BIZANCIO hoy Turquía y ESTAMBUL (antigua Constantinopla)

En las fotografias aparecen:
AFRODISIAS (Bizancio-Turquia): el Teatro griego y la Columnata de mármol.
EFESO : La Iglesia de la Virgen Maria, el Templo de Adriano y SULEYMANIYE CAMII
ÜSKUDAR : Mihirimah Camii
ESTAMBUL : Fuente del Pabellón del Palacio Topkapi
Mezquita Azul
Cementerio hacia EYÜP
Yeni Camii


Sobre Estambul, (la Istambul del Imperio otomano y la Constantinopla de Bizancio) incluyo y guardo adjunto, un extenso comentario en inglés. Uno de los muchos que merece esta ciudad, que tan bien ha dado a conocer y explicado (digamos pero, que sólo el Estambul de su época y de su clase social) el escritor Orhan Pamuk, reciente Premio Nobel.
Su Estambul estaba todavía habitado por armenios, griegos, turcos y judíos. Una mezcla explosiva que ha ido confraternizando de una u otra manera. Sin problemas de religión. Hoy en 2007, si se mantiene un gobierno islamista en el poder, ya no lo sé.
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"Istanbul is Turkey's most populous city, and its cultural and financial center.
The city covers 25 districts of the Istanbul province. It is located at 41° N 29° E, on the Bosphorus strait, and encompasses the natural harbor known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country.
It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia) side of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world which is situated on two continents.

Istanbul has 31 districts. However, these can be divided into three main areas: the historic peninsula, the areas north of the Golden Horn, and the Asian side.

The Historic Peninsula of old İstanbul comprises the districts of Eminönü and Fatih. This area lies on the southern shores of the Golden Horn which separates the old city center from the northern and younger parts of the European side.
The Historic Peninsula ends with the Theodosian Land Walls in the west.
The peninsula is surrounded by the Sea of Marmara on the south and the Bosphorus on the east.

North of the Golden Horn are the historical Beyoğlu and Beşiktaş districts, where the last Sultan's palace is located, followed by a chain of former villages such as Ortaköy and Bebek along the shores of the Bosphorus. On both the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus, wealthy Istanbulites built luxurious chalet mansions, called yalı, which were used as summer residences.

The quarters of Üsküdar (Chrysopolis) and Kadıköy (Chalcedon) which are located on the Asian side were originally independent cities, like Beyoğlu (Pera) also used to be. Today they are full of modern residential areas and business districts, and are home to around one-third of Istanbul's population.

The population of the metropolis has more than tripled during the 25 years between 1980 and 2005. Roughly 70% of all Istanbulites live in the European section and around 30% live in the Asian section. The graph shows the numbers of inhabitants by year. The doubling of the population of Istanbul between 1980 and 1985 is due to a natural increase in population as well as the expansion of municipal limits.

According to the 2000 census, the population was 8,803,468 (city proper) and 10,018,735 (metro area). The census bureau estimate for July 20, 2005 was 11,322,000 for the province, which is generally considered as the metropolitan area, making it one of the twenty largest metropolitan areas in the world.

The urban landscape of Istanbul is shaped by many communities.
The most important and most populous major religion is Islam. The first mosque in Istanbul was built in Kadıköy (ancient Chalcedon) on the Asian side of the city, which was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1353, a full century before the conquest of Constantinople across the Bosphorus, on the European side.
The first mosque on the European side of Istanbul was built "inside" the Rumeli Castle in 1452.

The first grand mosque which was built in the city proper is the Eyüp Sultan Mosque (1458), while the first imperial mosque inside the city walls was the Fatih Mosque (1470) which was built on the site of the Church of the Holy Apostles, an important Byzantine church which was originally edificed in the time of Constantine the Great. Many other imperial mosques were built in the following centuries, such as the famous Süleymaniye Mosque (1557) which was ordered by Suleiman the Magnificent and designed by the great Ottoman architect Sinan, and the famous Sultan Ahmet Mosque (1616) which is also known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles which adorn its interior.

