Istanbul

Entrance to the Sünnet Odasi (circumcision chamber) in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, Turkey. The former palace of the Ottoman Sultans, with a harem of 400 rooms, Topkapi is now one of the world's great museums. The walls are decorated with elaborately designed ceramic tiles.

The Sultan Ahmet Camii, or Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey. It was built in 1609-16 for Sultan Ahmet I by the architect Mehmet Aǧa in classic Ottoman style.

The interior of the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. Built on the site of Byzantium's acropolis by the emperor Justinian I (completed AD 548), it was the greatest church in Christendom until 1453 when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire.

The Yeni Valide Mosque in Usküdar, Istanbul, Turkey. The name means ‘New Mosque of the Sultan's Mother’, and it was built in 1710 by Ahmet III in honour of his mother. Usküdar is separated from the main city of Istanbul by the Bosphorus, and is thus in Asia, not Europe.

The Blue Mosque (or Sultan Ahmet Mosque) in Istanbul was built between 1609 and 1616 by Mehmet Aga for Sultan Ahmet I. Modelled after two other great religious buildings of Istanbul - Hagia Sophia and the Suleimaniye Mosque - it is known as the Blue Mosque because of the predominantly blue and green tilework and painting of its interior.

The largest city and seaport in Turkey, Istanbul lies on a peninsula between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. Founded during the 7th century BC, the city was originally known as Byzantium, and was the capital of the Byzantine Empire. It was later taken over by the Romans and renamed Constantinople, a name which it kept until 1930, when it officially changed to Istanbul. The city was capital of the Turkish Republic until 1923.

The mosque of Aya Sofia, also called the Hagia Sophia or Church of Holy Wisdom, Istanbul, Turkey. This Christian cathedral was built under the Byzantine emperor Justinian I by the architects Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus. The building was completed in 537. During the 15th century, when the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople, the church was converted into a mosque, with minarets added and Christian frescoes painted over.

The Blue Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed I, in Istanbul, Turkey. Renowned for its distinctively coloured tilework and six fluted minarets, the Blue Mosque was built in the early 17th century by the architect Sedefkar Mehmed Agha. It is based on the 6th-century Byzantine Hagia Sofia, and has a symmetrical design.

City and chief seaport of Turkey, on both sides of the Bosporus at its entrance into the Sea of Marmara; population (2003 est) 9,419,00, urban agglomeration 10,048,900. It produces textiles, shoes, motor vehicles, ships, chemicals, food products, tobacco, cement, glass, and leather. The city is visited by many tourists and is a popular resort. One of the great historic cities of the world, it was founded as Byzantium in about 660 BC, was renamed Constantinople (AD 330) by Constantine the Great, and was the capital of the Byzantine Empire until captured by the Turks in 1453. As Istamboul it was capital of the Ottoman Empire until 1922; its name was officially changed from Constantinople to Istanbul in 1930.

features the harbour of the Golden Horn; Hagia Sophia (Emperor Justinian's church of the Holy Wisdom (537), later a mosque and since 1922 a museum), one of the world's most renowned works of architecture; Sultan Ahmet Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque, from its tiles; Topkapi Palace of the Sultans, with a harem of 400 rooms (now a museum), and the Grand Bazaar, the world's largest covered market, were built during the Ottoman period. The Selimye Barracks in the suburb of Usküdar (Scutari) was used as a hospital in the Crimean War; the rooms used by Florence Nightingale, with her personal possessions, are preserved as a museum. The Istanbul Biennial, one of the world's biggest art shows, began in 1987.

The city was destroyed by an earthquake in 1509 and was rebuilt by Sultan Beyazid II. Turkish culture reached its height in the 16th century and it is from that period that most of Istanbul's magnificent mosques date, notably those of Beyazid II, Sulayman I, and Ahmed I. They all reflect the distinctly Turkish Hagia Sophia, and give the city's skyline its unique character, a succession of perfectly proportioned domes broken by minarets. The part of Istanbul corresponding to historic Constantinople is situated entirely on the European side, and rises on both sides of the Golden Horn (the river Heliz). Like Rome, the city is built on seven hills; several miles of its ancient moated and turreted walls are still standing. The city is the seat of Istanbul University (founded in 1435 as a theological school) and of three other universities. It is also the see of the patriarch of the Greek Orthodox Church, of a Latin-rite patriarch of the Roman Catholic Church, and a patriarch of the Armenian Church.