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Istanbul
History
 İn 658 B.C a group of Dorian colonists under King Byzas founded a colony on the European shores of the Bosphorus,in a tranquil sheltered port.Thanks to this felicitous geographical position(through the straits of the Bosphorus the Black Sea communucates with the Sea of Marmara which in turn via the Dardanelles empites out into the Mediterranean).Byzantium soon became an important trading center,attracting the attention of Darius of Persia,who conquered it in 513 B.C .Subsequently the city made a pact of allance with Rome,and while the later,worn out by the continuous Barbarian invasions,was on the wane,the star of Byzantium was growing ever brighter.İn 324 A.D.Constantine reunited the two parts of the Empire and on May 11,330,he solemnly consecrated the city as the new capital with the name of the Nea Roma,or New Rome.İt was however beter known as Constantinople and the Byzantinecivilization that was created here shone for centuries.Constantinople reached the heights of its splendor under the Emperor Justinian,sole head of Church an State.
At the end of 11century,the spiritual tensions that characterized the West,together with the idea of liberating the holy places of Jerusalem from the İnfidels,led to the Crusades.İn April of 1204 the Christian knights conquered Constantinople,where they plundered and killed without pity,pillaged and destroyed.Countless art treasures of inestimable value were lost.With no more then a hundred thousand inhabitants,its past splendor gone,the city was reconquered by the Byzantine Empire just as the Ottoman Turks were beginning their inexorable march.İn 1451 the able and ambitious Sultan Mohammed II rose to the throne.His dream had always been that of conquering Constantinople.The siege began on April 5,1453,and on the morning of May 23rd the city surrendered.Chrisitian Constantinople thus passed into the hands of a sultan barely 23 years old.Later the new city was also to have a different name,İstanbul,an abbreviated form of the Greek expression ‘’eis ten polin’’ meaning ‘’towards the city’’
The power of the Ottoman empire reached its zenith with Suleyman the Magnificent,whose great architect Sinan embellished the city with magnificent mosques,bridges,palaces,fountains.With the progressive decline of Ottoman power and the dismembering of the empire.The city too declined,until at the dawn of the 20 century the empire came to an end and the Turkish republic was born.İn 1923 the capital was transfered to Ankara,but it is in İstanbul and its glorious monuments that its thousand years of history will live on.
Historical places
Blue Mosque
 No one who has been to İstanbul at least once can ever forget the feeling of awe and wonder inspired by the sight of the slender minarets boldly silhouetted against the sky,the looing bulk,the cascade of domes and half domes,the astonishing harmony of its colors and forms.The views is incomparable either from Galata Bridge or from Golden Horn.
Sultan Ahmed I ,who came to the throne when he was barely fourteen,was deeply religious and entrusted the construction to a pupil of the great Sinan,the architect Mohammed Aga known also as’’Sedefkar’’,which means ‘’worker of mother-of-pearl’’.According to manuscript in the Topkapı library he was originally a gardener in the mausoleum of Suleyman’s mosque.He had joined the Janissaries and had dedicated himself to the building of mosques,palaces and fountains,even going so far as restore to Kaaba.
Work on the mosque beganin 1609 and ended in 1616,just a year before the death of the sultan who had spent 1,181 gold thalers on it.İt is said that on the day of the solemn inauguration Ahmed ı,as a sign of humality,wore a hat in the shape of the Prophet’s foot.The firs thing that strikes us as we approach the mosque is that it is the only one in the world to have six minarets,four of which have three balconies each.When the building was finished,the sultan had to add a seventh minaret to it of the Mecca which also had six in order to reestablish its religious primacy.
İt is surrounded on three sides by a vast walled courtyard with a portico.Three impressive entrance doors lead into an internal court,paved in marble,which is as large as the inside of the mosque.İn the center of the court is the hexagonal Shadirvan(basin or fountain for ritual ablutions)surrounded by six marble columns.
The inside is approximately square:a single immense space into which the light pours from 260 windows,freely playing over the surfaces.The powerfull dome,43 meters high,is supported by four enermous circular pillars 5 meters in diameter which have vertical grooves anda re known as ‘’ elephant feet’’.
The mosque takes its name from the splendid blue decoration which covers this perfectly balanced harmonious ensemble.For a third of their height the walls and pillars are sheathed with 21,043 faience tiles of the 16th and 17th centuries,predominantly in all possible shades of blue and with floral designs ranging from roses to tulips,carnations and lilacs.
