HELLAvatrip 2022 – εις την Πόλιν – Chapter 8 – The City

This is the second day of our sightseeing in the city of Constantinople.

There are plenty of cities that are considered “the city” by the people living in their respected regions. For example, for ages “the city” in the area of Pomerelia has been the city of Gdańsk/Danzig. These “the” cities were and still are the most dominant economic powerhouses for the area, the headquarters for various political and social institutions, including the courts and the regional authorities, as well as cultural means of the regions. Furthermore, they are quite often the regions of their own, or located on the crossroads for different ones, which gives them their own, special identity – the obvious examples are Hamburg and again, my city of Gdańsk/Danzig.

Istanbul is, in this context, everything. The current name of the city is, after all, derived from the Greek phrase “στην Πόλι” (stim poli) that means “in the city”. In Greek Constantinople was often referred to as just “the city”. It is both a city and a province, or to be more precise, or to be more precise, the city is as large as the province. It is by far the most important part of the Turkish region of Marmara, of Eastern Thrace etc. The city is not defined by the larger region, but quite the opposite – it redefines the region as a small region by itself.

But anyway, please enjoy the photos of the city. You can also visit the Transport in Istanbul album.