Istanbul: The Imperial City
"Surrounded by a garland of waters" on the narrow straits of the Bosporus dividing Europe and Asia, Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, has been an unrivaled locus of cultural exchange since its beginnings as the Greek colony Byzantium. In its more than twenty-six centuries of existence the city has survived countless natural and political catastrophes, foreign conquests, and dynastic upheavals, enduring fantastic changes in religion, language, political status, and name. Despite...
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Istanbul: The Imperial City tells the story of the city from its foundation until the present with the emphasis throughout on its colourful and tempestuous daily life. A comprehensive gazetteer describes all the monuments mentioned in the text, so that this is a guide to the city as well as an evocation of its illustrious past as Byzantium, Constantinople and Istanbul, which unfolds as one walks the ancient streets in view of the garland of waters that still entwine it.
List of Colour Plates and Picture AcknowledgementsMapsPrefaceTurkish Spelling and PronunciationPt. IByzantium1The Strait and the City, up to c. 658 BC32The Greek City-State of Byzantium, c. 658 BC-AD 196133Roman Byzantium, 196-33025Pt. IIConstantinople4The City of Constantine, 330-337375The Imperial Capital, 337-395486The Theodosian Walls, 395-450587The Late Roman City, 450-527698The Age of Justinian, 527-565799The Struggle for Survival, 565-7179010The Iconoclastic Crisis, 717-84510111Born in the Purple, 845-105611412The Dynasty of the Comneni, 1056-118512913The Latin Conquest, 1185-126114314Renaissance and Civil War, 1261-135415315The Fall of Byzantium, 1354-1453164Pt. IIIIstanbul16Istanbul, Capital of the Ottoman Empire, 1453-152018117The Age of Suleyman the Magnificent, 1520-156619418The House of Felicity, 1566-162320619The Procession of the Guilds, 1623-163822120Decline and Gilded Decadence, 1638-173023721In the Days of the Janissaries, 1730-182625322The Age of Reform, 1826-187626823The Fall of the Ottoman Empire, 1876-192328124Istanbul under the Turkish Republic, 1923-1995299Pt. IVNotes on Monuments and Museums317Glossary383List of Emperors and Sultans387Bibliography390Index396