According to the 2000 census, there were 2691 active mosques, 123 active churches and 26 active synagogues in Istanbul; as well as 109 Muslim cemeteries and 57 non-Muslim cemeteries. Religious minorities include Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenian Christians, Catholic Levantines and Sephardic Jews.
Some districts have sizeable populations of these ethnic groups, such as the Kumkapı district which has a sizeable Armenian population, the Balat district which has a sizeable Jewish population, the Fener district which has a sizeable Greek population, and some neighbourhoods in the Nişantaşı and Beyoğlu districts which have sizeable Levantine populations.
In some quarters, such as Kuzguncuk, an Armenian church sits next to a synagogue, and on the other side of the road a Greek Orthodox church is found beside a mosque.

The Sephardic Jews have lived in the city for over 500 years, see the history of the Jews in Turkey. Together with the Arabs, the Sephardic Jews fled the Iberian Peninsula during the Spanish Inquisition of 1492, when they were forced to convert to Christianity after the fall of the Moorish Kingdom of Andalucia. The Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II (1481-1512) sent a sizeable fleet to Spain under the command of Kemal Reis in order to save the Arabs and Sephardic Jews who were tortured and killed because of their faith. More than 200,000 Spanish Jews fled first to Tangier, Algiers, Genova and Marseille, later to Salonica and finally to Istanbul. The Sultan granted Ottoman citizenship to over 93,000 of these Spanish Jews. Another large group of Sephardic Jews came from southern Italy which was under Spanish control.

Historically, Istanbul has been the center of the country's economic life due to its location as an international junction of land and sea trade routes. In 2005 the City of Istanbul had a GDP of $133 billion, outranking many prominent cities in the world.

Istanbul has always been the "financial capital" of Turkey, even after Ankara became the new political capital in 1923. The opening of specific markets in the city during the 1980s further strengthened this status. Inaugurated at the beginning of 1986, the Istanbul Stock Exchange is the sole securities market of Turkey, established to provide trading in equities, right coupons, Government bonds, Treasury bills, revenue sharing certificates, bonds issued by the Privatization Administration and corporate bonds, and to carry out overnight transactions.

Life in the city

Cultural activity, tourism and commerce are expected to remain important in the life of the city. However, major challenges loom ahead, such as demographic growth, traffic congestion, disorganized housing construction, the restoration of historic buildings and the planning of a 3rd motorway transition through the Bosphorus. Daily life in Istanbul is colorful and vibrant and continues to bustle side by side with many carefully protected Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman monuments. Istanbul is often considered the capital of Turkey in terms of commerce, entertainment, culture, education, shopping, tourism and art.
More than half of the population lives and works on the European side. The large number of people living in the residential areas on the Anatolian side use bridges and ferries to commute to work in a city that has been one of the most popular destinations for voyagers throughout history.

Art & Culture

Istanbul is becoming increasingly colorful in terms of its rich social, cultural, and commercial activities. While world famous pop stars fill stadiums, activities like opera, ballet and theater continue throughout the year. During seasonal festivals, world famous orchestras, chorale ensembles, concerts and jazz legends can be found often playing to a full house.
The Istanbul International Film Festival is one of the most important film festivals in Europe, while the Istanbul Biennial is another major event of fine arts.
Istanbul Modern, located on the Bosphorus with a magnificent view of the Seraglio Point, resembles Tate Modern in many ways and frequently hosts the exhibitions of renowned Turkish and foreign artists.
Pera Museum and Sakıp Sabancı Museum have hosted the exhibitions of world famous artists like Picasso, Rodin, Rembrandt and many others, and are among the most important private museums in the city.
The Rahmi M. Koç Museum on the Golden Horn is an industrial museum, largely inspired by the Henry Ford Museum in the United States. It exhibits historic industrial equipment such as cars and locomotives from the 1800s and early 1900s, as well as boats, submarines, aircraft, and other similar vintage machines from past epochs.


ISTANBUL=HEAVEN OF ARMENIANS/GREEKS/TURKS/JEWS (NO GODFIGHT)

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