budget. There is often live music of all kinds. Crowds
of people roll through Istiklal Caddesi in frightening masses every day
until morning. It's very exuberant here, everyone's clothing style is
allowed, the difference to the conservative parts of the city on the
other side of the Golden Horn could not be greater. A special experience
here is dinner on one of the numerous roof terraces, including a
fantastic view of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn.
North of
Taksim Square in the modern and posh districts of Nişantaşi and Levent,
the Turkish and international jet set meet, the bars could just as
easily be in Manhattan, e.g. B. the Buz bar. Ortaköy, the district at
the European bridgehead of the first Bosphorus bridge, is also chic and
expensive. Famous here is B. the Club Reina: This is where the super
rich dock their yachts, a bottle of vodka costs maybe € 300.--
In
Kumkapi, south-east of the center of Sultanahmet on the Sea of Marmara,
there are numerous fish restaurants, Roma bands play here in the
evening, many locals take their instruments with them, people sing,
dance and the raki flows in torrents. In the meantime it has become a
bit touristy, but still recommendable.
On the Galata Bridge there
are restaurants and bars under the roadway, right on the water on both
sides. Recommendation: enjoy the sunset on the west side of the bridge.
An indescribable atmosphere! A little caution is unfortunately
appropriate here: some tourists report rip-off methods here.
On
the Asian side, one could recommend the cozy district of Kadikoy.
Between old Greek and Armenian churches, a pedestrian zone with a flea
market, there are a few nice beer bars with a student, western-oriented
clientele - Istanbul women can also drink a beer here undisturbed and
foreigners are not constantly approached either. From the ferry landing
stage, take the main road uphill a bit and then keep to the right. By
the way: In Kadikoy at the port there is a gas balloon with which you
can climb 200m vertically into the air and view Istanbul from above.
There are now numerous accommodations in all categories and price
ranges in Istanbul. For tourists who are primarily interested in classic
sightseeing, hotels in the historic Sultanahmet district are the most
recommended alternative, here you often pay a little more "for the
location". Here you can also spend the night in style in old, often
lovingly restored wooden houses. The additional cost of being in the old
town is more than offset by the fact that you don't have to make the
often tedious journey by taxi over chronically congested streets and
don't have to cram into a crowded public transport system.
For
those who are more interested in nightlife, accommodation in the
vicinity of Taksim Square is recommended. Most of the luxury hotels,
some of which are exorbitantly expensive, are north of Taksim Square and
in the Beşiktaş district directly on the Bosphorus. Inexpensive
accommodation can be found in the Aksaray district, where business
people from the former Eastern Bloc countries prefer to spend the night.
There are many hostels in Istanbul (information and addresses). In
winter, an online reservation is not necessary. You can come by in
person and have the room shown to you. In summer, on the other hand,
booking in advance is highly advisable.
There are many local providers of Turkish lessons in Istanbul. The courses on offer range from crash courses to beginner courses to class size. The duration of the course is usually between one and 12 weeks.
Officially, EU citizens are not allowed to work without a special work permit. You only get this if you sign a contract with a potential employer who submits an application to the Ministry of Labor and this application is also approved. You also need a special permit to stay in Turkey for more than 3 months at a time. However, after the three-month stay has expired, it is possible to travel to a neighboring country for a day as a tourist and then re-enter the country on a tourist visa.
You should be careful in every metropolis. Usual precautions apply.
Extreme opposites collide in Istanbul: Open-minded people, educated
according to European standards, as you can find in any major European
city, on the one hand, devout Muslims on the other, and a mixture of
both extremes of all shades in between. Extreme wealth and extreme
poverty with all their downsides, "one-person entrepreneurs" who earn
less than quite well and have neither health nor pension insurance,
working children, beggars. The still high level of cohesion within large
families replaces the largely missing social network of the state. In
addition, many people from numerous other Islamic countries live in
Istanbul, especially from the successor states of the former Soviet
Union, refugees from Afghanistan, etc.
Given these conditions,
Istanbul must be described as a very safe city. Violent crimes are
comparatively rare, petty crime such as pickpocketing can occur. Being
"cheated" in some shops or bars is not uncommon, but by no means the
rule! In many cases, locals - often young people too - offer themselves
as guides, may open up one or the other sight and at the end demand an
excessive "entrance fee" as a sort of "exit". In such cases, you should
always ask beforehand how much it costs (phrase guide) in order to avoid
unpleasant surprises as far as possible.
Great caution is advised
in particular in the case of dodgy establishments reminiscent of strip
bars, brothels or gambling dens: Here you will be ripped off
mercilessly! Astronomical bills are presented for drinks and lady drinks
consumed, payment of which is collected under threat of violence. Such a
fantasy claim can exceed 1000 euros for just a few drinks. Don't let
yourself be invited to such places either! In particular, men traveling
alone are approached directly on the street by friendly locals under
pretexts (photo, etc.) and lured there. These bars are particularly
notorious in the districts of Laleli (Aksaray), Tarlabaşı and Elmadağ
(Taksim). Such scams are more the rule than the exception there. The
local police are only of limited help.
Women traveling alone who
do not want to be harassed are advised to behave cautiously towards
local men, to avoid eye contact and, in an emergency, to speak to women
rather than men on the street.
An occasional trick shoeshine
artists use to attract attention is dropping a shoe brush in passing. If
you draw his attention to his "mishap", you will of course be "invited"
to a (free?) shoe shine. In this case, always clarify in advance what it
will cost!
