Istanbul
08 AUGUST 2007 -- ISTANBUL, TURKEY: Skyline of Istanbul, Turkey as seen through the windows of the Aya Sofya Museum. The Aya Sofya used to be the Haghia Sophia, an ancient Christian Church, Mehmet the Conqueror converted it to a mosque and Kehmal Ataturk, the founder of modern, secular, Turkey turned it into a museum. Istanbul, a city of about 14 million people, and the largest city in Turkey, straddles the Bosphorus Straits between Europe and Asia. It is one of the oldest cities in the world. It was once the center of the Eastern Roman Empire and was called Constantinople, named after the Roman Emperor Constantine. In 1453, Mehmet the Conqueror, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, captured the city and made it the center of the Ottoman Turkish Empire until World War I. After the war, the Ottoman Empire was dissolved and modern Turkey created. The capitol was moved to Ankara but Istanbul (formerly Constantinople) has remained the largest, most diverse city in Turkey. Photo by Jack Kurtz
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