This impressive book unveils the inheritance of a fascinating city. Christened "Constantinople" by Constantine the Great, the city successively served as the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires and commanded a key position between Occident and Orient for more than sixteen centuries. The wealth of cultural treasures that characterise the face of Istanbul today reflects this rich history. The Hagia Sophia stems from the early Christian era; the Middle Ages bequeathed us churches and monasteries rich in mosaics as well as illuminated manuscripts and icons; and the cultural renaissance following the conquest of the city by Mehmed II in 1453 brought magnificent palaces and mosques, calligraphic treasures, and book and miniature paintings inspired by Persian and Arabic forms. The buildings of the Ottoman baroque period and nineteenth-century architecture complete the exceptional cityscape Istanbul boasts today. Richly illustrated and studded with selected literary documents, this book conveys a living experience of Constantinople in all its various aspects. Colour photographs