Richard AmmonIstanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople) is the world’s 3rd largest city and Turkey’s
cultural and financial center. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian (Anatolia)
side of the Bosphorus, and is therebythe only metropolis in the world which is situated on two continents.
In its long history, Istanbul served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330–395),
the East Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453),
the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922).
