Istanbul

DVD. Globe Trekker. Istanbul is the only city to span two continents. Previously known as Byzantium and Constantinople, it was the center of the civilized world for over a millennium. Although no longer the capital of Turkey, Istanbul remains its biggest and busiest city. Traveller Estelle Bingham starts her exploration of the ancient city at Topkapi Palace, former home of sultans and their concubines. She interrupts her sightseeing for a day trip to Gallipoli, the site of an infamous WWI battlefield. Continuing her journey around Istanbul, she visits the opulent Pera Palace Hotel. After some retain therapy in the Grand Bazaar, she ends her journey at the famous Blue Mosque. 55 minutes. Along the way... $_$_START_LIST ? Wrestles for the golden belt. ? Take a belly dancing lesson. ? Taste traditional "mezzes". ? Experience Istanbul's famous nightlife. ? See the Whirling Dervishes. $_$_END_LIST

DVD. Vista Point. 26 Minutes. Istanbul is the golden gateway to the Orient, a city that was once the centre of the Old World and still reflects two and a half centuries of history. Today this turbulent metropolis on the Bosporus is Europe's connection with Asia Minor. Today this link between Europe and Asia has more than fifteen million inhabitants and is not only Turkey's largest city but is also a melting pot of various cultures. Once a Greek colony, Roman Imperial City and capital of the Osman Empire, Istanbul is full of colourful and dramatic history. The European-style city district on the northern side of the Golden Horn was founded as a trading colony by Genoese traders in 1261. In subsequent centuries the Europeans dominated the appearance and character of this area whose buildings and main street indicate the city's splendid past. The Yerebatan Cistern once provided Constantinople with its water supply. Emperor Justinian had this subterranean reservoir built and it holds eighty thousand cubic metres of water. A forest of more than three hundred decorated stone columns support the ceiling and it once served as a backdrop for a James Bond film. A mighty gate is the entrance to the splendid world of the Turkish sultans, Topkapi, the former centre of power of the Osman Empire. It's like a small town with many exquisite buildings and wonderful parks. Leonardo Da Vinci's vision of a bridge across the Bosporus was for many years only a dream but four hundred and seventy years later the dream became reality. At a height of sixty-four metres two city districts have been united in addition to two continents and the contrasting lifestyles of two completely different worlds. Istanbul is a melting pot of culture and religion with a captivating allure and an irresistible atmosphere of mystique.

DVD. Cities of the World. 60 Minutes. Istanbul is a fantastic heritage of the Byzantine Empire and Constantinople, and its unique quality is that it lies on two continents. Europe and Asia are separated by the picturesque Golden Horn Bay. On the quiet Asian side live the wealthy citizens, while the European part is a busy center for business life, and the ancient city core, full of old monuments, can be found here. There is the Aia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Yedikule fortress and the Topkapi Palace. And then there is the colorful, loud and exotic Grand Bazaar, favorite target of the tourists. Let us go to the house of Pierre Loti, drink a cup of Turkish coffee and enjoy the sight of the Marble Sea and the city of the thousand minarets.

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Istanbul is a grand Turkish metropolis that extends across two continents and is influenced by various cultural and historic epochs. In the bright and ornate interior of the Hagia Sophia the splendid yet contrasting influence of both Christian Byzantine and Ottoman architecture has been preserved to the present day. Beneath the second largest cupola in the world, each of these cultures and religions unite in perfect harmony. Not far from the Hagia Sophia is the Yerebatan Saray that provides a fascinating insight into Constantinople's former water supply. Three hundred and thirty six columns support the vaulted ceiling of the cistern that was built in around 532 A.D. The Topkapi Palace was built by Sultan Mehmet The Second. It is one of the city's main tourist attractions and its exquisite interior indicates the lifestyle of the city's former Ottoman rulers. As the capital of three former World Empires, Istanbul truly enjoys a unique position among the great cities of both Europe and Asia.

