Istanbul Turkey city trip and much more for spontaneous travelers

In Istanbul, probably the westernmost city in Turkey, travelers can experience a culture on a city trip that moves between Europe and Asia or between the Occident and the East. The city that was once called Constantinople was once the capital of a powerful empire north of the Alps. The Byzantine and East Frankish emperors both believed they could rule the Eternal City, which at the time was purely a Papal State. That was in the 10th century. In the middle of the 15th century, the Ottomans, a horse people and the ancestors of today’s Turks, conquered the city. When Constantinople fell into the hands of the Ottomans, the Hagia Sofia – a large Christian church – became a mosque, to the dismay of the West.

Sights

For many Muslims, Hagia Sofia still stands for the fact that they once won a very great victory over Christianity or were able to successfully push back this faith from the region. But not only the Hagia Sofia stands today as a sign of what the city of Istanbul means to Muslims. The Ottomans also had the Topkapi Palace built in the former Constantinople, from which the later sultans still ruled. Today, travelers can immerse themselves in Ottoman history in this city on the Bosphorus. A city trip to this city becomes a journey into the past. Another sight steeped in history is the Blue Mosque, also known as the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, and the Suleymaniye Mosque. So if you are a tourist interested in the history of the Ottomans or the sultans, this is the right city for you. All the splendor that once surrounded the sultans can be experienced in this city. On the other hand, Istanbul is also a testament to how much Turkey has changed after 1923, after Atatürk took power and the Ottomans were expelled from the country after the Turks had won a war against the Greeks.

Modern city life

With the reorganization of the state system in Turkey, a change came for this city, especially for this city, which has a 3% share of the European continent, which is, however, only from a geological point of view. But cultural travelers in this city also feel that it is very western-oriented. In other words, this city connects East and West and literally two continents and cultures. The people in this city use the media like no other on Turkish soil and are quite cosmopolitan. The modern city life is also reflected in the buildings and of course in the nightlife for which the city is known. A city trip to the former Constantinople is therefore not just a journey into the past of the city, which was undoubtedly very eventful. In addition, there are a number of cafés in this city where not only the locals happily go about their business and sip their mocha in happy company. The tourists, i.e. foreigners who come to the city, are also really absorbed into this culture. And of course they are served what are the culinary highlights in this city, such as the sweet baklava made from filo pastry with various nut fillings.