The tourist police in the city center, near the Hagia
Sophia opposite the entrance to the Yerebatan cistern, which you can
turn to if you have problems, no longer exist, the yellow wooden house
is empty (as of 2015).
Current situation since 2016
A high
police presence and strict security checks in museums and in the bazaar
district are evidence of the authorities' attempts to get the situation
under control.
The action of the state security organs against
any kind of "terrorist" activities is rigorous. The relevant advice from
the foreign office should be taken seriously. The film Midnight Express
is recommended as a refresher.
Many doctors have studied abroad and speak English or German. The
state healthcare system is a bit immobile and not always at the highest
level, but you get enough help.
In Istanbul there is an Austrian
(between Galata Bridge and Galata Tower) and a German (near Taksim
Square) hospital.
1 German Hospital - Taksim Alman Hastanesi,
Cihangir Mh., Sıraselviler Cad. No:119, 34433 Beyoğlu/İstanbul.
2
Austrian Saint George's Hospital, Bereketzade Medresesi Sok. No:7, 34420
Beyoğlu/İstanbul. Tel: +90 212 292 6220.
Pharmacies, Turkish
Eczane, are very numerous. They are usually open from Monday to Saturday
from 9.00 a.m. to 7.00 p.m. Outside the opening hours there are
emergency pharmacies Nöbetçi Eczane, the addresses are given in the
entrance areas of the pharmacies. There are practically all of the usual
medicines that we use, but sometimes under different names, but mostly
without a prescription.
Special vaccinations are not mandatory, but
they might be advisable against tetanus, diphtheria and hepatitis A.
Stomach upsets and intestinal problems can be caught relatively easily
as a hygiene spoiled Central European. Sensitive people should therefore
be wary of snacks offered by street vendors and also avoid eating in the
cookshops, where the food is kept (often only lukewarm) warm for hours.
The water from the tap is heavily chlorinated and is less suitable for
drinking.
emergency numbers
MedLine, Private Ambulance Service,
English speaking switchboard +90 212 4441212
Hızır Acıl Servisi,
State Ambulance, 112
Polis Imdat, Police, 155
Yangın, Fire
Department, 110
Preferred travel times for Istanbul would be spring from April and autumn. In summer it can be very hot and muggy, but there is often a cooling wind on the Bosphorus. There are nice days until the end of October, even in November it can still be pleasant. From December it will be uncomfortably cold and rainy, there may also be snow and frost. The air is then often bad, too, and many Istanbul residents have to heat with cheap and inferior lignite or electric fan heaters. The best time is in spring when the tulips are in bloom.
General information
It's easy to get by in Istanbul. You are often
approached, often without any interest in selling anything. Anyone who
gets involved in a conversation - perhaps with a potential carpet dealer
- usually learns interesting things and the conversation partner is not
angry if you don't buy anything afterwards.
Turks are generally
curious, friendly and very helpful. This applies equally to
(religiously) conservative and (western-oriented) modern Turks. An
important difference between these two groups for communication is that
it is not appropriate for conservative-oriented Turks for a man to speak
to a woman or a woman to a man on the street, while this is not a
problem for modern Turks. Both groups are easily recognizable by their
respective clothing. In Istanbul, a city of contrasts, both groups will
be found almost everywhere, although there are of course parts of the
city where one of the two groups predominates. But things seem to be
moving here, too: To his great surprise, the writer of these lines was
recently - during Ramadan, by the way - approached on the street by a
young, very Islamic-dressed Turkish woman who offered silver-baked
biscuits in exchange for a voluntary donation for a kind "Bread for the
World" offer in Islamic language. A very interesting conversation about
Islam in English developed. This is also Istanbul in 2015.
Many
Istanbul residents speak German or English. And if not, then
understanding via non-verbal communication usually works surprisingly
well, although it should be noted that some gestures and facial
expressions can have a different meaning in Turkey than in Central
Europe!
Many a tourist feels bothered if he is constantly spoken
to in front of shops, restaurants, etc. A tip in this regard: avoid eye
contact if you do not want to be spoken to. This is also recommended for
women traveling alone who do not want to be "molested". For Turks, eye
contact is already a signal that they are making contact. It can also be
helpful and quite fun if you adapt to the local customs, in this case
the somewhat theatrical appearance, and the constant (and possibly
perceived obtrusive) invitations to the restaurant with a great gesture
and facial expression: "I'm sooo sorry , we just ate..." (perhaps also
in English) parried.
As tourists, women should not dress too
provocatively "skimpy", and shorts are not the first choice for men
either. Long trousers and at least short-sleeved T-shirts are obligatory
for men and a headscarf and long dress (or at least long trousers, not
tight leggings) for women when visiting mosques. Headscarves and skirts
can sometimes be hired at the entrance. Before entering a mosque, you
have to take off your shoes, make sure your feet and socks are clean! In
many mosques, non-Muslims are not allowed to enter during prayer times,
in some mosques they can be present but have to stay at the back and of
course not to walk around or take pictures. Prayer times in the main
attractions such as the Blue and New Mosques have increased
significantly in recent years and it is becoming increasingly difficult
to gain admission here.
As a tourist, it's a good idea to learn a
few words and phrases in Turkish for the most important situations with
the help of a good phrasebook. Turks are happy if you can greet them in
Turkish or if you can communicate a little in their language when
ordering in a restaurant or when shopping.
