For most of Istanbul's history the only way across the Bosporus was a boat. The first bridge opened on 30 October 1973, timed for the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Republic, and turned a city of two shores into one commuter market. There are now three road bridges and two…
The best way to understand the Bosporus is to get on the water with the people who live along it. Istanbul's ferries carry commuters between Europe…
Istanbul's waterfront neighbourhoods are often described as villages, and from a ferry they look like it: mosques by the water, wooden houses…
The Ottoman sultans moved down to the water in the 19th century. For nearly four hundred years they had ruled from Topkapı, a cluster of pavilions on…
Ships entering the Bosporus from the Sea of Marmara pass under a skyline that has hardly changed in five centuries: Topkapı Palace on the point, and…
Two railway stations face each other across the southern mouth of the Bosporus. On the European side, under the walls of Topkapı, is Sirkeci, the old…
On 14 October 2026 Ekrem İmamoğlu stood up in a courtroom inside the Silivri prison complex, west of Istanbul, and began a four-day defence. He had…
The Bosporus is at its narrowest, about 700 metres, between Aşiyan on the European shore and Kandilli on the Asian one. Two Ottoman fortresses face…