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. The tall minarets of the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, known also as the Blue Mosque, tower proudly into the heavens and dominate the skyline of Istanbul, the Turkish capital on the Bosporus. At the beginning of the 17th century the young and ambitious sultan, Ahmet The First, decided that an additional building should replace the Hagia Sophia as the city's main mosque. With its graduated cupolas, the building was designed to be as impressive as possible, thus a spacious courtyard was also included. Elegant columned halls surround a square at the centre of which there is an hexagonal fountain where the faithful once cleansed themselves prior to prayer. Today, the faithful wash themselves along the external sidewalls of the courtyard. In the eastern section is the Mederse, the mosque's School of the Koran. Four massive five metre thick pillars known as `Elephants' Feet' support the incredible weight of the Blue Mosque's massive central cupola. It derived its popular alias of the Blue Mosque due to its internal d?cor that consists of twenty-one thousand precious blue coloured Fayence wall tiles from Iznik. The Topkapi Palace, which over the years was greatly extended by various sultans, is also located in the historic centre of Istanbul and until 1853 it was the royal residence of the Osmanic royal family. Along the picturesque shoreline of the Bosporus are numerous ancient mosques, palaces and villas and one of the longest and most impressive suspension bridges in the world connects this fascinating European city and its twelve million inhabitants to Asia.

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Built in the middle of the 19th century and set on the beautiful shores of the Bosporus, the Dolmabahce Palace shines out in its old splendour, the third sultan?s palace of Istanbul, its royal buildings are considered to be the most beautiful examples of Osmanic architecture. The Turkish architect, Kabaret Balian and his son, Nikogos, were encouraged to indulge themselves both financially and creatively in the design of this impressive and opulent palace. As with its exterior, the beauty and splendour of the internal rooms is simply overwhelming and its magnificent sunlit stairways were influenced by the design of the Paris Opera House. The entire palace is like a magnificent museum. Various works of art, paintings and other valuable gifts from various diplomats and visiting royal families are on display throughout.. Whenever a gentle breeze travels across the Bosporus and makes the flowers and blossoms move like dancers, it is easy to understand why the last great sultans chose this place as their home.

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Situated on the shores of the Bosporus, Istanbul is the only city in the world that is located on two continents, Europe and Asia. Within it, a historic and religious symbol rises up into the sky: the Hagia Sophia, for nearly a 1000 years the main church of former Constantinople. Legend has it that Constantine, founder of the New Rome, had previously built a church of `Holy Wisdom' here in the fourth century A.D. Thus, the name of this church derives from the Greek. Although the first church, as well as a later building, were destroyed by fire, the Emperor Justinian erected a larger church in the year 532 AD, the church known today as Hagia Sophia. Throughout the centuries, Hagia Sophia served both as a church and a mosque but, due to the Turkish leader, Atat?rk, it was transformed into a museum in 1935. As a result of Turkish influence and its function as a mosque, four minarets were constructed adding yet another architectural feature in addition to its magnificent dome.

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. The mighty gate that rises from the old quarter of Istanbul is the entrance to a fascinating and astonishing world, the Serail Of Topkapi. The former Osmanic centre of power is a small town in itself with numerous wonderfully decorated buildings and an idyllic park. The Topkapi Palace consists of a large complex of administrative buildings as well as those reserved for the royal families, including the Harem. The incredible wealth of the Osmanic Sultans is omnipresent, while precious calligraphy and beautiful tiles decorate the facades and interior rooms of the palace. A thousand concubines lived in the Topkapi Harem and eight hundred eunuchs guarded it. Various holy relics that belonged to the prophet Mohammed were seized during a war with Egypt and they are one of Topkapi's major attractions.

DVD. Global Treasures. 10 Minutes. Suur, for thousands of years the mighty tower-flanked Istanbul Land Wall was vital for both the defence and further development of the city. The Byzantine emperor, Theodosius The Second, ordered the construction of a new and mighty fortification in 408 A.D. The fortress was built during the reign of Sultan Mehmet Fatih The Second. It was an architectural symbol of the defeat of Constantinople when following more than a thousand years of resistance the inhabitants of the city were forced to surrender to the Osmanic conquerors. The city's most influential dignitaries were imprisoned in the fortress and many perished within its walls. Even the region's sultans were executed there. The fall of the Byzantine Empire created a new flowering period in the city and today Istanbul's famous wall reaches from the Marmara Sea to the Golden Horn, the very long and narrow tributary of the Bosporus.