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The splendid city of Istanbul
has many unique and fascinating features. It is
the only city in the world reaching across two
continents, with its old city in Europe and modern
Istanbul situated in Asia, separated by the Bosphorus
Strait.
It is also unique in having
had capital status during two successive empires,
Christian Byzantine and Islamic Ottoman, and the
legacy from both is visible in the modern city
today.
Istanbul's location
on the water made it a much coveted site as a
commercial shipping port and military lookout,
and as capital of the Roman Empire, Constantinople,
as it was known, became extremely desirable as
a centre of world trade, until Mehmet the Conqueror
claimed it for the Ottoman Empire in 1453 and
it became the imperial seat of the sultans.
After the War of Independence
the capital was moved to Ankara, but Istanbul
still remains the commercial, historical and cultural
heart of Turkey today.
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