Basically, Turkish is
a very logically structured language, and pronunciation is also
relatively easy for people who speak German; one also speaks exactly as
one writes - paying attention to the special characters. This is due to
the fact that in 1928 the Arabic alphabet used until then was replaced
by the Latin one. But beware of the stress: In Turkish there is no such
clear stress on a syllable as in German. If you emphasize the old habit
like in German, the other person may not understand you. If you delve
further into the grammar of the Turkish language, you will soon realize
that the structure of this language is very different from ours. There
are significantly more forms for the verb than in German, some of which
can even be combined with each other. A "one-to-one translation" into
German is therefore often not possible. The fine nuances in expression
that the Turkish language offers can only be translated more or less
well with many paraphrases.
Some notes on body language:
Raising the eyebrows, sometimes combined with a "ts" means "no" and is
not meant to be insulting!
Sticking your thumb between your index and
middle fingers is an obscene gesture.
If you want to tell someone to
come here, then palm down and move your hand towards your body.
Don't
point your finger at anyone!
Physical contact, even with strange
children, is established much faster than is usual in Central Europe.
Blonde toddlers in particular like to be touched tenderly (stroking
their heads, patting their cheeks) and sometimes even kissed as they
pass by.
If you are invited to a private household, you should
always take off your shoes and don't forget a small gift (e.g. flowers,
sweets)!
Ramadan (Turkish: Ramazan) is the one-month fasting period in Islam.
The timing depends on the lunar calendar, so it starts a few days
earlier each year. Currently (2015) it takes place from the end of June
until well into July. From sunrise to sunset nothing is eaten or drunk,
no smoking etc. Ramadan is also a time for doing good: sharing with the
poor, reflection. But as soon as the muezzin calls for the "breaking of
the fast" in the evening, a true folk festival begins: people eat, drink
and celebrate together. In addition, markets are common that are
reminiscent of our Christmas markets. Fasting is observed not only by
devout Muslims, but also by many not so religious people. Ramadan can
therefore be compared with our Christian celebrations, which are simply
part of the tradition.
Tourists are not expected to fast as well.
Even if the hotel owner and the hotel staff are fasting, the hotel guest
gets his breakfast as usual and is served just as friendly as at the
rest of the time. You can also get food and drink as usual in
restaurants and even from street vendors. A trip to Istanbul during
Ramadan is therefore not advisable. On the contrary: You get additional
interesting insights into a foreign culture.
beggars and street
vendors
Many Istanbulians have to earn their living as "one-man
entrepreneurs" without health or pension insurance: shoeshine boys,
street vendors for everything imaginable (food, counterfeit brand
watches, perfumes, beautifully made gloves, slippers, baby shoes made of
wool - behind it sits a traditionally dressed Turkish woman and is busy
knitting - lighters, hand sewing machines, etc.) tow tractors for
restaurants, shops, etc. It never ceases to amaze the writer of these
lines how matter-of-factly and dignified many of these basically poor
wretches do their work. For example, an itinerant Simit (sesame ring)
seller can respond to the greeting (in Turkish) and the order for a
certain number of the delicious bakery with a great "Hoş geldiniz"
(Welcome). If you are wearing leather shoes in Istanbul, let a
professional shoeshine man shine your shoes! "Ten year guarantee" may be
an exaggeration, but your shoes will still be sparkling when you get
home. Maybe you can have a little chat (learn a few words of Turkish!)
with the shoeshine boy, maybe about the family, how many children you
have, how many children he has! It's definitely worth the few euros it
costs. Currently (March 2016) shoe shiners at the main tourist
attractions charge TL 10.--, otherwise TL 5.--
Small children,
old people or disabled people offering individual packs of tissues and
the like on the street, traditionally dressed young Turkish women
sitting in the street dust and crying begging for alms with an infant in
their arms may occupy your social conscience and perhaps make you
understand why Islam (with its commandment to benevolent to the poor) is
gaining so much support these days.
You shouldn't drink tap water, you can buy cheap drinking water in
plastic bottles on every street corner.
If you feel an urgent
need along the way, you should look around for the nearest mosque. You
can always find a clean toilet here. The inscription for women is Bayan
or Kadın, for men it is Bay or Erkek. Often there are also public
toilets in large squares or street crossings that are acceptable. In all
public toilets, including in mosques, you have to pay a small fee of 1-3
lira, that should be worth a clean toilet.
They cannot be overlooked or overheard: the animals that populate
Istanbul. The screeching of the huge seagulls, sometimes reminiscent of
human voices. The flocks of pigeons in front of the Yeni Camii, the main
entrance to the university, around the "Burned Column" - in other cities
they are banned, poisoned - here pigeon feed sellers are allowed to do
their work and the pigeon droppings are sprayed away every evening with
plenty of water.
Cats (Turkish: Kedi), cats everywhere. Years ago
the Istanbul cats were pitifully thin, shaggy, dirty, they had to feed
on garbage, they were chronically ill and frighteningly ugly. In the
meantime, every mosque, every museum, every shop, every alley has its
cats. They may not - or only reluctantly - be allowed into the house,
but they are made out of plastic-covered cardboard and are lovingly fed,
often with special cat food and not just waste, and even taken to the
vet! Nowhere in the world will you see so many proud cats in a big city
as in Istanbul!
