European Capital of Culture: Istanbul

Zhao Renyu1

1

School of Software and Microelectronics, Peking University 1001220857

Abstract: This article investigates the Regional Culture (RC) of Istanbul in the Urban Science (US) context. Based on empirical research conducted with available resources, information on the city located between two most important culture entities: eastern and western, is provided. The report demonstrates an elaborate review on culture in Istanbul, and analyzes the historical and political factors that form and cause this kind of culture.

the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two

i.

INTRODUCTION

continents. Two bridges across Bosphorus Strait link Asia and Europe continents, as well as Eastern and Western culture.

In Istanbul, where modernism, secularism and Westernization comprised the national ideals of the new post-Ottoman state, the culture combines a heterogeneous set of elements that derived from the Ottoman, European, Middle Eastern and Central Asian traditions. The diversity is mostly resulted from Turkey's former status as a multiethnic empire. The city was modernized since the starting of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk in 1923. As the religion-driven former Ottoman Empire transformed into a modern nation-state with a separation of state and religion, a corresponding resort in modernization and creating a cultural identity arose. Due to the different historical factors defining the Turkish identity, the culture of Istanbul combines clear efforts to be "modern" and Western, with a desire to maintain traditional religious and historical values.

ii.

CULTURE AND CONTEMPORARY LIFE

If the world were a single state then its capital would be Constantinople. This is what Napoleon Bonaparte once said about the city Istanbul, the capital of the Roman Empire (330–c.395), Byzantine Empire (c.395–1204 & 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922).

1) Religion

The most important and most populous major religion, which shapes the landscape of Istanbul, is Islam.

Satellite view of Istanbul and the Bosporus, connecting the Black Sea at the north with the Sea of Marmara at the south.

Located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbour known as the Golden Horn, Istanbul is

Religious minorities include Greek Orthodox Christians, Armenian Christians, Catholic Levantines and Sephardic Jews.

Istanbul was the final seat of the Islamic Caliphate, and is base of the archbishop of the Turkish

Orthodox