Istanbul was Constantinople

Istanbul is one of the most exotic and romantic cities in the world. How could it not be? It is the only city in the world that straddles two continents (Europe and Asia). It is perched at the mouth of the Bosporus, the easternmost channel that connects the Aegean Sea to the Black Sea. It was the fitting destination for my epic cruise into history.

Hagia Sophia

I’m not alone in my praise for this stunning city, it has starred in numerous books and motion pictures, too. It is the eastern terminus for the fabled Orient Express train route (Paris-Vienna-Istanbul). Born of Greek immigrants three thousand years ago as Byzantium, Roman emperor Constantine abandoned the city of Rome and moved his capital from Italy to this location in the Fourth Century A.D. He renamed it “the City of Constantine,” Constantinople. One hundred and fifty years later, the Emperor Theodosius erected the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) church, an incredible monument that stands today, 1500 years later.

After 1100 years as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire (aka “the Byzantine Empire”), Constantinople was conquered by the Turks who immediately made it the capital of their Ottoman Empire for the next 450 years. Sultans of immense wealth would rule from there, reigning over an empire that once covered the entire eastern Mediterranean and southeastern Europe.

Sultan's Topkapi Dagger

In 1923, the new Republic of Turkey officially discarded the Roman name of Constantinople. The name Istanbul is derived from the Turkish vernacular for “Going to the City.” So yes, Istanbul was definitely Constantinople…

The Bosporus

Sound familiar?  It should. There was an addicting summer ditty that captured the minds of American youth in 1953, which was covered by artists ranging from Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald in ’54, Bette Midler in ’77 to They Might Be Giants in 1990:

Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Now it's Turkish delight on a moonlit night…

It goes on and on...you might not be able to get it out of your head. You may have caught the tune on TV being sung on Get Smart, Jack Benny, Cold Case, America’s Got Talent or Tiny Toon Adventures. Still humming the tune? You can go whole hog and click on this link to see a charming and addicting video of their version by way of Warner Brothers cartoons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgc3F1XZTAw

Istanbul was one of James Bond’s favorite destinations, too.  Look for Sean Connery’s Bond in From Russia With Love (1964), Pierce Brosnan in The World is Not Enough (1999) or Daniel Craig in Skyfall (2012). Even Ben Affleck visited Istanbul in Argo. Or how about the fun jewel-heist romp Topkapi (1964) or the all-star version of Agatha Christie’s most famous book, Murder on the Orient Express (1974)?  More darkly, famously, rent  Midnight Express and experience the horrors of Turkish prisons with an American neophyte busted in a failed drug smuggling attempt (1978).

At more than 14 million citizens, Istanbul is one of the largest cities in the world. Its dramatic location and multi-cultural population remind one of San Francisco, only ten times as large with more modest hills. Its famous harbor, the Golden Horn even inspired an historical connection to San Francisco; American soldier-explorer Captain John C. Fremont first spied San Francisco Bay in 1846. In his journal he opined that the enormous potential of San Francisco Bay surpassed even the fabled Golden Horn of Constantinople, and claimed that its beautiful strait that opened to the Pacific was surely a “Golden Gate.”

Golden Gate

Golden Horn

“To this Gate I gave the name of “Chrysopylae” or “Golden Gate” for the same 

reasons that the harbor of Byzantium was called Chrysoceras, or Golden Horn. 

                                                                           ~ John C. Fremont, June 5, 1948

No wonder it seemed as if I’d been here before; like Paris and Florence, Istanbul feels like a version of home. 

Now go ahead and sing that happy, silly tune…

So take me back to Constantinople
No, you can't go back to Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works?
That's nobody's business but the Turks