Dogs (Turkish: Köpek), homeless dogs. The dog is
considered impure in Islam and only had a certain status as a shepherd
dog. In the past, the Istanbul street dogs were hardly to be seen. They
were used to being chased away immediately with stones or kicks. The bad
treatment of the dogs also had an understandable reason: the fear of
rabies! That too has changed. An animal welfare association now takes
care of the dogs. A tag in the ear indicates when the dog was last
vaccinated against rabies. The Istanbul dogs are peaceful. They usually
lie somewhere in the sun and have a good time. Don't worry, no stray dog
will bite you! Be careful not to pet them though. A dog flea may jump
onto you, but it is even more likely that the dog will adopt you as its
owner and will follow you wherever you go. You will hardly have the
heart to have to leave him or her behind in Istanbul.
Anyone
traveling with their own dog will occasionally be confronted with the
fact that stray dogs perceive the dog they have brought with them as an
intruder in their own territory. The dog is barked at accordingly and
may be attacked or even bitten. Loud, hissing noises ("Schhhhhht"),
stamping your feet, determined throwing and kicking gestures or (as a
last resort) throwing stones can help here. Most of the time, however,
the street dogs are called to order by the locals. Dogs outside of a
"pack" usually behave like stray dogs in Germany.
1 Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany - Almanya
Federal Cumhuriyeti Başkonsolosluğu, Inönü Cad. 10, 34437 Gümüşsuyu -
Istanbul. Tel.: +90 212 3346 100, fax: +90 212 2499 920, e-mail:
info@istanbul.diplo.de. Open: The entrance gate to the Consulate General
building (İnönü Caddesi 10) is staffed 24 hours a day. Availability in
emergencies outside office hours until midnight, Saturday, Sunday and
public holidays from 8 a.m. to midnight. Schengen visa only at the
application acceptance center iDATA / Gayrettepe.
2 Consulate General
of Austria - Avusturya Başkonsolosluğu, Köybaşı Cad. No. 46, 34464
Yenikoy/Istanbul. Phone: +90 212 363 84 10, email:
istanbul-gk@bmeia.gv.at. Open: Austrian affairs abroad Mon.-Fri.
9.00-12.00, everything else by appointment only.
3 Swiss Consulate
General - Isviçre Başkonsolosluğu, 1. Levent Plaza, A-Blok Kat:3,
Büyükdere Cad. No. 173, 34394 Levent Istanbul (Metro Levent: M2, M6).
Phone: +90 212 283 12 82, email: istanbul@eda.admin.ch. Open: by
appointment only, telephone hours 8.20-12.00 and 13.00-16.30.
There are still numerous public landline telephones in the city
centre. The mobile phone is a constant companion for many Turks. Your
national network operator will provide you with information about the
cheapest roaming tariff. There will still be internet cafes in 2022.
Internet access is free in most hotels, but rarely in restaurants and
other public places. The roaming costs for 1 MB are usually over 20 €/MB
(!), so either a Turkish prepaid card is worthwhile or you should check
the settings of your smartphone very carefully to avoid high bills.
The beautiful building of the main post office (along with a museum)
is located in the Sirkeci district, not far from the railway station.
You can usually get stamps where you can buy postcards. The hotel often
takes over the posting of postal items.
Istanbul is located in western Turkey and encircles the Bosphorus.
The Golden Horn, a westbound Bosphorus Bay, separates the European part
into a southern and northern section. The southern part is a peninsula
between the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn with the historic core of
the city. To the north are the districts adjacent to historic Galata and
Pera. To the west, north and east, the metropolis is growing far beyond
the historic districts. In the southeast are the Princes' Islands, which
belong to Istanbul.
The urban area has an extension of about 50
km in north-south direction and about 100 km in east-west direction. The
administrative area of the metropolitan area is identical to the
province of Istanbul and has an area of 5343.02 km², of which only
1830.92 (34.2%) belong to the city proper. The rest with 3512.1 km²
(65.8%) consisted of suburbs and areas with a rural settlement structure
in 2009.
Istanbul lies north of the North Anatolian Fault, which stretches
from Karlıova in eastern Anatolia to the Sea of Marmara and the Aegean
Sea. The Anatolian Plate pushes westward here past the Eurasian Plate to
the north. Along the resulting transform fault, 66 major earthquakes
occurred between 1711 and 1894 alone.
The earthquake of 447, in
which 57 towers of the land wall collapsed, and that of 559, in which
parts of the dome of Hagia Sophia collapsed into the church a few years
after completion, are well known. One of the most severe tremors,
associated with a gigantic tidal wave that broke over the city's sea
walls, occurred in 1509. It killed an estimated 5,000 to 13,000 people
and destroyed 109 mosques and 1,070 houses. In addition, the fleet lying
in Istanbul was destroyed. The next strong earthquake followed in 1557.
In 1690 and 1719 earthquakes caused considerable damage to the land and
sea walls. Commemorative inscriptions found on the city gates after the
restoration by Sultan Ahmed III. were attached, announce it. On May 22,
1766, the prayer house of the Fatih Mosque was largely destroyed. In
1894, large parts of the covered bazaar collapsed during an earthquake,
the widest street of which only came into being after this catastrophe.
Most of the mosaics in Hagia Sophia also fell victim to this quake.
On August 17, 1999, Istanbul was shaken by a severe earthquake. On
the main street of the Avcılar suburb alone, 1,200 people died and thus
most of the Istanbul earthquake victims.
