For those who find it difficult to sleep while sitting, night buses are contraindicated. I am just that type of people. After trying all kinds of positions, I met Ankara city stuck eyes. As luck would have it, we got to Ankara very quickly.
So we decided that we need to get a good night's sleep on the road, and the best option for this is the train. And straight from the bus station we went to the railway station to find out how we can get to Adapazarı (this is on the way to Istanbul), and from where we can get to our friends on Black Sea.
We went to the railway station by metro. A convenient thing I must say, quickly to any part of the city, well, to the one in which it is, since there are only a few branches. The cost of the trip, something about 30 rubles per trip, transfers from branch to branch are free. There, by the way, it is absolutely forbidden to take pictures. As soon as I took out the camera, either the law enforcement officers ran up to me, or persistent Turkish speech was heard in the loudspeakers.
On the metro, we met a Turk student who knew English... How nice it is to meet a person who speaks his native familiar speech. He approached himself and volunteered to accompany us on the subway. Nice people, however, are Turks.
At the railway station in Ankara, as it turned out, no one speaks English normally. Even the aunt who was sitting next to the big information sign. After suffering for half an hour, we found out what kind of trains there are, and bought ourselves seats in a sleeping car (an analogue of our compartment).
And then we went for a walk around Ankara, the capital of Turkey, after all. The truth is not historical, but because Ataturk said so, they say it is conveniently located. Therefore, this city is unattractive for viewing, ordinary buildings, similar to each other, like in a scoop, only neat and a little European. In general, Ankara was not particularly impressed.
Although in some areas the houses are not at all modern.
Also the city of Ankara and the capital of round bagels. They are here at every turn. 3 pieces for 1 lira (20 rubles), and in the evening and 5-7 pieces for 1 lira. Morning delicious, and burnt evening.
First we saw the Kocatepe Mosque, and even went inside. The grandeur of the building is impressive - the ceilings are tall, the red carpets are wide, the chandeliers are awesome. Cool and barefoot on the carpet is nice. There were few people, they were caught in the interval between prayers.
Then we visited the mausoleum of Ataturk. It will be cooler than Lenin's mausoleum - large buildings, guards, several museums dedicated to the leader, and a cinema hall with continuous broadcast of films. One thing seemed strange, a large park area around the mausoleum is closed to the public. And why is it needed, for whom?
During the changing of the guard of the Ataturk mausoleum, all the tourist and local brethren gather in a crowd around the soldiers fried from the sun and take photographs, photographs.
Before the train, they managed to escape back in Old city Ankara, the center of which is on the mountain inside the fortress. There really is a flavor there - old houses, narrow streets. The feeling that not in the capital of Turkey, but in a godforsaken village. Only the children there turned out to be slightly angry - they tried to shove a ball at me, maybe the mug didn't come out?
Inside the old city of Ankara.
When in 324 Constantine the Great began to build in a small provincial town of Byzantium new capital The current Roman Empire - Ankara was already important administrative center northern part of Turkey.
Back in the Bronze Age, the Hatti civilization flourished in the area of modern Ankara, in the 2nd millennium BC. NS. - The Hittite kingdom, later the city was owned by the Phrygians, Lydians and Persians, and in 333 BC. NS. it included Alexander the Great.
In 278 BC. NS. the city became the center of the state created by the Celtic tribe of Galatians. By this time, he received the name Ankyra, which in translation from Greek means "anchor". The Pontic Greeks, who controlled trade in the Black Sea, contributed to the development of the city, located at the intersection of land trade routes running from north to south (between the ports of Black and Mediterranean seas) and from west to east.
In 25 A.D. NS. Galatia was conquered by Emperor Augustus and became a Roman province centered on Ankyra, whose commercial importance continued to grow. Traces of the then Roman presence have survived to this day, the remains of the thermal baths and the theater, the temple of Augustus and the column of Julian the Apostate. Presumably, about 200,000 people lived in Ankira at that time, which is much more than in later times after the fall of the Roman Empire and before the beginning of the 20th century. From the 1st century. n. NS. Through the efforts of the Apostle Paul, Christianity began to spread here. In the second half of the 3rd century. the city had to survive the invasions of the Goths and the Arabs. For several years it became the western outpost of the Palmyrian kingdom of the famous Zenobia, but was returned to Rome. At the beginning of the IV century. Emperor Diocletian began persecution of Christians. The first to suffer from it was the Christian preacher George of Cappadocia, who was later recognized as a holy great martyr. But his followers, students remained, including the wife of Diocletian Alexander, baptized by George. In the IV century. Ankara has become the center of Christianity in Asia Minor. 
When Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, Ankara was given the role of a well-fortified imperial resort, distinguished by dry mountain air. In 1071, the powerful walls of the Ankara fortress, and with them the Byzantine power in the region, fell under the onslaught of the Seljuks, during whose reign the city became known also under the name Angora and became famous for the trade in wool of the famous Angora goats.
At the beginning of the 15th century. the city was captured by the troops of Timur, and in 1413 became part of the Ottoman Empire. In the XIX century. Ankara's importance began to decline. The city lost its role as a trade and handicraft center and actually turned into a boondocks. This backwater at the end of 1919 became the main headquarters of the leader of the Turkish national liberation movement Ataturk, and in 1923 the capital of the Turkish Republic proclaimed by him.
After becoming the capital of the Turkish Republic in October 1923, Ankara experienced phenomenal growth. When the government settled in Ankara, it had only 35,000 inhabitants, by 1950 there were almost three hundred thousand, and now more than four million.
Mustafa Kemal was able to assess strategic position Ankara. Pursuing a policy of modernization of the whole country, he took care of the modern appearance of the capital, inviting specialists from Europe for its design and construction. So south of Old Ankara appeared new town with an ambitious architecture, gradually overgrowing with large factories and factories, banks, trade and insurance companies.
Atatürk died in 1938, was buried on the territory of the Ethnographic Museum in Ankara, and a few years later the Turkish government held an international competition for the best project of a monumental mausoleum for the “father of all Turks”. About fifty projects were presented. In 1953, the sarcophagus with the body of Ataturk was moved to the mausoleum built in the southern part of Ankara, in the Maltepe quarter, and in 1960 Anitkabir was opened to visitors, millions of whom annually pay tribute to the memory of the national hero. Of course, each new member of the government, before taking office, visits the mausoleum, besides which there are many other attractions in Ankara dedicated to Ataturk: a museum with personal belongings and the president's library, as well as his cars, standing on the square nearby. In the old part of the city, where the Ataturk Boulevard leads from the new one, on main square There is an equestrian statue of Ataturk in Ulus, and nearby, in the building of the old school, where until 1925 the seat of the parliament was located, there is the Museum of the War of Independence.
Historical part Ankara is centered around the Hisar Citadel. The stones of its double walls can be explored ancient history cities. Each new master of the city, who took these walls, restored and renewed them at the expense of the remains of other destroyed buildings. Scientists believe that the inner walls of the fortress could have been erected by the Hittites, and the outer ones by the Byzantines in the 9th century.
One of the symbols of the city is the Khadzhi-Bairam mosque, built in the 15th century. in honor of the patron saint of Ankara, Haji Bayram Veli, and decorated with tiles and the finest carvings. The ruins of the temple of Augustus, dating from 25-20 BC, are closely adjacent to the mosque. NS. On its wall there is a memorial plaque on which a list of the deeds of the Roman emperor Augustus is carved.
The amazing neighborhood of Hittite, Roman, Byzantine, Seljuk, Ottoman culture and architecture with Europeanized modernity - monumental and everyday - this is the face of Ankara, defining the face of modern Turkey.
general information
Capital of Turkey since 1923Language: Turkish.
Religion: Islam.
International Airport: Esenboga (30 km north of the city).
Numbers
Area: 2516 km 2.Population: 4,097,051 (December 2009).
Population density: 1628.4 people / km 2.
Average height above sea level: 850 m.
Economy
Industry: automotive, auto repair, electrical, food, pharmaceutical, light, textile, mechanical engineering, metal production.
Service sector: Turkey's second largest financial and credit center.
Tourism.
Agriculture in the region: nutmeg grapes, honey, pears, Angora goat breeding.
Climate and weather
The climate is mountainous, with fairly cold and snowy winters and hot dry summers.Significant temperature changes are observed during the day.
sights
■ Museum of Anatolian Civilizations;■ Ethnographic Museum;
■ Remains of Roman baths;
■ Temple of Augustine;
■ Column of Emperor Julian;
■ Haji-Bairam Mosque;
■ Aladdin Mosque;
■ Hisar Fortress;
■ Mausoleum of Ataturk;
■ Ulus Square;
■ Tower of Atakule.
