"There, God and human, nature and art are together, they have created such a perfect place that it is valuable to see." Lamartine�s famous poetic line reveals his love for Istanbul, describing the embracing of two continents, with one arm reaching out to Asia and the other to Europe.

Istanbul, once known as the capital of capital cities, has many unique features. It is the only city in the world to straddle two continents, and the only one to have been a capital during two consecutive empires - Christian and Islamic. Once capital of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul still remains the commercial, historical and cultural pulse of Turkey, and its beauty lies in its ability to embrace its contradictions. Ancient and modern, religious and secular, Asia and Europe, mystical and earthly all co-exist here.

Its variety is one of Istanbul�s greatest attractions: The ancient mosques, palaces, museums and bazaars reflect its diverse history. The thriving shopping area of Taksim buzzes with life and entertainment. And the serene beauty of the Bosphorus, Princes Islands and parks bring a touch of peace to the otherwise chaotic metropolis.

ISTANBUL:

Area: 5.712 km�

Population: ~15million!

Traffic Code: 34

you'll see numerous famous place in the attachment. if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask me

isn't there any questions about this city?

Hi!

I have a question, or request if you will. Could you add placemarks for the entrypoints of the train tunnel that is being built (or is it still a plan?) from europe to asia if you know them?

Thank You!!

Hi, aboveall I wanna show some pictures about the Tunnel which is called in Turkey "Marmaray". Maybe you know that the region where the istanbul is included called Marmara and the "rail" means in Turkish "ray" so the project's name is an integrated word Marmaray!






i tried to show some of the stations above, you can see them in my placemar. in fact my placemarks are only nearest point which I've estimated before, some of them are also old stations which were constructed there before but they aren't going to be use anymore after the Marmaray complated exactly...

thanks for your interests continue to explore...!

and this is the Marmaray platform's picture

it's also possible to see that platform by a webcam from
http://85.105.42.236:8080/

I do have a question for you..... Istanbul is a beautiful city, and I was lucky enough to work on a project there for 6 months ... giving me pleanty of time to explore this amazing place. My question is, what are you doing over there?

Nice post. I am making plans to visit Istanbul in March next year, so I will be back often in this thread.

huah! what am I doing here I am a Turkish Boy and graduating at ITU (istanbul technical university)

in addition if you have any question, please don't hesitate to ask!

THANK you for sharing this wonderful post. You dont know how helpful you've been! Thank you again :-)