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| HISTORY |
The pre-history period
Approximately 300,000 years ago, Istanbul gave her lands free for settlement in the Yarimburgaz cave beside Kucuk Cekmece Lake. Human beings of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods around the end of the last Ice Age lived within the cave near the lake. Excavations have uncovered tools belonging to the early Paleolithic period (100,000 years ago).
In excavations in the Agacli area to the north, tools were found from the middle and late Paleolithic periods.
There was a significant cultural settlement around 5000 B.C. at Fikirtepe in the Kurbalidere area which is close to Chalcedon. In the waters of Keras, as the sunshine turned into golden reflections on one of the hills, ruler of all seas god Poseidon and beauty of beauties Keroessa, became parents of a son. They named him Byzas. Byzas grew up and built Byzantion. And, the name of the bay Keras became the "Golden Horn" because of the golden reflections.
The Byzantion
Colonialists coming from the city of Megara in central Greece and from the Aegean city of Miletos in 7 B.C. started the history of Byzantion. Built on a peninsula, Byzantion was blessed with food from the sea, had a safe harbor at the entrance of the Golden Horn and an acropolis that was easily defensible. Its location on the sea trade routes and the fertile lands available for agriculture caused it to flourish within a short period.
The Roman Empire Period
By 200 B.C., it had become difficult for the imperial capital Rome to rule over the vast area that made up the Roman Empire, reaching from Spain to Mesopotamia. A new administrative center was needed, especially in order to get a firm hold on the eastern part of the empire.
Beginning in 146 B.C., Byzantion, which was situated at the crossroads of the trade routes, became the administrative center of the Eastern Roman Empire and became known as Nea Roma. As the capital city of the eastern part of the empire, Nea Roma assumed an important role in world politics and culture. In keeping with this new status, new construction was started. Harbors and waterways were reconstructed. In the hippodrome at the center of the city, the emperor and nearly the entire population would gather to watch wild animal races and athletic events and enjoy feasts and celebrations. After Emperor Constantine took the throne, the city was renamed Constantinopolis (May 11, 330).
The Byzantine Empire
The Byzantines, whose capital was regarded as an extention of Rome, expressed more and more the desire to direct themselves toward the heritage of Greek antiquity. The buildings of this period were ornamented with artworks in the style of antiquity.
The great cathedral Hagia Sophia stood in all its splendor.
The most destructive blow hit the city during the Latin invasions. The invaders did great damage to the city. Homes and religious buildings were subject to arson and looting. After the invasions ended, the city started reconstruction work in the year 1261, though it could not be restored to its former glory.
Its population, formerly 500,000, had decreased to 50,000. Production of all types diminished and the people suffered from hunger. A 1000-year-old page of history was coming to an end and the city was preparing itself for a rebirth.
The Ottoman Empire
In the year 1453, the army of Fatih Sultan Mehmet II (Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror) conquered the city. First of all, the oldest buildings and the formerly magnificent but dilapidated city walls were restored. On the ruins of the Byzantine foundations, the buildings of the basic institutions of the Ottomans were built. The great water system with its huge cisterns was repaired and returned to use. The city had developed its Ottoman identity, resembling its present character.
With the addition of the buildings of the famous architect (Mimar) Sinan, the city had again become the capital of a great empire. Together with the remaining population after the conquest, people coming from all over the empire, from all kinds of ethnic origins and religions, created a colorful mixture. In Istanbul - the new Constantinopolis - the cultural variety brought in by the immigrants enriched the cultural texture of the city. The bedesten where the merchants were settled and the many hans where the craftsmen were to be found turned into centers that enabled this harbor city to develop trade with the outside world. Huge markets were built, further supporting trade. During the period of the height of Ottoman imperial power, the city was covered all over with tulips, in what is known as the "Tulip Era." In the 19th century, efforts of modernization were undertaken. Istanbul entered the 20th century worn out and burdened by its history as the capital city of three great empires. At that time, the Ottomans were just about to end their imperial period of 630 years.
The Republican Era
After World War I, resistance movements became active during the allied occupation of Istanbul, an occupation that lasted for nearly five years. When the resistance movement in Anatolia finally gained success, the last of the foreign soldiers left the city on October 5, 1923. On October 6, the Turkish army entered the city heralding the message of a new government led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the leader of the Turkish independence war, and his colleagues had made a decision in the new National Assembly that Istanbul would turn over its function as capital of the new nation to Ankara.
Under republican rule, much new construction activity took place in Istanbul, starting with the building of family houses in the 1930s.
In 1950s, more than 7300 buildings were torn down and the road system reorganized. This caused historic changes in the fabric of the city.
When the ferry boats became insufficient to serve the increasing flow of traffic across the Bosphorus between the Asian and the European sides of the city in the 1970's, the first suspension bridge was built. Istanbul had assumed an eminent role in the nation's cultural life as well as the economy. Immigrants from the rural areas hit the road with the motto "even the soil and the stones in Istanbul are made of gold," leading to much unplanned and devastating construction. On the one hand, there are slums built over night and on the other, huge shopping centers and giant industrial structures. Such is the world metropolis of republican Istanbul, ever changing and developing in all of its aspects.
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