How well do you know Istanbul?
Istanbul has been a great city for more than 1,600 years. These six questions go below the skyline, into its cisterns, tunnels, markets and the waters of the Bosphorus.
Did you know?
- Istanbul's street cats are so much a part of city life that a 2016 documentary, Kedi, followed seven of them and the people who look after them. Residents often leave food, water and even small shelters on the pavement, and some cats are regulars in shops and cafés.
- The Maiden's Tower stands on a tiny islet off Üsküdar, on the Asian shore. Over the centuries it has served as a watchtower, lighthouse, quarantine station and customs post. After a long restoration it reopened to visitors in 2023, with a small museum about its history.
- Galata Tower, more than 60 metres high, was built by Genoese traders in 1348 as part of their fortifications. The Ottomans later used it as a fire watchtower, because from its top guards could see smoke rising across the tightly packed wooden neighbourhoods of the city.
A city between two seas
Istanbul stands on both sides of the Bosphorus, the strait that joins the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and separates Europe from Asia. Founded as Byzantium, it later became Constantinople and was the capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire and then the Ottoman Empire for around 1,600 years. Today it is Türkiye's largest city and its economic heart, and millions of people cross between the two continents every day by ferry, bridge and tunnel.
Crossing the Bosphorus
The Bosphorus is about 30 kilometres long and only about 700 metres wide at its narrowest point. Regular steam ferry services began in 1851, and ferries remain one of the most loved ways to travel. The first bridge between the two shores opened in 1973, and there are now three. Beneath the water run the Marmaray rail tunnel, opened in 2013, and a road tunnel. The Marmaray's immersed section lies about 60 metres below the surface, making it one of the deepest of its kind.
Water beneath the streets
For much of its history the city had few rivers to rely on, so its rulers brought water from forests to the north through long aqueducts and stored it in cisterns. The Valens Aqueduct, finished in the 4th century, still crosses a busy avenue in the old city. The Basilica Cistern, built under Emperor Justinian, holds 336 columns in a forest of arches and could store around 80,000 cubic metres of water. Dozens of other cisterns lie hidden beneath buildings and streets.
Markets and everyday life
Trade has always been at the centre of Istanbul life. Besides the Grand Bazaar, the Spice Bazaar near Eminönü, built in the 1660s, is also known as the Egyptian Bazaar because it was funded partly by taxes from Egypt. Across the city, people drink strong black tea from small tulip-shaped glasses throughout the day, and neighbourhood markets move from district to district on fixed weekdays. Istanbul's many street cats are fed and cared for by local residents and shopkeepers.