Hippodrome
 The vast area covered by the Hippodrome lies between Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque .İt is also known as at Meydani,or plaza of the horses,because after the conquest of Constantinople it was used principally for horse races.
İts original layout dates to 203 A.D under Septimius Severus.İt was enlarged and embellished by Constantine in 325 and recalls the Circus Maximus in Rome.Almost 400 metres long and 120 meters wide,there was room for 100,000 spectators in forty rows of seats.The athleltes were divided into factions:The Blues,The Greens,the Reds and the Whites.The emperor’s box,decorated with four splendid bronze horses which are now in Venice,was to the North.But the plaza of the horses was not the scene of games and festivities only.İn 532,during the İdes of January,the revolt against Justinian was staged here.At the cry of nika(which in Greek means’’Victory’’),the rebels raged through the city pillaging and plundering.The uprising,which went down in history as the Nika riots,was bloodily put down by General Belisarius who had over 40,000 men executed next to what was known from then on as the ‘’gate of death’’.İn 1826 the Hippodrome was once more the scene for execution of 30,000 Janissaries who had opposed the rule of Sultan Mahmud II.The Hippodrome was so resplendent with statues,obelisks and trophies which came from various countries that St.Jerome wrote:’’the splendor of Constantinople is inaugurated despoiling all other cities.
The oldest is without doubt the obelisk of Theodosius,a porphyry monolith 25 meters high from Karnak where it had been erected in honor of Thutmosis III. The marble base is 6 meters high and is decorated with low reliefs.Another obelisk is that of Constantine,beter known as the walled obelisk,which is compared to the Colossus of Rhodes in the inscription on is base.İt is 32 meters high and is built of blocks of limestone faced with plaques of guilded bronze and was erected under Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus.The oddest monument is without doubt the Serpentine Column,originally 8 meters high (today five and a half meters are left).This bronze column came from Delphi where it had been set up in the temple of Apollo in memory of the victorious battles of Salamina and Platea.İt is said that the bodies of three entwined serpents which form the column were cast from the shields of the Persian soldiers who fell in the battle.Lastly the Kaiser Fountain,a gift of the German emperor William II to Sultan Abdulhamid II in 1895,during the Kaiser’s trip to the East.
Hagia Sophia
 Hagia Sophia or the Church of Divine Wisdom is a masterpiece of grandeur and proportions,coveted by the İslamic East and the Christian West,an done of the most important attestations of humanity-surely the only one that for 1400 years has served God and Allah,the Christian world and İslam.
The first church was built between 325 and 360 under Constans II,even though his father Constantine may have had the foundations laid.Ravaged by fire in 404,it was restored and reconsecrated by Theodosius II only to be completely burnt down during the Nika riots in January 532.Justinian had only recently risen to the throne and the supreme ambition of the emperor, a champion of the cause of orthodox Christianity and divinely appointed,was to buid the greatest temple that Christianity had ever had.No more than 32 days had elapsed after the destruction of the church when work on the new building began.İt is said thatthe shape of the church was revealed to Justinian in adream.Artisans arrived from allparts of the world.Justinian,who spent much of his time in the building yards,name done hundred overseers,each one responsible for a hundred workers.Anthemious of Trallers was designated as architect in chief,assisted by İsidoros of Milatos,both Greeks from Asia Minor.On December 27,537,Hagia Sophia was solemnly consecrated by the emperor.İt is said that when he arrived in front of the church,Justinian raised his arms to heaven and exclaimed ‘’Glory toGod who has deigned tol et me finish so great a work.O Solomon,ı have outdone thee!’’.And indeed it seems to surpass Solomon’s temple in size,beauty and richness.The Grand interior of the basillica is central plan.With a total surface of 7,570 square meters,Hagia Sophia takes fourth place after St.Peter’s ,the Cathedral of Seville and that of Milan.The interior is dominated by the enermous dome 55 meters above the ground and with a diameter of over 36 meters.Forty ribs divide the dome into sections which terminate at their base in 40 windows.The weight of the dome is supported by four main pillars which in turn are buttressed by four smaller pillars.Hagia Sophia was also an exultation of light which entered through the numerous Windows to illuminate the nave where the worshippers were gathered in prayer.At night thousands of lamps and candelaba reflected their light on the 16,000 square meters of gold mosaics scattered here and there throughout the building.The dome too was covered by a pure gold mosaic, with a cross at the center.Unfortunately most of mosaic decoration of Hagia Sophia disappeared,first under the wrath of the iconoclasts,who spared only the abstract decoration,and subsquently with the conquest of the Ottoman Turks and the İslamic prohobition to reproduce the human figure.Natural calamities sorely tried the architectural challenge of Hagia Sophia.The earthquakes of 553 and 557 weakend the structure of the basillica,until in 558 the eastearn arch and part of the dome crashed to the ground destroying the atlar,the ciborium and the ambo.Restored and newly consecrated,it was to see other more tragic events.
