ANTONEAC SABIN DRAGOS FACULTATEA DE TEOLOGIE ORTODOXA ANDREI SAGUNA SIBIU ANUL - I TEOLOGIE PASTORALA

ISTAMBUL A METROPOLIS BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

GENERALITATIES

Istanbul is the largest city from Turkey , constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. The
city forms one of the largest urban agglomerations in Europe and it is among the largest cities in the world by population within city limits. Istanbul's vast area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi) is coterminous with Istanbul Province, of which the city is the administrative capital. Its commercial and historical center lies in Europe, while a third of its population lives in Asia. Istanbul in 2010 was named European Capital of Culture, making the city the world's tenth-most-popular tourist destination. The city's biggest draw remains its historic center, partially listed as a UNESCO World Heritage.

Istanbul is a transcontinental city, straddling the Bosphorus one of the world's busiest waterwaysin
northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. It has a population of about 18.8 million people in its metropolitan area (2010), thats about 18% of the total population of Turkey, estimated at over 73 million inhabitants. Istanbul was a cradle of European and world civilization. Here Byzantine civilization arose which was also the beginning of early Christianity in general and especially the Orthodox.

BOSPHORUS

Bosphorus

is a terrestrial crust rupture between Europe and Asia , allowing the communication among the

Mediterranean waters , through Aegean and Marmara Sea , with Black Sea. The Bosphorus has a length of 31.7 km and a width ranging between 650 and 2800 meters. Mega evnice (part of Istanbul) a Christian village today recognized for its fishery fishery. Here, as in Romania, Galati and Constanta, there is 'Throwing the cross into the sea " custom ,of Epiphany. It is now about to complete a connecting tunnel under the Strait waters called Marmaray and will have a length of 13.6 km and will be opened in 2013. The tunnel was designed to withstand a quake of 7.5 on the Richter scale. BOSPHORUS BRIDGE

Road link between the European and Asian metropolis is achieved by two recent large suspension bridges with
six lanes: Bosphorus Bridge and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge or Bridge Conqueror.

MARMARA SEA

Marmara Sea is another representative geographic and defining Istanbul's settlement. Marmara Sea waters bathe the
southern side of old Constantinople that means Western European neighborhoods. On the other mainland it bathes Asian neighborhoods . Marmara Sea is an internal sea of Turkey ranging only between Turkish territories. It is located between southeastern Europe and Asia Minor, forming a link between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean by the Aegean Sea. . SEISMICITY Istanbul is the European metropolis most exposed in terms of seismic, it being seated on the North Anatolian fault. This is a very active fault that produced many disasters throughout the life of the city, from antiquity until very recent years . One of the most devastating in recent history was the year 1509, known as the "little apocalypse." Then there was a tsunami that hit the city walls, destroyed over 100 mosques, and killed about 10,000 people. Of somewhat recent earthquakes can be mentioned the one that destroyed mosque Fatih and Eyup district and it responses for eight months.

CLIMATE Istanbul is located in a temperate area , being a maritime Mediterranean climate transition city, the average annual temperature is of 14.3 C. The warmest month is August, the average temperature reached 23.6 C. The coolest month is January, the average temperature is around 5.8 C. The average annual precipitation is 844 mm. DEMOGRAPHY Istanbul's population increased three times in the last 25 years. Nearly 70 percent of residents living in the European part of it, and only 30 percent on the Asian side. Also, in recent years there has been a steady stream of local population migration that in order to find a better place to live, leave their homes in Anatolia region and try to establish in Istanbul.

ECONOMY Istanbul was always the center of Turkey's economic life because capital status and its geographical location . It has the largest commercial and tourist port of the country. Istanbul is the richest city of the state. In Istanbul developed secondary and light industries , plus a huge number of small manufacturing data workshops. It can be appreciated that the present metropolis lives more, or equal to, the trade and tourism industry related services. As prices and costs of daily living Istanbul is a city of extremes, neither the cheapest nor the most expensive, but we know one thing certain markets, bazaars and other stores allow both traders and buyers to negotiate the prices , this making Istanbul is a great open market.