Bosphorus Strait

Istanbul is a bridge between Europe and Asia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, a position that endows it with one of the most unique and beautiful settings in the world. For, between the hills on the European and Asiatic shores flows the Bosphorus, the brightest gem in the diadem of nature. "This beautiful strait, sometimes spelled Bosporus and sometimes Bosphorus, was so called from the earliest ages by the ancients; from the mythology of 10, the mistress of Jupiter, having passed over it in the shape of a cow. It resembles the Dardanelles, in length, breadth and current, and like it, is a narrow separation which divides Europe from Asia; but it has many features familiar to itself. Instead of being a solitary stream running between deserted shores, it is a body of water full of life and animation, winding its way through banks covered with palaces and villages, shaded with magnificent forest trees, presenting to the eye, at every mile, a new scene of crowded existence."

2 hours 30 minutes

Dolmabahce Mosque (Pass By)

The Dolmabahçe Mosque is a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey. It was commissioned by queen mother Bezmi Alem Valide Sultan.

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Ciragan Palace An Ottoman Imperial Palace On The Bosphorus. Book Direct Online For Best Rates! A Resort Ambience In The City And Reflects The Ultimate Luxury Of A Genuine Ottoman Palace. Best available rate. Business Centre. Luxury Spa.

Ortakoy (Pass By)

Ortaköy is a lively area centered on its waterfront square, where crowds gather to listen to impromptu concerts or sip tea on cafe terraces. Stands serving waffles or kumpir (stuffed baked potatoes) share busy alleys with souvenir stalls. The ornate, light-filled Ortaköy Camii mosque sits at the water’s edge in the shadow of the Bosphorus Bridge. After dark, upmarket restaurants and clubs nearby draw a chic crowd.

Dolmabahce Palace (Pass By)

Dolmabahçe Palace located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coast of the Strait of Istanbul, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922.

Bosphorus Bridge (Pass By)

The Bosporus or Bosphorus is a narrow, natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in northwestern Turkey. It forms part of the continental boundary between Europe and Asia, and divides Turkey by separating Anatolia from Thrace.

Rumeli Fortress (Pass By)

Rumelishisari Fortress - (Rumelihisari Castle) At the narrowest point of the Bosphorus stands the Rumelihisarr Fortress, built by Sultan Mehmet, the Conqueror on the European shore. The Sultan himself on the 26th day of March 1452 laid the foundation stone of the Fortress with a view to controlling the passage of the ships through the Bosphorus and using it as a base for his attack on the city. The fortress or castle was built upon the ancient site of Hermaion. It was completed in five months on August 28th 1452. The cannon on the towers could command this narrowest part of the Bosphorus opposite the older fortress of Anadoluhisarr. Darius in 500 BC had thrown a pontoon bridge across the Strait at this point and passed over 700,000 men. To Sultan Mehmet, the Conqueror, it was the key to Constantinople. The design of the walls and the towers display the Prophet's and the Conqueror's name - Muhammet - Mehmet.

Bebek Park (Pass By)

Bebek is a very trendy village along the Bosphorus. It has a buzzing atmosphere and it is well-known for the nice cafés and shops that line the waterfront. Locals also praise Bebek for its nice seaside promenade, ideal for long strolls along the strait.

Kanlica Meydani (Pass By)

Kanlıca is a neighborhood on the Asian side of the Bosphorus strait, in the Beykoz district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Kanlica is known for its popular specialty, yogurt topped with castor sugar, offered in local restaurants and cafés.

Beylerbeyi Palace (Pass By)

Situated on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus between the villages of Kuzguncuk and Cengelköy, the palace was built by Sultan Abdülaziz in 1865. Beylerbeyi Palace seen from the Bosphorus floats like a white vision in a fairy tale. It is the most extravagant royal house of the 19th Century on which millions were spent. It is built completely of marble, surpassing all the Palaces of European Kings. Empress Eugénie, during her visit of 1869 stayed in this palace as well as Czar Nicholas Il of Russia. Edward VIII was a guest in 1936. Stone lionesses recline on marble carpets set in lawns, and swans float and fish swim in the unobtrusive pool where pigeons fly to catch the spray of the fountain upon their wings.

Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge (Pass By)

The Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, also known as the Second Bosphorus Bridge, is a bridge in Istanbul, Turkey spanning the Bosphorus strait. When completed in 1988, it was the 5th-longest suspension bridge span in the world; today it is the 24th.

Kucuksu Pavilion (Pass By)

The summer Palace of Kucuksu, sometimes called the Palace of Göksu, is situated between the villages of Anadoluhisan and Kandilli on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus. The Kucuksu Palace was first built by Mahmut I in 1749. Later it underwent a restoration during the reigns of Selim Ill and Ahmet Il. It was renovated by Sultan Abdülmecit in 1857. Sultan Abdülaziz gave the palace a new face-lift and had it refurbished and redecorated. It is a small but elegant edifice, stretching along the lip of the Bosphorus, surrounded by intricately cast iron railings. Waters and waves of the Bosphorus wash its terraces of glittering marble and sometimes penetrate their latticed and mysterious recesses.

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Çengelköy is a neighborhood in the Üsküdar district on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, between the neighborhoods of Beylerbeyi and Kuleli. It is mainly a residential district. Many mansions were built there in the Ottoman period.

Anadolu Hisari Fort (Pass By)

Anadoluhisarı, known historically as Güzelce Hisar is a medieval fortress located in Istanbul, Turkey on the Anatolian side of the Bosporus. The complex is the oldest surviving Turkish architectural structure built in Istanbul, and further gives its name to the neighborhood around it in the city's Beykoz district.

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Sarayburnu is a promontory quarter separating the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul, Turkey. The area is where the renowned Topkapı Palace and Gülhane Park stand. Sarayburnu is included in the historic areas of Istanbul, added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.

Galata Koprusu (Pass By)

The Galata Bridge is a bridge that spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in Turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels.

Galata Tower (Pass By)

The Galata Tower — called Christea Turris by the Genoese — is a medieval stone tower in the Galata/Karaköy quarter of Istanbul, Turkey, just to the north of the Golden Horn's junction with the Bosphorus.

KIz Kulesi (Pass By)

Kızkulesı (Maiden's Tower - Leander's Tower) About 180 metres away from the shores of Üsküdar stands this tower which bears two different names. Europeans who named it the Leander's Tower thought that it was here where Leander was drowned while attempting to swim the Bosphorus to reach his beloved Hero, the priestess of Aphrodite. But, in fact, Leander never crossed here even in the legend which refers to the Hellespont, Dardanelles. The Turkish name is KIZ kulesi (Maiden's Tower). It is now a modern lighthouse. In the past, it served as a fort to tax ships up to one tenth of their cargo, similar to Pfalz Castle on the Rhine.