At the beginning of the 13th century Constantinople,after having withstood at least seventeen sieges by barbarians and infidels,fell under the fury of a Christian army.During the three days of plunder,Hagia Sophia ws complitely pillaged and stripped of its precious icons,its gold and silver candelabra,the jeweled crosses,the glittering reliquaries.Anything of gold was simply melted down.On May29,1453 the Ottoman Turks conquired Constantinople.That day ,late in the afternoon,Mohammed II entered Hagia Sophia and fort he first time after nine centuries,the imam’s prayer to Allah,the only god,resounded under the imposing domes.The transformation of Hagia Sophia into a mosque was carried out with unbelieveble respect ,event though there were of course many changes.The metal cross on the dome was replaced by the crescent moon which a century later was covered –it is said-with 50,000 fused gold coins.The ambo was replaced by a mimbar ,and a mihrab for prayer in the direction of Mecca was set up.An initial polygonal minaret was builtm to which others were later added.Christian mosaic with human figures were not touched.
The exterior of Hagia Sophia was also modified.What had been the baptistery was tarnsformed at the beginning of the 17th century into the turbeh of Mustafa I ,where the sultan is buried together with his nephew İbrahim.Next to this mausoleum are the octagonal and hexagonal tombs of three other sultans,Mohammed III,Selim II and Murat III,each with their wives and relatives.
The 20th century brought the downfall of the Ottoman Empire and the simultaneous rise of the young Turkish republic.
The first president ,Kemal Ataturk,decided to transform the mosque into a Byzantine-Ottoman museum and in April 1932 the mosaics once more began to be laid bare;so it was that,under the careful guidance of Thomas Whittemore of the Byzantine İnstitute of America the gleaming gold mosaics began to surface from the walls of the mosque,direct evidence of the great past of Hagia Sophia and of the city as a whole.
Palace of Topkapı
The Palace of Topkapı,or Topkapı Saray is an extraordinary complex of buildings spread out over one of the seven hills of İstanbul,in a splendid site above the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn.Constantine’s imperial palace once stood here until it was abandoned and fell into ruin with the fall of the Empire.When the Turks conquared Istanbul,Mohammed II first chose the site of the present University as the seat fort his palace of Topkapı,which means ‘’gate of the canon’’.Begun in 1462,its principal parts were finished in 1478 and it was the official seat of the Ottoman sultans up until 1855 when Abdulmecid moved to the new and sumptuous palace of Dolmabahce,built on the model of the ostentatious imperial residences of the west.
We enter the palace through the Ortakapı,the central gate known also as Bab-ı-Salaam,or ‘’gate of salvation’’.Built in 1525 under Suleyman the Magnificient,it is flanked by two octagonal Gates where those condemned to death were kept prisoner.Only the sultan could pass through Bab-ı-Salaam on horseback-all the others had to go on foot.
Immediately behind the entrance we find the beatiful kitchens built at the time of Mohammed theConqueror and later restored by Sinan.They are a strange imposing sight:each one is composed of two square rooms covered with a dome with eight Windows and topped by ten conical chimneys.A splendid collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain is now exhibited here where once 1200 cooks were kept at work.
Treasury-By general consensus one of the most fascinating pats of Topkapı:in these rooms jewels and objects of incomparable beauty and inestimable worth which belonged to the sultansa re on display.
Throne of Nadir-Known also as throne of Shah İsmail,it is basically an oval armchair on four legs 46sm,high,made of ebony covered with gold,and with emeralds,rubies and pearls set into a layer of enamel.Along the outer border of the throne there are nine pine cones of rubies crowned by an emerald.The pillow ,in purple velvet ,is decorated with plaques of gold with flowers in pearls,rubies and turquoises.A costly work of İndian craftsmanship ,it was bought back as war booty by Nadir Shah and presented to Sultan Mahmud I also a gift in 1746.Since it comes from İndia some scholars have even advanced the fascinating hypothesis that this precious throne belonged to no less a person than Tamerlane.
