The Port of Istanbul (or the Port of Hairdar Pasha) is the largest seaport and city in Turkey. The old city is located on the peninsula between Europe an Asia, covering both continents. It was the capital of the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire, and the Turkish Republic.
Port History
For over 2500 years, the Port of Istanbul has been both a bridge and a barrier for cultures, religions, and imperial powers. Archeological evidence suggests that the first human habitation of the area was in the Copper Age. Artifacts dating from 5500 to 3500 BC have been found in the Fikirtepe mound on the Anatolian side of the city.
A Phoenician port settlement was found in nearby Chalcedon, the first place Greek settlers colonized in 685 BC. Thracian tribes established an ancient port called Lygos between the 13th and 11th Centuries BC. Today's Topkapi Palace now stands on the site of Lygos, which was also the location of the Byzantion Acropolis. According to legend, Byzas was the leader of the Greeks who took the peninsula from the Thracian tribes and built the city of Byzantium in 657 BC.
Roman emperor Septimius Severus razed the town for opposing his forces in civil war, but he rebuilt it with the name August Antonina. Constantine the Great made the city the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire in 330 AD, calling it New Rome and later Constantinopolis.
The Fourth Crusade in the early 13th Century was aimed at Jerusalem, but the Crusaders sacked Constantinople instead. It then became the Catholic Church's eastern center, but it fell into an economic and cultural decline. In the 13th Century, Arabs used the name they heard Byzantines use for the city, calling it Istinpolin, and over the centuries, that name evolved to Istanbul. In 1453, Sultan Mehmed II captured the city following a 53-day siege, and he proclaimed it the capital of the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan created the Grand Bazaar and invited fleeing Catholics to return. He freed prisoners and ordered four thousand families from Rumelia and Anatolia to settle the city. He intentionally imported different cultures to create a cosmopolitan society.
The Sultan also constructed many architectural monuments (like the Topkapi Palace and Eyup Sultan Mosque), schools, public baths, and hospitals in the Port of Istanbul. From 1520 to 1566, Suleiman the Magnificent reigned the Ottoman Empire, inspiring an era of great architectural and artistic achievement. Many new mosques and buildings sprang up, and the arts of calligraphy and ceramics flourished.
In 1923, the Republic of Turkey was established, its capital was moved to Ankara, and the Port of Istanbul took a back seat to the new capital. In the 1950s, many infrastructure improvements were made, even at the expense of historic buildings. The Port of Istanbul's population increased dramatically in the 1970s as people came in search of work in the many factories being constructed on the city's outskirts. Population growth forced a housing boom, and outlying villages were swallowed by the greater metropolitan area.
Today, the Port of Istanbul is the world's 4th largest city and the 20th largest urban area. It is Turkey's financial and cultural center, covering 27 districts in the Istanbul province. Located on the Bosphorus Strait that links the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea, its natural harbor is called the Golden Horn. The only urban area with territory on two continents, the historic city was added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1985 and was chosen as the European Capital of Culture for 2010. Interestingly, the official name of the city was Constantinople until 1930 when the Turkish Post Office made the change to Istanbul.
Port Commerce
The Port of Istanbul, also known as the
Port of Haidar Pasha, is a seaport handling g
