Pakistan, July 30 -- Beautifully situated on the shores of the Bosphorus straits connecting the Marmara Sea to the Black Sea and regarded as the border between Europe and Asia. Istanbul is one of the most important cities of Eurasia, a transcontinental metropolis of 15 million today. Founded around 660 BC as "Byzantine", it was renamed in 330 AD as Constantinople when the Roman Emperor Constantin made it the capital of the Roman Empire, promoting the Christianization of the city and the empire.

Serving as the capital of the Roman Empire till 1453, Constantinople for over eleven centuries was conquered by Sultan Mehmed II, who renamed it Istanbul and made it the capital of the Ottoman Empire. This remained Turkey's capital for another alm...