Dagger-This splendid jewel,so famous that it was even the protagonist of a celebrated film,was one of the gifts that Sultan Mahmud ı sent to Nadir Shah in 1746.When the Turkish delegation arrived in Baghdad,they had been killed .The Turkish ambassadors returned to İstanbul ,taking all their gifts with them ,including the dagger.İt is 35 cm.Long and encrusted with diamonds and with enamel decoration sists of three enormous emeralds surrounded by diamonds.Another octagonal cut emerald ,which closes on a small watch,is at the tip of hilt.
The ‘’spoon’’ diamond-A jewel from A Thousand and One Nights,this diamond of 86 karats is surrouded by forty-nine extremely pure cut diamonds.There are two constrasting versions as to the stone’s origin.The first ,perhaps a legend ,says that it was found in a refuse heap by a poor fisherman who sold it to a crafty jeweler in the bazaar in Exchange for three spoons.This explains the name of the diamond ,’’kaşikci’’ ,which in Turkish means ‘’maker of spoons’’,although the jewel also recalls a spoon in its form.According to the second version which is certainly much more reliable,a French officer named Pigot bought it in 1774 from the Maharajah of Madras and took it to France.İt changed hands several times and was put on auction ,in which Giacomo Casanova is also said to have taken part,and was acquired by Napoleon’s mother who however had to sell it in an attempt to save her son from exile.Then ,for 150,000 gold coins it came into the possession of the governor Tepedelenli Ali Pasha who put it with the other jewels in his personal treasury.
When the governor was accused of treason and dismissed by Mahmud II,the diamond became part of the Ottoman treasury.İt also seems likely that this diamond is the Pikot diamond,all track of which was also said to have been 86 karats.
Ceremonial throne-The throne that the Turkish sultans used during the solemn investiture ceremonies is 178cm.high and is walnut completely sheathed with golden plaques for which 80,000 golden ducats where melted down.
İt weighs 250 kilograms and 954 chrysolites are embeded in it.İn 1585 it was presented to Murat III by the governor og Egypt Ibrahim Pasha and remained in the Topkapı Palace even after the sultans had moved to the palace of Dolmabahce.
Harem-The world harem derives the Arab ‘’harim’’ which means something forbidden and ‘’haram’’,literally sanctuary.The harem was in fact the private residence of the sultan ,the quarter where the woman in the palace lived-the Turkish sovereign’s mother,his sister,his wives,his concubines..The harem today covers an area of circa 15,000 square meters:it was governed by a corps of black eunuchs,almost all Abyssiniana who had been offered to the Sultan by the pasha of Egypt when they were young.They guarded the entrances to the harem so that no outsider might enter the appartments reserved to the women.
Twin pavillions-Known also as the ‘’Apartments of the heir’’they are two communicating rooms facing on the courtyard of the favorites and the pool of the concubines.The 17th-century ceramics on the walls represent tulips,roses,hyacinths,cypresses.
İmperial Hall-This is the largest room in the harem,begun under Suleyman the Magnificent by Sinan but radically changed in 1750 with the insertion of mirrors which conceal secret doors,of wainscotting,and marble columns.İn this spacious place,lighted by twenty –six Windows,the sultan and the women of the harem participated in parties,balls and entertainment.
Dolmabahce Palace
 Dolmabahce Palace built in 19 th century is one of the most glamorous palaces in the world.Dolmabahce on the European Shore of the Bosphorus in İstanbul is afitting symbol of the magnificence of the 19th-cetury Ottoman Empire. İt was built between the years 1843 and 1856 under the order of the Empire's 31st sultan,Sultan Abdulmecid,at a cost of five million Ottoman gold pounds, the equivalent of 35 tons of gold. Fourteen tons of gold in the form of gold leaf were used to gild the ceilings of the palace. Haci Said Aga was responsible for the building works while the project was realised by Evanis Kalfa, Karabet Balyan, his son Nikogos Balyan.
