The history of Istanbul goes back thousands of years, but the first known settlement dates back to BC. It took place in the 7th century. At that time, there was a city-state called Megara among the city-states in the ancient Greek peninsula. These city-states were the most advanced states of that period economically and culturally. One of the most important reasons for their economic development is their colonization efforts. Byzas, the king of the city-state of Megara, went to the temple of Apollo (the god of wisdom in Greek mythology) in Delphi to find a new colony and consulted the oracle about the most suitable place to colonize. The oracle tells him that he must go to the lands opposite the land of the blind.
Byzas sets out to find this country. When he comes to today's historical peninsula (Sultanahmet region), he sees that there is a settlement (Chalcedon) in the region where today's Kadıköy is located on the Anatolian side. When there is such a beautiful region, he is surprised that people set up settlements on the opposite shore. He thinks that the people living next to him are blind. What the oracle said comes to his mind and he establishes a colony in the region. This colony takes the name of the king and becomes Byzantion / Byzantium.
Constantine and Constantinople
Byzantion, MS. It remained an insignificant city until the 4th century. The fate of Byzantion changes when Constantine becomes Emperor in 312. Constantine's mother Helena is a good Christian. He constantly talks about Christianity to his son and prays for him. Before Constantine's last battle for the throne, he began to take a warm interest in Christianity because of a vision he saw. He then signs the Edict of Milan, which will grant religious freedom to Christians. With this edict, the 300 years of persecution of Christians comes to an end, and this is one of Constantine's greatest achievements.
Constantine has another big project. This project is to move the capital of the empire to another place. This is because Rome was vulnerable to barbarian raids from the north. In this direction, he thinks of Nicomedia, which is today's Izmit region, Troy and Byzantion, which is today's Istanbul. Constantine decides on Byzantion. One of the biggest reasons for deciding on Byzantion is Byzantion's location. Being a peninsula due to the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, consisting of seven hills like Rome, and its unique advantage in controlling trade routes, were effective in Constantine's decision. The fact that the city is open to growth, change and development is another motivation. Because instead of destroying Rome's pagan heritage, there is a chance to build a new capital directly as a Christian city.
Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Byzantion in 330 and named the city Nova Roma, New Rome. After Constantine's death, the city takes the name of Constantinople. Constantinople becomes the new capital of a new age.
There is a misconception in our country. There is a perception as if the name of the city changed from Constantinople or Constantinople to Istanbul after the conquest in 1453. This is absolutely false information.
After the conquest of Istanbul, the city continued to be called Constantinople or Constantinople for centuries. In addition, the famous historian Prof. Dr. İlber Ortaylı also confirms this information. Until the Republican period, the city continued to be called Konstantiniyye. In fact, we can see this in many Ottoman sources. Two common names for the city, Constantinople or Constantinople, mean "the city of Constantine." The word Istanbul also comes from Greek. Istanbul, which is a combination of the words Stan and Polis, actually means "I'm going to the city".
The Republic of Turkey officially changed the name of Constantinople or Konstantiniyye to Istanbul in 1929.
About the Creator
MUHARREM KARADAĞ
LIFE AND LIFE
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Grass with Poti
It was a great morning. The sky was bright and the sun was warm. The grass awoke from its slumber and was yawning, her mother came into her room and pulled the curtains and opened the windows wide. Fresh air filled the room. He placed a kiss on Grass's cheek and began to carry the eggs to the table. Breakfast was Çimen's favorite meal. They ate the pastries and eggs with pleasure. He was very excited to go to the park with his mother today and see the puppy he feeds every day. The beautiful Grass had named the little dog Pöti. Although he offered to bring his mother home and feed him every time, his mother often said, "No, honey, she has a mother too. They live together in the cottage we built. She might be upset if she doesn't see her baby.' Grass was both sad and right for her mother. After combing her silvery hair, they set out with her mother. They started walking with joy. In the meantime, they took the food they were going to give to Pöti with them.
By MUHARREM KARADAĞabout a year ago in Art
The Real North Pole: 5 Mythical Ancient Islands That Might Actually Exist
There are many stories of places that have been deemed mythological only for it later to be discovered that there is much more to these myths than was first thought. Vitra Manand, also variously known as Great Ireland or White Man's Land, is one such place. Amongst the most significant and influential of ancient Norse texts are The Saga of Eric the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders. These sagas allude to the island of Vitra Manand, described as being six days sailing west of Ireland or alternatively somewhere near Vinland, the name once given to the coastal area of eastern North America. In The Saga of Eric the Red, the native people of Vitra Manand were described as always being dressed in white and that they, quote, "uttered loud cries, bore long poles, and wore fringes." Another source mentions albinism in the population with, quote, "hair and skin as white as snow." Jedis Mercader, the flist geographer and cartographer who created one of the first world maps, also mentioned a similar land in a 1577 letter to John Dee, the English academic and occultist. In the letter to Dee, Mercader mentions that in the 14th century a group of eight men had come to Norway from a distant land, claiming to have been part of an expedition sent by the legendary King Arthur of Britain and that they were, in fact, his fifth-generation descendants. The true location of the legendary Vitra Manand is a subject of scholarly debate, with several theories proposing locations along the Eastern Seaboard of North America. Carl Christian Raen suggests the Chesapeake Bay area, referencing legends of white men with iron instruments. However, historian Farley Moat offers a more detailed theory, placing the land on Newfoundland's western shore. According to Moat, European settlers from the Northern British Isles, referred to as Alans, reached Iceland, Greenland, and North America before the Vikings. These Albans, thought to be the original Neolithic inhabitants of Britain, were displaced by the Celts and pushed to Europe's northwestern fringes. Moat asserts they were skilled walrus ivory hunters, which led them to discover and settle in Newfoundland due to its suitable land for farming and rich walrus population. Moat argues that the Albans' presence in Newfoundland predates the Vikings by centuries and that their settlements along the southwest coast influenced Viking exploration. The Vikings knew this area as Vitra Manand, and Moat speculates that voyages by figures like Leif Ericson were attempts to raid this land, which either failed or resulted in hostile encounters with the natives. The Albans are believed to have maintained connections to Europe into the early Middle Ages, but these links were severed by the 14th century as European pirates forced their migration inland, where they assimilated with other populations. Moat's theory is a fascinating possibility, placing the Albans and Vitra Manand at the heart of an untold chapter of pre-Columbian transatlantic contact and settlement in the New World.
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