Geologists say it is
likely that an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 or higher will occur
near Istanbul in the near future.
The administrative area of the metropolitan municipality (Büyükşehir
Belediyesi) Istanbul is divided into 39 districts (İlçe). Of these, 25
are in the European part and 14 in the Asian part.
The old city
center of the former Constantinople, located in the south of the
European side with the districts Eminonu and Fatih, is separated from
the younger districts to the north by the Golden Horn and bounded in the
west by the Theodosian land wall. To the west of the wall is the
district of Eyüp, and behind it and along the Sea of Marmara are new
residential and commercial areas that now even extend far west beyond
the airport.
Old Istanbul in the district of Fatih is mainly
characterized by the large mosques and a former church. In the 10th
century, to emphasize Roman continuity, the notion that Constantinople,
like Rome, rested on seven hills, emerged. Although this idea is a later
construct and topographically hardly tenable (the "hills" are between 40
and 70 m high, for comparison: the Valens Aqueduct measures 61 m in
height), the seven-hill division can be found in the literature again.
On the first city hill is the Hagia Sophia and just behind it the Sultan
Ahmed Mosque, on the second the Nuruosmaniye Mosque, on the third the
Süleymaniye Mosque, on the fourth the Fatih Mosque of Sultan Mehmed II,
on the fifth the Sultan Selim Mosque, on the sixth the Mihrimah Sultan
Mosque and on the seventh city hill, which cannot be seen from the
Golden Horn, the Haseki Hürrem Sultan Mosque. The wooden houses built in
the Ottoman tradition also belong to the cityscape of Fatih.
North of the Golden Horn are the European-leaning neighborhoods of
Beyoğlu and Beşiktaş, home to the last sultan's palace, Çırağan Palace,
followed by a string of former villages like Ortaköy, Bebek and Sarıyer
on the banks of the Bosphorus. Up until the early 20th century, wealthy
Istanbulites built luxurious wooden villas called Yalı here, which
served as summer residences.
The districts of Kadıköy and Üsküdar
on the Asian side were originally independent cities. Today they are
mainly residential and business districts, where about a third of
Istanbul's population lives. Following this, villages and districts were
extensively expanded and newly developed along the Bosporus and the Sea
of Marmara as well as in the Asian hinterland. In Beykoz, as on the
opposite bank of the Bosphorus, there are many Ottoman yalıs.
Due
to the strong population growth, the largest part of the city area today
is made up of the districts that developed in the hinterland, such as
Bağcılar, Bahçelievler, Küçükçekmece, Sultangazi in the European part,
Maltepe, Pendik and Sultanbeyli in the Asian part. Some of them were
built as gecekondular ('built overnight') and only connected to the
urban infrastructure years or decades later. A third of the newly
arrived Istanbulites live in such informal settlements or slums. Since
the 1980s, some of the city's gecekondus have been torn down, with
tremendous public sympathy. By far the larger part, on the other hand,
has been able to develop into fully-fledged city quarters in terms of
infrastructure. Istanbul is the only metropolis in an emerging country
that does not have any slums all over the country. Upscale office and
residential districts are being built in the north at the level of the
second Bosphorus bridge above Bebek in the Levent, Etiler and Maslak
districts. But there are also upscale office and residential areas to
the west in Bakırköy and Başakşehir and to the east on the Asian side.
The city has a mild, humid maritime climate due to its location between the Mediterranean and Black Seas. The average annual temperature is 13.9 °C. The warmest months are July and August with an average of around 23 °C, the coldest January and February with less than 6 °C. Summer temperatures can reach over 35°C in the shade during hot spells, which often last several days and occur from June to August. Winter is cool to cold and like the other seasons changeable. There are spring-like sunny days, but also rain and cold snaps and frequent snowfalls. The average annual rainfall is 850 millimeters. Most precipitation falls in the months of October to December with an average of 102, 110 and 125 mm, the lowest precipitation is recorded for the months of May, June and July with an average of 32, 41 and 40 mm. Heavy rainfall and flooding occur in all seasons. In Istanbul, the northeast wind Poyraz is most often observed, which is associated with higher speeds, especially in summer, and brings cool sea air, cold in winter. The south-west wind Lodos, which brings moist, hazy and warm air masses, is also common. The lowest temperature ever measured is −16.1 °C on February 9, 1929 and the highest at 41.5 °C on July 13, 2000. The water temperatures on Istanbul's coast vary between an average of 8 °C and 23 °C.
In Istanbul there are plants that give the city's flora a
predominantly Central European and at the same time Mediterranean
character, especially on the Princes' Islands. English oaks, beeches and
chestnuts can be found on Çamlıca or Sarıyer in the north, and small
pine forests and kermes oaks on the Princes' Islands in the south.
Cedar-juniper, pistachio, cypress, Cretan rockrose, blackthorn and
ruscus species can be found there and in the southern parts of the city.
The large forests that surround the city in the European and Asian parts
to the north have a Central European character. In the Belgrade Forest
(Belgrade Ormanı) there are various types of oak, including the sessile
oak and the Hungarian oak, as well as hornbeams, silver and downy
birches, Turk's cap lilies, mercury, witch's-weed and squill.
With approximately 2,500 different naturally occurring plant species,
the province and city of Istanbul, covering a total area of just
5,343.02 km², dwarfs entire European countries such as the UK. Istanbul
alone is home to about a quarter of the more than ten thousand
documented plant species found in Turkey. Some of these plants are
endemic.
