Late in the 7th century, the Greeks arrived in the area and settled on both sides of the Bosphorus, establishing a city called Byzantium. An acropolis once stood on the site where the Ottoman Tokapi palace is situated today.

At the end of the 2nd century, the Romans invaded the city resulting in heavy casualties and destruction of buildings but the all-conquering Romans soon rebuilt and renamed the city August Antonina.

It was during this period that the city took on strong Greek Orthodox influences, which resulted in numerous churches and Christian places of worship being built. This included the Hagia Sophia, the largest cathedral in the world for nearly the next 1,000 years.

After centuries of unprecedented power and influence it was only a matter of time before things started to take a turn for the worst. The beginning of the 13th century saw the Fourth Crusade turn its attention on Constantinople with devastating consequences.

In 1493, the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmed II invaded after a long siege, to find a city in decay and its population down to less than 50,000. Ottoman policies were progressive, and diverse religions were invited to settle.

A bazaar was set up to kick-start the flagging economy. Before long the city was in full flow as mosques, palaces and public buildings were constructed like never before. Well-known Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan designed a series of masterpieces, including Suleiman Mosque.

The founding of the Republic of Turkey saw the capital move to Ankara on the Asian side, as Istanbul was neglected in the early days after the end of the empire.

By the 1950s, the city began to recover as industry grew but the Istanbul Pogrom in 1955 marked a new low as Armenians and Jews were harassed with the backing of the then government. This unsavoury incident proved a minor setback for the city in the long-term; although the Greek population, in many cases, never returned.