Istanbul is not only the capital of Turkey, but of the four great empires of the past as well. Fabulous palaces of the Ottoman leaders, Byzantine churches, mosques, fortresses and towers, parks and squares – the architecture of Istanbul led by the famous Aya Sofia and Blue Mosque complexes – is a wild cocktail of different epochs, cultures and religions. After the sunset the romance of the eternal city is expanded by its night life – picturesque and vivid. To make a trip around Bosporus, to see the border between Europe and Asia and vast underground reservoir, to forget about the time walking down the streets of the biggest eastern bazaars with a roof, and to hear muezzins singing from the dark silhouettes of the city’s minarets against the sunset – that is what Istanbul is worth visiting for.
