Istanbul celebrates European Capital of Culture status

PanARMENIAN.Net - Istanbul will transform into a huge party today with celebrations marking the city's European Capital of Culture status taking place simultaneously in seven spots throughout the city, on both the European and Asian sides.



The main stage of the celebrations will be Halic, or the Golden Horn, where events will kick off at 5:30 p.m. with a ceremony at the Halic Congress Center, during which President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoрan will deliver opening speeches.



Istanbul - which shares its status as a 2010 European Capital of Culture with Hungary's Pecs and Germany's Essen - will host over 400 events this year. The opening night program, with a wide focus that spans from dance shows to pop concerts and art exhibitions, is a sample of the sundry lineup of events to be offered in the coming months, Today's Zaman reported.



Istanbul (historically also known as Byzantium and Constantinople) is the largest city in Turkey and fifth largest city proper in the world with a population of 12.6 million. Istanbul is also a megacity, as well as the cultural and financial centre of Turkey. The city covers 39 districts of the Istanbul province. It is located on the Bosphorus Strait and encompasses the natural harbor known as the Golden Horn, in the northwest of the country. It extends both on the European (Thrace) and on the Asian(Anatolia) sides of the Bosphorus, and is thereby the only metropolis in the world that is situated on two continents.



In its long history, Istanbul has served as the capital city of the Roman Empire (330-395), the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire (395-1204 and 1261-1453), the Latin Empire (1204-1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453-1922). The city was chosen as joint European Capital of Culture for 2010. The historic areas of Istanbul were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985.