Istanbul is a child of Greek birth, nurtured in the cradle of Hellenic civilization, only to be abducted by the Turks some five centuries ago. Yet in time, she grew fond of her new master, and together they forged a remarkable union—one that endures and thrives, evolving into a true Cosmopolis with an even brighter future ahead.
She reigns as the Queen of Cities, unmatched in beauty, culture, and noble heritage. Search the world over, and you will find no rival to her grandeur ,legacy, energy and zest for Life.
Athens, her elder sister, never left home, remaining with her own people and rooted in her native soil. She once had a fleeting romance with Rome, but irreconcilable differences—of faith, philosophy, and spirit—eventually drove them apart. In her later years, she faded into quiet solitude, her brilliance dimmed, until the British, ever the gentlemen thieves, helped restore her lost dignity but also stole her most precious jewels to be displayed in their far away capitol with gloomy skies.
Unlike the Turks however , the British were not the passionate type; they never sought to claim her as their own. Had they done so, perhaps she too might have ascended to the throne of world cities.
But Athens was bound by loyalty—she would never abandon the Greeks, just as she had stood by them since the days of the Trojan War. And so, she remains ever Greek: proud, steadfast, and somewhat solitary, a touch spinster ,a touch provincial, yet still captivating to the countless admirers who visit in search of her ancient soul which sadly is found only in her magnificent museums.
“Is Istanbul originally Turkish and Athens originally Greek?”
Today's Istanbul was founded as the Greek city of Byzantium, Βυζάντιον/Βυζάντιο Byzántion/Vyzántio. The city was re-founded as Nova Roma/ Νέα Ρώμη/ Néa Rhōmē. It was more famously known as Constantinople, Κωνσταντινούπολη Kōnstantinoúpolē aka “CIty if Contantine.” Though the Roman capital the city was still ethnically Greek speaking (mostly) and remained so until the Turks conquered it in 1453.
Athens, Αθήναι/Αθήνα Athēnai/Athēna was always a Greek city.
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It was a Hattic city before Hittites captured it,
then it was a Hittites city before Phrygians captured it,
then it was a Phrygian city before Lydians captured it,
then it was a Lydian city before Persians captured it
then it was a Persian city before Greeks captured it,
then finally it was Greek city before Celtics captured it,
then it was a Celtic city (see: Galatians) before Romans captured it,
then it was a Roman city before it becomes Byzantine city (technically still a Roman city)
then it was a Byzantine city (again, technically still a Roman city) before Persians captured it,
then it was a Persian city again for a short while before Byzantines captured it,
then it was again a Byzantine city before Arabs captured it,
then it was an Arabian city before Byzantines captured it,
then once again, it was a Byzantine city before Danismends captured it,
then it was a Danishmend (Turkish) city before Seljuks captured it,
then it was a Seljuk (Turkish) city before Mongols captured it,
then it was a Mongolian city before Ahi’s captured it,
then it became a city-state of Ahi (Turkish) before Ottomans captured it,
then it was finally Ottoman city (Turkish) before founding of Turkish Republic.
So, you decide. Was it a Greek city before it was captured by Turks?
Update: I really don’t understand why some Greek people think that I was trying to deny Ankara was a Greek city before it becomes a Turkish city. I am not denying, just verifying.
Update 2: The explanation in the parentheses (technically still a Roman city) means, yes I know Byzantium and Roman Empire is the same thing.
In short: Stin Poli (not Εις την Πόλη) - (To the City) /stinboli/ => Stanbul => Istanbul
Besides the linguistics, the answer needs some historical background, to be fully understood. And it becomes very easy and obvious for everyone who has no nationalistic way of “thinking”.
In 324 CE, the ancient city of Byzantium was renamed New Rome and declared the new capital of the Roman Empire by the emperor Constantinus (Constantine). Six years later (330 CE) it was renamed to Constantinoupolis (Constantinople), which means “the City of Constantinus” in Greek (Constantinou+polis).
Why the City was named Constantinoupolis (Greek) and not Urbs Constantini (Latin?) Because the dominant language of the Eastern Roman Empire was Greek, since the era of Alexander the Great (330 BCE, 6 centuries before). If Constantinoupolis was located in the Western part of the Empire, it would probably have a Latin name. Latin has never been spoken among the people in the East, although Latin was one of the two official languages (Latin & Greek) by the foundation of New Rome (324). But since the lingua franca was Greek for so many centuries…. Greek became the only official language of the Eastern Roman Empire from around 650 CE, onward.
From around 450 to 1204, Constantinoupolis was the largest and wealthiest city in Europe. People used to call it Póli (City) not Constantinoupoli, for the sake of brevity. Still Greeks today, call it Póli and its citizens Polítes, not Constantinoupolites (too long). Expressions such as ¨polítiki kuzína¨ - πολίτικη κουζίνα - the cuisine of the City, are widely used. Politics - Politika is another Greek word referring to the organization of the City.
Stin Póli (not “Εις την Πόλι” - I will explain this later) was a very common phrase depicting “To the City”. [I go to the City = Pao stin Poli [páo stinbóli]. If you speak Greek, this liaison n+p=nb /stinboli/ is typical. Until the beginning of the 20th Century, Istanbul was still called Stanbul, < /stinboli/.
The Greek word Poli (City) transforms in Turkish phonetics to Bol/Bolu, as presented in Gelibolu < Callipoli = Nice City, Safranbolu < Safranpoli etc). In Russian it becomes pol. Sevastopol, Marioupol, Symferopol etc.
But why I+stanbul and not just Stanbul/Stanbol ? Because the Turkish language needs an -i- before s+consonant, (see: skala>iskele, Smyrna>Izmir, Stinboli>Istanbul, Skara>Isgara etc.
**Spanish also needs phonetically an -e- before s+consonant (i.e. estrés<stress, estudio<studio, espero<spero etc)
The Greek preposition Εις (Is=Το), was not used so much the last 1000 years in common speech. Instead Stin/Ston (=to the) was used. In fact, Istanbul was called Stanbul just 100 years ago. The -i- has been added around 1930, to conform with the Turkish utterance of speech (phonetics).
When the Turkish speaking people, around 900 CE started coming to Anatolia (=meaning East in Greek - paraphrased as Anadolu in Turkish), all major cities were already formed and had a proper name: Sevástia=Respectful ( became Sivas), Ikónio (became Konya), Kerasounda=Cherries’ ground (Giresun), Smyrna (Izmir), Níkea=Victory’s place (Iznik), Trapezounda (Trabzon) and hundreds of others. Therefore, there is absolutely no scientific basis to claim names such as Sivas, Istanbul, Anadolu etc. as etymologically Turkish.
Despite the attempt of the Turkish State to turkify topographic names the last 100 years (for obvious reasons),
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