Download or read book Istanbul and Northwest Turkey written by and published by Alfred A. Knopf. This book was released on 1993 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Situated at the very point where Europe meets Asia, Istanbul is a fantastic amalgam of superimposed cultures from the prehistoric to Islam, from the Hellenistic to the Byzantine. Its stones echo the past--the wars, the poetry, the ritual splendors, the great religions that inspired both the creation of its monuments and in some cases their destruction. Probably no other major city in the world is so immersed in history and at the same time so difficult for the outsider to grasp. Here at last is a book that enables the visitor to enjoy this fabled city to the fullest.