Dolmabahce is composed of three parts; the Mabeyn-i Hümâyûn (the quarters reserved for the men), Muayede Salonu (the ceremonial halls) and the Haremi Hümayun ( the Harem,the apartments of the family of the Sultan). It's just as a sultan's palace should be: huge and sumptuous, with 285 rooms, 43 large salons, a 4000 kg (4-1/2-ton) Bohemian glass chandelier, and a Bosphorus-shore façade nearly a quarter mile (1/2 km) long. It's the grandest of Ottoman imperial palaces (closed Monday & Thursday; stay 2-3 hrs; guided tour required.
The entrance section of the palace was used for the receptions and meetings of the sultan, and the wing behind the ballroom used as the harem section. İt has survived intact with its original decorations, furniture, and the silk carpets and curtains. It surpasses all other palaces in the world in wealth and magnificence. Rare handmade artifacts from Europe and the Far East'decorate every room in the palace. Brilliant crystal chandeliers, candelabras and fireplaces add to the lavish decor.
The ballroom is the largest of its kind in the world. A 4.5 ton colossal crystal chandelier hangs from the 36 m high dome. Of the six baths in the palace, the one in the section reserved for men was made of unique and beautifully carved alabaster. In the Republican era, Atatürk used to reside in this palace when he visited Istanbul. He died here in 1938 and before his body was taken to Ankara. The Galata Bridge
The first bridge over the Golde Horn which connects the new city with the old was built by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian.After this ,eleven bridges were built during Byzantium Period.
The present Galata Bridge was first wooden and constructed by Sultan II,Mahmut in 1836.İt was replaced with metal span one in 1870.The new Galata Bridge,completed in 1992,is the fifth to have spanned this reach of the Golden Horn since the wooden one.İt is a technical improvment on the extant old bridge whose pantoons do much to prevent the movement of fresh water into the Golden Horn.Two drawbridges open to allow shipping to pass and social pedestrian walkway and restaurants of the old bridge are being retained on a new footpath .The bridge is 450 m.long and 42 m.width.
Mosque of Sultan Suleyman
Built by the great Sinan for Suleyman the Magnificient between 1550 and 1557,it has four slender minarets on the outside,a symbol that Suleyman was the fourth Ottoman sultan ,while the ten galleries which run along the minarets refer to the fact that he was the tenth sultan of the reigning dynasty.
The interior is truly overwhelming in the grandeur of its proportions,the austerity of its aspect,the absence of any excessive ornamentation.Almost square ,it is dominated by an enormous dome on a drum,53 meters high.One hundred and thirty –eight Windows flood the hall with variegated light.The only decorative elements are the lovely inscriptions by Ahmed Karahisari,one of the greatest 16th-century Turkish calligraphers,and the elegant white-ground ceramic tiles with flowers and leaves in turquoise,blue,and red,from the kilns in İznik,ancient Nicaea,famous not only fort he two councils held there but also for its ceramic art.
Turbeh of Suleyman the Magnificient-Behind the mosque,in a small cementery is the turbeh of Suleyman,which may also be by Sinan.Octagonal in form,the dome is supported by eight slender porphyry columns.Here the great sultan,who died in 1566 at the age of 71,reposes on an imposing catafalque,next to his daughter Mihrimah and the other two sovereigns, Suleyman II and Ahmed II .Nearby,another mousoleum,also octagonal in shape,belongs to Roxelane,literally the Russian,beause that is where she was supposedly from.She was the great Suleyman’s favorite:fort her he repudiated all the other women in his harem and gave her the name of Hürrem,the ‘’ laughing one’’.
Beyoglu
Beyoglu İstanbul’s downtown.Beyoglu is where the city comes to work,shop and play.A vast area with boundaries that are hard to define,fort he purposes of this guide it’s everything up the hill North of the Golden Horn as far as Taksim Square.The focus,however,is unmistakably İstiklal Caddesi,the broad pedestrianised spine off which spread countless narrow streets.Since most streets are unsuitable for traffic,the only way to explore the various neighbourhoods that make up Beyoglu is by foot.
Historically,the district went by two different names:Galata ,fort he hillside just North of the Golden Horn and Pera,denoting what’s now the lower İstiklal Cadde area.Foreign –occupied areas since Byzantine times,these were trading colonies across the water from the walls of Constantinople proper,founded by merchants from İtalian city-states such as Genoa and Venice.
