Strategically located on the Bosphorus peninsula between the Balkans and Anatolia, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, Istanbul was the capital of the Eastern Roman, the Byzantine and the Ottoman empires. Associated with major events in political, religious and art history for more than 2,000 years, the city is situated on a peninsula which is surrounded by the Golden Horn (Haliç), a natural harbor on the north, the Bosphorus on the east and the Marmara Sea on the south.

As a meeting point between Europe and Asia for millennia, it is now possible to come across and observe the historical legacy of the city at every corner.

The city reflects its history not only in those areas designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, but if many of the oldl neighborhoods around the historical peninsula and on the shores of the Bosphorus.