Istanbul (Turkey)

 

It was founded in A.D. 330 by Emperor Constantine as the capital of the Roman Empire. The largest and most splendid city of the Middle Ages, it had about one million inhabitants in its greatest period in the 10th century.

 

 

It declined with the Byzantine Empire and was almost depopulated when it fell to the Turks in 1453. Under the sultans of the Ottoman Empire, the city flourished once again as one of the great political and commercial centres of Europe.

 

 

In modern Turkey, it continued as the nation's economic focus. Although the capital was moved to Ankara in 1923, Istanbul handles most of Turkey's imports and a large part of its exports. It has shipbuilding and consumer goods industries. Modern buildings alternate with ancient mosques, and marble palaces with slums.

 

 

Among the city's famous sights is the Hagia Sophia (Santa Sophia), originally a Byzantine church, later a mosque, and now a museum.