According to the General Directorate of Forestry ("Orman
Genel Müdürlüğü"), 44% of Istanbul Province is covered by forests. For a
big city, there is a rich wildlife here. The more saline water of the
Sea of Marmara mixes with the less saline water of the Black Sea at the
southern end of the Bosporus, which results in a relative abundance of
fish. The anchovy is characteristic here, but dolphins can also be
observed occasionally since the water quality of the Bosphorus and the
Sea of Marmara has increased due to the construction of sewage treatment
plants. The forests are home to over 71 species of birds and 18 species
of mammals. There is a hunting ban. Wild boars, wolves, golden jackals,
foxes, red deer, fallow deer and roe deer are therefore common in the
forests.
The city is a destination for bird lovers from all over
the world who want to observe the annual bird migration. Around 500,000
white storks and thus the majority of the European population fly over
the Bosporus in two waves from the end of July to mid-September. The
peak of the black stork migration is at the end of September. You can
also watch the migration of birds of prey on favorable days with up to a
thousand birds a day. These include Honey Buzzard, Lesser Spotted Eagle,
Greater Spotted Eagle, Sparrowhawk and other species of buzzard.
Egyptian vultures, imperial eagles, booted eagles, short-toed eagles and
harriers can be observed less frequently, although all European species
of the latter pass through.
As in many other large cities, the
bird life is mainly represented by the city pigeon, the palm pigeon
probably imported from Algeria or Tunisia in the 19th century, and by
seagulls. Large populations live in some inner-city squares, such as in
front of the Beyazıt Mosque or in front of the Yeni Mosque. Rarely one
encounters other species of pigeons as well as house sparrows, gray
herons and black kites. Alpine swifts, serins, Sardinian warblers,
cormorants and Mediterranean shearwaters are more common.
Stray
cats are omnipresent in the cityscape. They sometimes live individually,
sometimes together in large groups. They feed on waste, but are also
frequently fed by humans. To a lesser extent, semi-wild dogs can also be
found.
The growth of the city, the high industrial and traffic density lead
to significant environmental problems. Successes have been achieved
against air pollution through the use of natural gas, and the same
applies to the waste problem. Nevertheless, air and water continue to be
polluted by the numerous factories, motor vehicles and private
households. Particular environmental problems also result from traffic
noise and the often direct vicinity of poorer residential areas and
industrial plants.
Floods keep bringing garbage into the sewers,
clogging them and increasing the risk of infectious diseases. The cause
of numerous problems lies in the infrastructure, which has not been able
to keep up with the enormous population growth since the 1980s.
According to the World Bank's World Development Indicators for 2012,
Istanbul is the seventh worst city in the world in terms of sulfur
dioxide air pollution.
development of the name
The original Greek name of the city
Byzantion (Greek Βυζάντιον, Latin Byzantium) goes back to the legendary
founder of the city, Byzas, who came from Megara in central Greece. He
had followed an oracle of the Pythia. In the year 324, the Roman Emperor
Constantine made the city his residence and had Byzantium expanded as
the “new Rome” (Nova Roma) into the capital. In his honor, the name
Constantinopolis (Greek Κωνσταντινούπολις Kōnstantinoúpolis "City of
Constantine") was used for the city. The German form Konstantinopel and
numerous forms of names in other languages go back to Constantinopolis.
Thus Constantinople was called al-Qustantīniyya / القسطنطينية in Arabic,
Gostantnubolis in Armenian and Kushta (קושטא) in Hebrew. In many Slavic
languages, however, the city was called Cari(n)grad ("City of the
Emperor").
In addition, today's name Istanbul developed. Over
time, the term polis ('city', Greek: ἡ πόλις) came to be used solely for
the capital, because all other cities of the empire had become Kastron
(Greek: κάστρον, 'fortress'). In vernacular Greek this became "στην
πόλι(ν)" (stin poli(n), "in the city", actually a place name, but then
it referred to the place itself). The 9th-century Arabic writer
al-Masʿūdī reports that the Greeks used the names "būlin" and "stan
būlin" for Constantinople. For the year 1403 the Castilian ambassador
Ruy González de Clavijo used the name "Escomboli" for the city and for
1426 the Bavarian traveler Johannes Schiltberger reported that the city
was called Istimboli by the Greeks and Stambol by the Turks.
In
Turkish, this name became Istanbul, Astanbul / استانبول (also Istambul,
Stambul), possibly mediated by Etazist or Tsakonian dialect speakers and
with further transformations, such as the prosthetic vowel initial
sound, which also occurs in other foreign words in Turkish with a double
consonant initial sound. a form that was already in use in the Seljuk
period and is later attested by Ottoman and Western European records for
the 16th century. Based on Istanbul, Islambol / إسلامبول / 'filled with
Islam' appeared, which was also minted on coins in the 18th century as
the name of the mint at Tavşan taşı.
Literally, other names were
also common among the Ottomans in documents, inscriptions, etc. The city
was often referred to by its Arabic-derived form of name Kostantiniyye /
قسطنطينيه. But one also finds şehir-i azima ("the great city"), and from
the 19th century the term Dersaâdet / در سعادت / Der-i Saʿādet / "gate
of happiness" increased. Other designations were darü's-saltanat-ı
aliyye, asitane-i aliyye and darü'l-hilafetü 'l aliye and pâyitaht /
پایتخت / 'honorable throne' in the sense of "residence". From the 19th
century onwards, the Frenchized forms Constantinople and Stamboul, which
were also used by French-speaking Turks, were the most common among
Europeans living in the city.