After the Ottoman conquest in the 15th century,it was to Galata that the European powers sent their first ambassadors.By the 17th century,Galata /Pera was a substantial city in its own right,with a multi-ethnic population known collectively as ‘’Levantines’’.As well as the İtalians,there were many other significiant communities.
Activities
Turkish night
 If this is your first time in Turkey and never been to a Turkish Night, we strongly recommend you go to one! Belly Dancers, Turkish folkdance, Turkish food and wine, a lot of laugh and audience participation. Turks really know how to have fun all together.
Turkish Night is brought to let you experience Turkish culture and traditions. The program begins with live Turkish music, followed by a little flavour of the Ottoman Emperor beautiful Turkish Belly dancer reminiscent of the "Harem Girls" would dance for the Sultan's pleasure. The highlight of the evening is "Folklore Group" who will dance a typical Turkish "Village wedding", surely a much shorter version as the celebration would normally last several days. Time between 20.00-24.00
Great Turkish style entertainment for everyone. Join for evening of eastern , sample the local cuisine, local meze and drinks. You will be amazed the folk dances from all over the country and be entranced by the belly dancers in addition traditional Turkish hospitality. For the people who have a taste of living, the importance of the atmosphere is great. There are some places that you love... you miss and you want to share with friends Join us for a Traditional Turkish Night.
Food &drink
Turkish cuisine is one of the world’s three major cusines,up there with French and Chinese.s the Ottomans once controlled the entire eastern Mediterranean basin,imperial chefs were able to raid the ingredients and cusines of Greece,the Balkans ,the Caucasus and the Levant for inspiration.
The inigenous cuisine encountered in İstanbul today is simplified palace food that long ago made its way outside the imperial quarters and into common kitchens.
Where to eat:The quintessential İstanbul eating experience remains the meyhane .These places are cheap,frequently boisterous and filling the table with myriad small meze dishes means everyone can be kept happy,even vegetarians.Meyhanes are found city-wide but with a heavy concentration around Nevizade street in Beyoglu.
Fish is the other big local speciality.Most visitors are directed to Kumkapı,which has the greatest concentration of seafood restaurants,plus it’s close to the hotel district of Sultanahmet.There are better options.We really rate Doga Balık,which is just downhill from Taksim and the humble karakoy balıkcı.for more refined dining on the day’s catch ,head up the Bosphorus to Poseidon in Bebek,Rumeli İskele up at Rumeli Hisarı over on the Asian Shore.
Find out what a real kebab is at a kebabchı ,places that specialise in charred flesh.There are more varieties than you can shake a skewer at and you may come to appreciate kebab waht a hamburger is to a choice T-bone steak.
For the kind of food that used to pleasure the palates of sultans,visit one of the restaurants serving traditional ‘’Ottoman ‘’cuisine.The cooking in such places has its ancestry back in the Topkapı kitchens.Expect elaborate dishes mixing rice,fruit and vegetables with meat and fish ;venues include Rami ,Asitane and Feriye.
İstanbul climate
Istanbul enjoys the four seasons. This is a transition between Mediterranean and Black Sea climates, with hot and dry summers and pleasantly warm spring and fall. Winters are cold but snow is rare. The vegetation is predominantly of the Mediterranean type.
Istanbul experiences long, hot summers and mild, rainy winters. Annual precipitation averages 72 cm (28 in) and is most heavy in December and January. In Istanbul one should be cautious all the time, you can be caught to a rain storm during summer or you can have a real nice sunny warm weather in February. After all it is a city of surprises. However, usually the following temperatures are taken as normal (in celcius degrees):
The best time to visit Istanbul is spring, early summer and autumn. Take a boat trip under the clear sky and watch the blue color of the Bosphorus, at the same time watch the palaces, summer pavillions and mansions along the sides of Bosphorus.
Winter is usually cold and rainy occasional snow showers is observed. Even march seems to be a part of winter.
April is the time when the spring starts and one can boldly observe the awakening of the mother nature in historical Istanbul. April is also the most crowded month regarding the touristic activities in Istanbul. The city starts to become more vivid and colorful with the blossoms of the flowers and erguvans (do not know the exact word will change soon).
From may till the end of june Istanbul is wonderful with her green and colorful nature together with the shining beauty of the Bosphorus and the Marmara Sea.
Early Autumn (september and october) is nice in Istanbul with its breeze and still green nature. However, november can occasionally be cold and rainy so prefer to visit Istanbul before november.
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