Curious facts
■ The Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara is one of the richest museums in the world, on a par with the Louvre or the British Museum. It contains a unique collection of Hittite art and household items. It was founded in 1921, and in 1997 was awarded the title of "European Museum of the Year".■ According to one version, Ankira was founded in the 7th century BC. NS. Phrygian king Midas, the prototype of the mythological Midas, who had the fatal gift of turning everything he touched into gold. but archaeological excavations confirm that the city at this place already existed many centuries earlier.
■ Ankara is the birthplace of the famous Angora cats, rabbits and goats. Semi-long-haired cats were exported from Ankira (Angora) to Europe in the 16th century, and from the 17th century. the Turkish Angora has been recognized as an independent breed. Since 1917, the Ankara Zoo began a program of breeding and preservation of completely white, odd-eyed cats (one eye yellow, one blue), which are treated as national treasure... Angora cats are very intelligent, curious and sociable. Angora rabbits are one of the oldest varieties of domestic rabbits, with the same pleasant temperament and long fluffy fur. It is the rabbits that give the famous Angora wool, but mohair is produced from the wool of the equally famous Angora goats.
■ Atakule TV Tower is the main landmark and popular observation deck cities. Its height is 125 m. Upstairs there is a terrace, a revolving restaurant and a cafe. The name of the tower also reminds of Ataturk: ata - ancestor, kul - tower.
■ The busiest and most picturesque street in Old Ankara is Salman, where there are many craft workshops and shops selling copper products. It is no coincidence that the street is also called the "copper alley".
Tour operators who organize group cultural and historical tours see Ankara as a "stopover for the night", so that they can then go to see other sights of the country. For example, Bus tours which start from Istanbul and include visits to landmarks inland (tours to Cappadocia or all over Turkey), usually include a one-day visit to Ankara. For independently traveling tourists, Ankara is also not the most popular destination, but in order to see the richness of the history and culture of Anatolia and Turkey, you should definitely visit the capital Ankara.
Ankara history
It is difficult to determine the exact date of the founding of Ankara, but it is assumed that even in the Hitt period (1800 - 1180 BC) the city already existed under the name "Ankuvash". The Phrygians who replaced the Hittites (in the 7th century BC) renamed the city “Ankira”. Coming from Thrace, the Phrygians occupied Anatolia from the Sea of Marmara to the river. Today's Afyon, Ankara, Eskisehir and ancient Gordion were considered Phrygian cities. The ancient capital of Phrygia - Gordion is 90 km away. west of Ankara, near the modern village of Yassıhöyük. The name Gordion received from the name of the Phrygian king Gordius, the founder of the city. The most famous story associated with the city of Gordion, this is a story about Gordian knot... The origins of the phraseological unit "Gordian knot" go back to mythological times when Phrygia did not have a ruler.
Gordian knot - legend
“In those days there was a peasant named Gordios who predicted that one day he would become king. Another prophecy said, however, that the king of Phrygia would be a man who would enter the city for the first time on a team with oxen tied to the team in a knot that no one could untie. Both prophecies came true, and Gordios became king of Phrygia. His team was kept in memory of these events. "
After Phrygians by Ankara owned Lydians and Persians... Later, in 333 BC, on the way to India, the army of Alexander the Great passed the city. Many centuries later, when Alexander the Great stopped near Ankara v Gordione, was intrigued by a complex knot. Without further ado and without thinking for a very long time, he cut Gordian knot with a sword. It is assumed that turkish knot is famous Gordian knot.
In 25 BC. NS. located at the intersection of the Ankira caravan routes ( Ankara), became the administrative center Roman province of Galatia... Later it was owned byzantines conquered arabs, crusaders and Seljuks... In the middle of the 14th century Ankara was conquered Ottoman Turks.
Ankara - Capital of the Republic of Turkey
World War I (1914) effectively ended the Ottoman Empire. Turkey joined the First world war on the side of Germany, and after the defeat, Turkey was occupied by the troops of the Entente. It was during these years (1918 - 1923) that Ankara became the center of the national liberation movement. After the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, Kemal Ataturk moved the capital from Istanbul to Ankara. In those days, Ankara was a small city with a population of only 60,000.
Ankara landmarks
Old part of the city Ankara called Ulus... All historical sights are located in this part of the city. The modern city center is called Kızılay.
Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara
One of the main attractions Ankara is one of the richest museums in the world - Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. It contains a unique collection of exhibits from all over Anatolia (Asia Minor) and the world's largest collection of monuments Hittite culture... Along with this, the museum contains collections from the Paleolithic period, Neolithic stone products, Bronze Age products and monuments of material culture belonging to all civilizations that lived in the territory Anatolia(Phrygians, Assyrians and Urartu). Virtual tour of the halls of the museum
Photos of museum exhibits
The solar disk is Bronze. III millennium BC
Ceremonial Standard - III millennium BC
Anitkabir - Mausoleum of Ataturk
One of the modern architectural monuments Ankara is the mausoleum of the founder and first president of the Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. The mausoleum is located in the new part of the city. Erected 15 years after death Ataturk in 1953, in honor of this legendary personality. The mausoleum consists of 3 parts. The first part is Lion's way(262 meters) is lined with statues of seated lions, 12 on each side. The lion's way leads to the second part of the mausoleum - Ceremonial square. And the third part is the main building of the mausoleum. The sarcophagus with the remains of Ataturk is kept inside the mausoleum. In the room with the sarcophagus there are vases filled with earth brought from all provinces Turkey... There is a museum near the mausoleum, where the personal belongings of Mustafa Kemal are presented. The museum is also worth a visit thanks to its amazing historical panoramas of the War of Independence, accompanied by thematic music.
Photo of Anitkabir in Ankara
Ethnographic Museum in Ankara founded in 1925 and is considered the first museum opened after the proclamation of the republic. This museum contains collections of items related mainly to Seljuk and Ottoman period. These are objects of everyday life and everyday life of the Turks, which clearly demonstrate the folk traditions and the specifics of various crafts.
Museum of the War of Independence in Ankara
The museum is on the square Ulus. The history of the events of the War of Independence is displayed in the museum and, as exhibits, there are mainly photographs and documents. The museum covers the events of the 1920s, when an independent modern state was created on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire that collapsed during the First World War. This building housed the first parliament Turkish Republic.
Haji Bayram Mosque in Ankara
Haji Bayram- the oldest in Ankara- is more than six centuries old. It was built in the middle of the 15th century and is still in operation. The mosque houses the tomb of Haji Bayram, the head of the monastic order in the fifteenth century. Temple of Augustine and Roma is connected by a common wall with by the Haji Bairam Mosque... It was built during the reign of Emperor Augustus.
Temple of Augustine and Roma in Ankara
Temple of Augustine and Roma located in the immediate vicinity of the mosque Haji Bayram, was built in the 1st century BC during the reign of Emperor Augustus . It was during this period Ankara was declared the capital of the Roman province Galatia.
Roman Baths in Ankara
Login to roman bath located on Çankırı caddesi boulevard. Roman Baths were erected in the 3rd century AD under the rule of the emperor Caracalla and dedicated to the god of medicine and healing. Bath size 80 x 130 m.
Ankara is the second largest city in Turkey after Istanbul, and since 1923 its capital. Despite its capital status, Ankara is not as popular among tourists as Istanbul and the cities of the sea coast, but it is interesting precisely as a non-tourist and more authentic Turkey. Ankara has preserved many ancient sights from Roman times: Roman baths, Julian's Column and a Roman temple; from the Byzantine era, the Hisar citadel and cemetery are especially interesting, and in the Ottoman period, many ancient buildings were built in Ankara, which have been perfectly preserved to this day.
As for the present, Ankara is practically in no way inferior to European capitals: there are great restaurants, discos, nightclubs and very good shopping.
How to get there
Ankara International Airport is located 28 km northeast of the city. The center can be reached by buses of private companies HAVAS, ASTI, as well as city bus No. 442.
Ankara can be reached by bus or train from many Turkish cities. Buses in Turkey are considered to be a faster means of transportation compared to trains. So, a trip from Istanbul to Ankara by train will take about 5 hours 35 minutes, by bus - 5 hours.
Search for flights to Ankara
Transport
Ankara has a metro (Ankara Metrosu), consisting of two lines, and also runs commuter trains Ankara Banliyo Treni. Visiting tourists may have difficulties when using the buses of Ankara, since the route plans are distributed only in Turkish, bus stops are not announced either on the speakerphone or on electronic scoreboard... Those who are well oriented on long trips are better off using the subway. In the metro, stops are announced by speakerphone and are visible on an electronic scoreboard. For short trips, it is better to use taxi services - faster and cheaper.
