Between two continents and two seas, stretches Istanbul, the legendary lady of the Bosphorus. Historic, modern and traditional, the exotic orientalist with her westward gaze and lustful atmosphere, manages to evoke the strongest feelings in every visitor. The richness of its historical monuments, its natural beauties and the picturesqueness of its neighborhoods highlights its timeless grandeur and transforms Istanbul into the place where contrasts and differences were expressed in the most fruitful way. The queen of the Bosporus, has the air and the open spirit of all the cities by the sea, while, at the same time, she is constantly changing and renewing, through her role as a crossroad of cultures and peoples and a metropolis of religions and culture, elements that allow her to survive through its differences.
The city with the Byzantine churches and the legendary mosques, the Byzantine palaces and the modern skyscrapers, the noisy squares and the open-air markets, entices the visitor to a magical fairy tale. Every visitor can feel the heart and the pulse of the city
through routes of top aesthetic pleasure. From the Bosphorus waterfront to Fanari and from Pera Street to Taksim Square, monuments that recall glorious historical memories, nest in every corner of the city and wander the most demanding eyes. At every step, the crossroads of the Byzantine Empire and the Ottoman Empire are harmoniously illuminated in a peaceful cultural coexistence. Under the same sky coexist top monuments of Orthodoxy, (Hagia Sophia) with the dark silhouettes of windows and their minarets, (Blue Mosque, Topkapi) in an urban background of unsurpassed beauty. Crowded squares (Taksim) are centered in the heart of the city and covered bazaars (Kapali charsi) reveal the scents of the east in the humidity of the Horn Bay and the bridge of Galata. The city that was praised more than any other for its beauty, is a city that manages to uniquely activate all the senses and solemnly justify its title as City of Cities and city of our heart.
