Historical City Of Istanbul And Golden Horn. Istanbul, Historically Byzantium And Later Constantinople, Is Turkey's And Europe's Most Populous City, And The World's 4Th Largest. The City Covers 25 Districts Of The Istanbul Province. It Is Located 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. In Its Long History, Istanbul Served As The Capital City Of The Roman Empire (330-395), The Byzantine Empire (395-1204 And 1261-1453), The Latin Empire (1204-1261), And The Ottoman Empire (1453-1922). The City Was Chosen As Joint European Capital Of Culture For 2010. The Historic Areas Of Istanbul Were Added To The Unesco World Heritage List In 1985.

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ahmed anatolia architecture ayasofya basilica blue byzantine byzantium camii church constantinople dome eastern golden hagia heritage holy horn islamic istanbul mehmed mihrab minarets minbar mosque museum orthodox ottoman patriarch relics republic secular sophia sultan sultanahmet thrace turkey turkish turks unesco world