Administratively, the agglomeration
on both sides of the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, for which the names
Istanbul and Constantinople and the other names were used, was divided
into several districts. In the old, walled city on the peninsula between
the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara, the İstanbul Kadısı, the Kadi of
Istanbul, acted as judge and chief of a rudimentary civil
administration. In the other districts, the Kadi of Galata exercised
office on the other side of the Golden Horn, the Kadi of Üskudar on the
other side of the Bosphorus, and the Kadi of Eyup ruled over the
surrounding area from the top of the Golden Horn. These three districts
surrounding the old city were called the Bilâd-ı selâse. The respective
settlements had come under Ottoman rule at different times and under
different conditions.
In the parlance of the Europeans, most of
whom lived in the Pera district of Galata, today Beyoğlu, Constantinople
usually referred to the entire city including the districts north of the
Golden Horn and beyond the Bosporus (i.e. including their residence),
while the name They used Istanbul more as the old city on the peninsula
between the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporus and the Golden Horn with its
oriental character.
In 1876 the name of the capital was included
as Istanbul in the new constitution, where Article 2 stated:
«Devlet-i Osmaniyenin payitahtı Istanbul şehridir / دولت عثمانیه نك پای
تختی استانبول شهریدر /‘The capital of the Ottoman State is the city of
Istanbul‘»
From March 28, 1930, in the early days of the
republic, İstanbul became the official name of the entire city, which
was also enforced administratively. Since the city had long been called
that in the narrower sense in Ottoman writings and in Turkish
vernacular, this was actually not a new name, but an adjustment to a
language that had been common for a long time. In most European
countries (except, for example, Greece and Armenia), the term Istanbul
gradually displaced the term Constantinople or its variants from
everyday usage. However, the ancient Greek-Roman naming convention
continues to be used in specialist literature, usually with reference to
historical, particularly pre-Ottoman Constantinople.
Around 660 BC BC Doric Greeks from Megara, Argos and Corinth founded
Byzantion, a colony on the European shore of the Bosphorus. Favorable
geographic position soon enabled the settlement to become an important
trading center. At the end of the 6th century it got caught up in the
disputes between the Persian Empire and the Greek Poleis, and then in
the internal Greek conflicts.
513 BC The Persian king Darius I
conquered the city in 478 BC and was occupied by Sparta for two years.
After that, Byzantium chose democracy as the form of government and,
under pressure from Athens, joined the Attic-Delic Sea League (until
356). In 340/339 the city withstood the siege of the Macedonian King
Philip II. After the collapse of the Macedonian Empire, the city
increasingly sided with the expanding Roman Empire and was conquered in
196 BC. BC Roman ally. Byzantium only lost this special status under
Emperor Vespasian. In 196 Septimius Severus had the city destroyed as
punishment for supporting his opponent Pescennius Niger, but it was
rebuilt. In 258 it was plundered by Goths.
In 324 Constantine I
gained sole rule over the Roman Empire and on May 11, 330 he baptized
the new capital Nova Roma (New Rome). However, it became better known
under the name of Constantinople. Its area has quintupled within a few
decades. To the west of the city wall erected by Constantine, Theodosius
II had a wall erected from 412, which is still preserved today,
increasing the city area from six to twelve square kilometers. Aqueducts
supplied what is now the largest city in the Mediterranean with water,
and grain was distributed to large parts of the population.
Again under Emperor Justinian I (527-565) Constantinople was magnificently expanded (Hagia Sophia). The city was by far the richest and largest city in Europe and the Mediterranean and successfully withstood the two sieges by Arabs in the years 674-678 and 717/18. Under pressure from the Seljuks, who conquered Asia Minor from the middle of the 11th century, the city temporarily lost its eastern hinterland. In this situation, the Italian cities, above all Venice and Genoa, received trade privileges and extensive residential quarters on the south bank of the Golden Horn; the Genoese from 1267 in Pera on the north bank. In addition, in 1054 the ecclesiastical unity between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church was broken. In 1171 Emperor Manuel I had the Venetians arrested and their property confiscated. Venice took revenge on the Fourth Crusade, and in 1204 Crusaders conquered Constantinople. The city was sacked, numerous residents were murdered and priceless works of art were lost. Reduced to around 100,000 inhabitants, the city was the capital of the Latin Empire from 1204 to 1261. In 1261, Emperor Michael VIII succeeded in retaking Constantinople, but he had to resist repeated plans for conquest for another two decades. Since then, however, the city has been nothing more than the center of a regional power whose hinterland was successively conquered by the Ottomans from 1354 onwards. Around 1400, the empire consisted only of Constantinople with its direct surroundings and small remaining areas in the north (Thessaloniki) and south (Morea) of Greece. Again in 1422 the city withstood a siege by Murad II.
On April 5, 1453, the last siege by Ottoman forces under Sultan
Mehmed II began. On the morning of May 29, the "long-ruined city" was
occupied. Constantinople – now officially mostly Kostantiniyye,
occasionally also called İstanbul – became the new Ottoman capital after
Bursa and Adrianople (Edirne). The partially destroyed and depopulated
city was systematically repopulated and rebuilt. The empire's power
reached its peak under Sultan Süleyman I (1520-1566), whose architect
Sinan shaped the cityscape with numerous mosques, bridges, palaces and
fountains. With the progressive decline of Ottoman influence in the
region and the shrinking of the empire until the beginning of the 20th
century, Constantinople's cosmopolitan importance also suffered.
