On the map of human existence. Istanbul throughout the age of empire
represented the administrative power center. Rome, Byzantium and the
Ottoman Empire each took its place in history as a ring of civilization
that formed around this center. To view history from this perspective
means to read the story of humanity in its pages and, in a sense, to
rediscover each time this dazzling star that shone in the skies of
Anatolia, the Balkans and the Mediterranean. As mankin ...