It should also be borne in mind that during peak hours, especially on Mondays and Fridays, the metro and buses can be very crowded. A metro and bus ticket is a single ticket and is a magnetic card valid for several trips. Tickets cannot be bought on buses; this must be done in advance at kiosks or at metro stations.
Quiz: how well do you know Turkey? | 15 questions:
There are non-municipal, private bus companies operating in Ankara. In this case, the ticket is paid in cash to the bus driver and costs TRY 5 per one way trip.
10 things to do in Ankara
- To make sure that Ankara is quite capable of competing with Istanbul for the title of the cultural capital of Turkey - the expositions of some local museums are simply unique.
- Look into the Haji Bairam Mosque: admire the carved wooden interior, preserved from the Seljuk era, and the mausoleum on the southeast side - the best of the 15th century mausoleums. all over the city.
- See storks that have chosen for nesting the flat top slab of Julian's Column, erected in honor of the visit of this Roman emperor to Ankara in 362.
- Climb the hill on which the Ankara fortress rises - the symbol of the capital, and enjoy the view of the city from the Shark Kulesi and Akkale towers.
- Have a tasteful lunch or dinner at the Divan Brasserie restaurant, which is at the Polytechnic Museum - Chengelkhan.
- Hear a detailed account of the guide at the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations - self inspection the exposure will not be as educational.
- V good weather rent a catamaran or boat and ride on the reservoir in Gençlik Park - the oldest park in Ankara, with many entertainment on the territory: restaurants, cafes, theaters under open air.
- Skydive from a tower on the grounds of the Turkish Aeronautical Association Museum (free, by the way).
- Get into the details of the life of the first president of Turkey in the museum-mansion where Ataturk lived in 1921-1932. You will need to present your passport at the entrance.
- Walk around the territory of the Anitkabir complex, which includes a park, architectural structures and the mausoleum of Ataturk with the tomb of the “father of the Turks”.
But this is superfluous
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Weather in Ankara
The climate of Ankara is mountainous due to its location at an altitude of 938 m above sea level. average temperature the hottest month of the year - July - is about +20 ° C, the coldest month - January - about −3 ° C.
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Popular hotels in Ankara
Entertainment and attractions of Ankara
The fortress of Ankara, founded by the Galatians on the lava outcrops, and completed by the Romans, was restored and supplemented by the Seljuks. Inside the fortress, which is considered the most old part Ankara presents many fine examples of traditional Turkish architecture, many of which have been restored and given a second life as restaurants.
On both sides of Ataturk Boulevard there are the best restaurants capital Cities.
Ankara is home to the mausoleum of the founder of the Turkish state - Ataturk. An exciting changing of the guard of honor takes place here every hour. The Aladdin Mosque is one of the oldest Muslim buildings in the city. Not far from the ancient walls that surrounded the old city are the ruins of the Temple of Augustus and Rome, built in 25-20 AD. BC NS. after the conquest of Central Anatolia by the Roman Empire and the formation of the Roman province of Galatia. In the 2nd century. the temple was expanded by the Romans, in the 5th century. - converted into a Byzantine church.
In Ankara, on a hill on the walls of the ruins of the Roman temple of Augustus, the lines of the will of the emperor Augustine "Res Gestae Divi August" have been preserved.
In Ankara, you can see the ruins of baths with specific traits Roman - frigidarium (cold room), tepidarium (warm room) and caldarium (steam room). The baths were built during the reign of Emperor Caracalla in the 3rd century. n. NS. in honor of Asclepius, the god of medicine. Currently, only the basement and first floors have survived.
One of the main attractions of Ankara is the Atakule observation tower with a height of 125 m. On clear days, the tower, built in 1987-1989, is visible from almost anywhere in the city. In its upper part there is an open terrace and a revolving restaurant "Sevilla". There is a cafe "UFO" under the terrace, and on the floors below there are shops shopping center and several more open restaurants.
Ankara is a city of mosques. Of interest here is the Aladdin Mosque - one of the oldest Muslim buildings in the city, built by the Seljuks in the 12th century, the Ahi Elvan Mosque of the 14th-15th centuries, the Haji Bayran Mosque of the early 15th century, and the largest mosque in the city - Kocatepe, built in 1967- 1987 biennium in the classic Ottoman style with four minarets.
Ankara museums
The Museum of Ancient Anatolian Civilizations (Hittite Museum), founded in 1921, is located in the building of a covered bazaar of the 15th century. It contains antiquities of the Hittite, Phrygian, Urartian, Assyrian civilizations found during excavations in Turkey, as well as collections of the Neolithic, Bronze Age, Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. The museum, recognized as the main historical museum in Turkey, houses one of the richest collections in the world. In 1997 the museum was awarded the European Museum of the Year award.
