Where continents collide, capital of empires, meeting point of culture and civilizations, home of two continents, the only city in the world that is in both Asia and Europe…

These are some of the phares that describes Istanbul.

Today the cultural and financial center of Turkey, Istanbul has been the capital of three empires—Byzantine, Roman, and Ottoman. 

No other city in the world straddles two continents; nowhere else has been the capital of two empires. This vibrant metropolis of 20 million people, sprawling across the European and Asian sides of the Bosphorus Strait, is unique.

Founded by the Greeks, later capital of the Christian Byzantine Empire, Istanbul blossomed anew at the heart of the Moslem Ottoman Empire following its capture by the Turks in 1453.

This magical meeting place of East and West has more attractions than it has minarets.