The weakness of the empire after the Balkan War of 1912/1913 made the
European powers and Russia aware of the danger of a power vacuum in the
strategically important straits and raised the oriental question of
control over the straits and division of the empire into spheres of
interest. The Sultan and the Young Turks sought the support of the
German Empire.
The Ottoman Empire was able to prevent the Entente
from gaining access to Constantinople on the side of the Central Powers
in 1915 in the Battle of Gallipoli. Nevertheless, the war was lost. From
November 13, 1918, French and British troops occupied the metropolis. In
the Peace Treaty of Sèvres of August 10, 1920, the Ottoman Empire was
divided among the victorious Allied powers and also had to accept huge
losses of territory. Constantinople, with the Bosphorus and Dardanelles
straits, remained occupied by the Allies for five years. Greece, in
memory of Byzantium claimed to be Greek, demanded the "return" of
Constantinople, which wanted to make it its capital.
Under
Mustafa Kemal, known as Atatürk, the Turkish War of Independence began
in 1919, at the end of which the last units of the Allied troops left
the city on September 23, 1923. Constantinople lost its status as the
seat of government to Ankara that year, with which the new republic
wanted to distance itself from the Ottoman tradition.
Already during the First World War the expulsion of the first of the
two large Christian minorities, the Armenians, began. Non-Muslims made
up the majority of the population until about 1890, from which point
onwards there was constant immigration to the city, whose population
exceeded the million mark a few years later. Armenians had been
immigrating since the 17th century, so that around 1850 more than
220,000 lived in Constantinople. They made up perhaps a quarter to a
third of the population. The Allies sought their support during World
War I. On April 24, 1915, two months after the beginning of the Battle
of Gallipoli (fighting for the Dardanelles), which took place between
February 19, 1915 and January 9, 1916, the government had Armenian
civilians deported from Constantinople for the first time. Officially
there were 235, probably more than 400 of the 77,835 Armenians living in
the capital at that time. The Armenian Genocide took place predominantly
in Anatolia; the Armenians of Istanbul were largely spared until 1923.
In Istanbul, the persecution aimed at deporting the Armenian elite.
During the deportation, from April 24, 1915, by order of Interior
Minister Mehmet Talât Bey, leaders of the Armenian community in Istanbul
and later in other towns were arrested and deported to concentration
camps near Ankara. After the deportation law of May 29, 1915 was passed,
they were forcibly resettled, tortured, dispossessed and many murdered.
Therefore, April 24 is observed in Armenia as a genocide memorial day.
In the night of April 25, 235 to 270 Armenian community leaders from
Istanbul (mainly clergy, doctors, publishers, journalists, lawyers,
teachers, politicians) were arrested in a first wave on the basis of a
decision by the Ministry of the Interior. According to research, up to
600 people were arrested in a second wave of arrests in Istanbul.
The exact population of the city can hardly be determined. Around
1920 it was between 800,000 and 1.5 million. It is only clear that after
four decades of strong population growth, the number of inhabitants
collapsed. In 1927 there were only 691,000 inhabitants; while the
non-Muslim population had been around 450,000 in 1914, by 1927 it was
down to 240,000. However, at that time they still represented almost a
third of the population.
At that time, 84% of the population
lived in cities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, which, given the
slow rural exodus, held enormous potential for immigration to Istanbul,
which began to unfold in the 1950s. While the Greeks, probably around
1.2 million, had to leave Anatolia, all Greeks who had lived in the
capital on October 30, 1918 were allowed to stay there. But despite this
special agreement of 1926, more Greeks left the city; there was an
extreme shortage of craftsmen. In 1942, non-Muslims were subject to a
special wealth tax (Varlık Vergisi), and in 1955 almost the entire
orthodox population was expelled from the city during the Istanbul
pogrom. Of the roughly 110,000 Greeks, around 2,500 stayed in Istanbul.
Today around 60,000 Armenians and 2,500 Greeks live in the city.
Istanbul grew rapidly from the 1950s, attracting and still attracting
numerous people from Anatolia. Numerous Eastern Europeans have been
coming to the metropolis since the 1990s. Large-scale construction
projects emerged; they could hardly keep up with the rapid population
growth. In addition, they paid little heed to existing structures.
Istanbul expanded far into the countryside; numerous villages and towns
in the surrounding area are now part of the metropolis. Accordingly,
Istanbul was raised to a metropolitan municipality in 1984.
In
1994, the current President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became mayor as a
candidate of the Islamist Refah Partisi (RP) (Welfare Party). The later
mayor Mevlüt Uysal is a member of the Islamic conservative Adalet ve
Kalkınma Partisi (AKP). In November 2003, the city was rocked by a
series of serious attacks. The attack in an Internet café on February 9,
2006 claimed one life, and four days later six people were injured by an
attack in a supermarket.
On May 28, 2013, demonstrations began in
Taksim Square. They began as protests against a planned shopping center
and against the cutting down of Gezi Park; after a brutal police
operation on May 31, 2013, they turned into protests against Erdogan's
government and Erdogan's style of government.