The museum is open daily from 08:30 to 17:30 and the ticket price is TRY 20.
Prices on the page are for September 2018.
The Rahmi Koç Industrial Museum is dedicated to the history of transport development and contains collections of hundreds of exhibits - from various miniatures to full-size objects - boats and others Vehicle... The museum has a section dedicated to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, and Vehbi Koç, the father of Rahmi Koç and one of the first industrialists in Turkey and Ankara in particular. The museum is open to visitors every day except Monday from 10:00 to 17:00, on weekends - until 18:00. Ticket price - 10 TRY.
The Ethnographic Museum is represented by a huge collection of Muslim art: Muslim carpets, national clothes, fabrics, folk musical instruments. Here, even the museum building itself is considered a separate exhibit.
The Museum of Fine Arts and Sculpture, located next to the Ethnographic Museum, features temporary exhibitions and a permanent exhibition on Turkish art dating back to the late 1800s. to this day.
The Museum of the War of Independence is located in the building where the Turkish Republican Parliament originally sat and is represented by photographs and other documents dedicated to the war and presented on the displays of the museum. The exposition of the Aviation Museum is represented by various aircraft, aviation products, missiles and many others, including several MiGs that entered Turkey from the other side of the Iron Curtain.
The collection of the Open Air Steam Locomotive Museum traces the history of the development of locomotives and is represented by exhibits produced by the German locomotive company Henschel, North American Baldwin, Swedish NOHAB and others.
Museum of Science and Technology, designed to showcase modern technical means as well as Turkey's technological past, represented by locomotives, airplanes and other exhibits. Here you can see the typewriter of Ecevit (Turkish statesman) and many other interesting objects.
Istanbul or Ankara? And, oddly enough, some are still wrong when answering this question. Let me explain, the capital of Turkey is Ankara. And Istanbul - The largest city, it is also often called cultural capital... By the way, in there is another "capital", tourist, this is Antalya. However, today we are not talking about her.
Let's figure it out. After the founding of the successor to the Ottoman Empire, Kemal Ataturk moved the capital from Istanbul to Ankara in 1923. There were many reasons for this, but the main one is considered to be Ataturk's desire to "remove" the capital from the line of military operations. That is, Ankara (at that time it was a rather small city) was relatively close to Istanbul and had rail link, but, at the same time, it was in the "center" of the country and was more difficult for the enemy to reach. But let's not delve into history, but let's see what is happening in cities today and why some, despite the fact that Ankara has been the capital for almost a hundred years, still consider it Istanbul.
Ankara or Istanbul?
Ankara is the official modern capital and the second (after Istanbul) largest city with a population of about 5 million (sources on this issue do not give a clear answer). is located in the center of the country, on the Anatolian plateau, at the confluence of the Ankara and Chubuk rivers, at an altitude of 938 m above sea level. The total area of the city is 1 thousand 417 sq. Km. In ancient times, the city was called Ankira and it was founded around the 7th century. Now it is a modern European metropolis, where much reminds of the history of the city. There is no sea here.
Istanbul is the most Big city Turkey and former capital Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman empires. Istanbul is the largest in Turkey both in terms of population (14.8 million) and area (1,539 sq. Km). Located on the shores of the Bosphorus, dividing it into the European (main) and Asian parts, connected by bridges and a metro tunnel. previously called Byzantium and Constantinople and was the capital of all empires on the territory of which it found itself. Now there is a well-developed infrastructure, industry, this city is considered a cultural, commercial and industrial center Turkey. In addition, it is the main port of the country.
Many tourists declare that it is the capital, albeit only a cultural one, and visit this city more often than Ankara. There are more rave reviews about him in superlatives, but the official capital of Turkey is Ankara.
Once again, let's summarize and compare Ankara and Istanbul in numbers:
- Population: 4.3 million - 14.8 M(for comparison, the population of the largest city of Shanghai is 24 million),
- Average air temperature: 12.15 degrees - 16.1 degrees,
- Number of universities: 19 and 38 (there are 19 more universities in Istanbul!),
- Unemployment rate: 14.7% and 15.5% ,
- Number of airports: 1 and 2 ,
- The ratio of women to men: 49.5% to 50.5% and 49.97% to 50.03%.
