Istanbul Turkey Development And Redevelopment

For almost all of this century, the floating Galata Bridge across the Golden Horn was a revered icon of a city that is a tail of two continents. One recent morning, tugboats towed the old iron bridge away. So much for the thronged, colorful trademark of Istanbul as linchpin between West and East, Europe and Asia. More pertinent now in a city busily consuming its past in the name of a Gargantuan but uncertain future is the replacement steel bridge.

For almost all of this century, the floating Galata Bridge across the Golden Horn was a revered icon of a city that is a tail of two continents. One recent morning, tugboats towed the old iron bridge away. So much for the thronged, colorful trademark of Istanbul as linchpin between West and East, Europe and Asia. More pertinent now in a city busily consuming its past in the name of a Gargantuan but uncertain future is the replacement steel bridge.

Perhaps the best panorama of Istanbul is to be seen from the Galata Bridge, a grinding, creaking pontoon structure facing the Straits of Bosporus and spanning the curving inlet known as the Golden Horn. An early morning mist lends the scene a diffuse quality, as in an aging watercolor, with the city's architectural jewels--the minarets of the Suleiman Mosque reach up like ballistic missiles--standing out against an indistinct pattern of red-tile roofs.

Perhaps the best panorama of Istanbul is to be seen from the Galata Bridge, a grinding, creaking pontoon structure facing the Straits of Bosporus and spanning the curving inlet known as the Golden Horn. An early morning mist lends the scene a diffuse quality, as in an aging watercolor, with the city's architectural jewels--the minarets of the Suleiman Mosque reach up like ballistic missiles--standing out against an indistinct pattern of red-tile roofs.