Istanbul Turkey
Spanning the Bosphorus, Istanbul is Turkey’s cultural capital, with a distinctive skyline of domes and minarets. With a history dating from Byzantium times, the city has managed to fuse the old with the new to become a melting point of east meets west. This sprawling city remains a trading post for valuable spices and textiles brought via the Silk Road from as far away as China. Since its prime position has meant that it has suffered from frequent sieges, there are fragments of its varied architectural inheritance with stunning Ottoman mosques, classical columns, Byzantine structures, ancient city walls and fine churches.
