Is·tan·bul ( s t n-b l , -tän-, -stänb l) Formerly Con·stan·ti·no·ple (k nstn-t -n pl) The largest city of Turkey, in the northwest part of the country on both sides of the Bosporus at its entrance into the Sea of Marmara. Founded c. 660 b.c. as Byzantium, it was renamed Constantinople in a.d. 330 by Constantine the Great, who made it the capital of the Eastern Roman, or Byzantine, Empire. The city was sacked by Crusaders in 1204 and taken by the Turks in 1453. Istanbul was chosen as the official name in 1930. Population: 8,800,000. |
Istanbul [ˌɪstænˈbuːl]
n
(Placename) a port in NW Turkey, on the western (European) shore of the Bosporus: the largest city in Turkey; founded in about 660 bc by Greeks; refounded by Constantine the Great in 330 ad as the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire; taken by the Turks in 1453 and remained capital of the Ottoman Empire until 1922; industrial centre for shipbuilding, textiles, etc. Pop.: 8 260 438 (1997) Ancient name Byzantium Former name (330-1926) Constantinople
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| Noun | 1. |  Istanbul - the largest city and former capital of Turkey; rebuilt on the site of ancient Byzantium by Constantine I in the fourth century; renamed Constantinople by Constantine who made it the capital of the Byzantine Empire; now the seat of the Eastern Orthodox ChurchBosporus Bridge - a suspension bridge across the Bosporus at Istanbul Hagia Sofia, Hagia Sophia, Santa Sofia, Santa Sophia - a 6th century masterpiece of Byzantine architecture in Istanbul; built as a Christian church, converted to a mosque in 1453, and made into a museum in the middle of the 20th century Republic of Turkey, Turkey - a Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans; on the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in 1918, the Young Turks, led by Kemal Ataturk, established a republic in 1923 |
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