History
Empires & Dynasties
Photo: Carlos Delgado / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Article · Istanbul
Armenians of Istanbul: Kumkapı, the Patriarchate and the Balyans
Who are the Armenians of Istanbul? The Patriarchate in Kumkapı since 1641, churches in Balat and Kuzguncuk, the Balyan architects and the…
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Article · Istanbul
Greeks of Istanbul: Fener, the Patriarchate and the Rum Community
Who are the Greeks of Istanbul? The Patriarchate in Fener, the Phanariots, the Red School, Heybeliada, the 20th century and the Rum…
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Article · Istanbul
Levantines of Istanbul: The Europeans of Galata and Pera
Who were the Levantines of Istanbul? Genoese Galata, the embassies of Pera, dragomans and bankers, St. Anthony, Casa Botter and the families…
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Article · Istanbul
Bulgarians in Istanbul: From Byzantine Sieges to the Iron Church
The story of the Bulgarians in Istanbul: Krum and Simeon at the walls, dairymen and gardeners, the church struggle in Fener, the…
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Person · Istanbul
Suleiman the Magnificent
Suleiman the Magnificent, the longest-reigning Ottoman sultan: his wars, his laws, Hürrem Sultan, the mosques of Sinan and his portrait in the…
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Person · Istanbul
Hürrem Sultan
The captive from Ruthenia who became Suleiman the Magnificent's wife, the first Haseki Sultan and the patron of mosques, baths and soup…
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Place · Istanbul
German Fountain
The German Fountain on Sultanahmet Square: a gift from Kaiser Wilhelm II to Sultan Abdülhamid II, made in Germany, shipped in pieces…
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Person · Istanbul
Mehmed the Conqueror
Mehmed II, the Ottoman sultan who took Constantinople in 1453 at 21, turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque, built Topkapı Palace and…
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Article · Istanbul
A Short History of Istanbul: Byzantium, Constantinople, Istanbul
The history of Istanbul in one read: a Neolithic village under the Marmaray works, Greek Byzantium, Constantine's Constantinople, the Byzantine centuries, the…
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Article · Istanbul
The Mehter: Ottoman Military Band and Where to Hear It
The Mehter, the Ottoman military band: kettledrums, zurnas and cymbals, a 700-year tradition that inspired Mozart and Beethoven, and where to see…
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Person · Istanbul
Kösem Sultan
Kösem Sultan, wife of Ahmed I and regent for her sons and grandson: one of the most powerful women of the Ottoman…
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Person · Istanbul
Justinian I
The Byzantine emperor who survived the Nika riot, built Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern, and rewrote Roman law.
