Istanbul, Turkey

My fridge magnet today is from a trip to Istanbul, Turkey. You can see the spelling on the magnet is Türkiye - that is the spelling in the Turkish language.

This magnet shows one of the bridges spanning the Bosphorus, the sea strait between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea. The Bosphorus is also known as the Strait of Istanbul. This narrow, natural strait divides Turkey in two. The northern side is part of Europe and the southern side is in Asia.

Istanbul is a majoy city in Turkey that straddles Europe and Asia across the Bosphorus Strait.  The Old City of Istanbul reflects the cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled there.

There are three suspension bridges that cross the Bosphorus. The one shown here is in Istanbul. It was the first bridge to be built and is called the Martyrs’ Bridge. The bridge is 1,560m long and with 35 engineers and 400 construction workers on the project, it took 3 years to complete. Opened on July 15, 1973, the bridge today has daily traffic of about 200,000 vehicles. It is part of the O1 motorway.

If you get a chance to visit Istanbul I am sure your tour bus, or taxi ride will take you across this bridge. There are so many interesting places to see on both sides of this Strait. Check out my Travelling Tuesdays book and read about my adventures when I visited Türkiye.

# living life abundantly   # published author