Golden Horn
For other uses, see Golden Horn
(disambiguation).
Map of Istanbul's Historic Peninsula (lower left),
showing the location of the Golden Horn and Sarayburnu (Seraglio Point) in relation to Bosphorusstrait, as well as historically
significant sites (black), and various notable neighborhoods.
The Golden Horn (Turkish: Altın Boynuz; Ancient Greek: Χρυσόκερας, Chrysókeras; Latin: Sinus Ceratinus), also known by its
modern Turkish name
as Haliç ([hɑ̈ɫit͡ʃ]),
is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of
the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey.
This prominent body of water is a
horn-shaped estuary that joins Bosphorus Strait at
the immediate point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, thus forming a narrow,
isolated peninsula, the tip of which is "Old Istanbul" (ancient Byzantium and Constantinople), and the promontory of Sarayburnu, or Seraglio Point. The Golden Horn
geographically separates the historic center of Istanbul from the rest of the
city, and forms a natural, sheltered harbor that has historically
protected Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other maritime trade ships
for thousands[1] of years.
While the reference to a "horn"
is understood to refer to the inlet's general shape, the significance of the
designation "golden" is more obscure, with historians believing it to
refer to either the riches brought into the city through the bustling historic
harbor located along its shores, or to romantic artistic interpretations of the
rich yellow light blazing upon the estuary's waters as the sun sets over the
city. Its Greek and English names mean the same, while its Turkish name, Haliç, simply means "estuary",
and is derived from the Arabic word khaleej,
meaning "gulf".
Throughout its storied past, the Golden
Horn has witnessed many tumultuous historical incidents, and its dramatic
vistas have been the subject of countless works of art
Description
1860-70 German map
of Ottoman-era
Istanbul, showing the Golden Horn (Sector B2) and its source rivers, Alibeyköy
and Kağıthane.
The Golden Horn is the estuary of the Alibeyköy and Kağıthane Rivers. It is 7.5 kilometers
(4.66 mi) long, and 750 meters (2,460 ft) across at its widest. Its
maximum depth, where it flows into the Bosphorus, is about 35 meters (115 ft).
At present, the Golden Horn is spanned by
five bridges. Moving from upstream to downstream (i.e. northwest to southeast),
these are as follows:
1. Haliç Bridge, completed in 1974, which connects
the neighborhoods of Sütlüce and Defterdar
2. Eski Galata Bridge (literally Old
Galata Bridge), now-defunct, which used to connect the downstream
neighborhoods of Karaköy and Eminönü, but was disassembled and relocated
upstream between Ayvansaray and Keçeci
Piri following extensive damage in 1992 caused by a fire
originating in the kitchen of one of the restaurants located on the bridge's
lower level. Originally dating back to 1912, the now-retired structure is no
longer used for vehicular or pedestrian traffic, but functions as a seasonal
outdoor exhibit and event space attached to Haliç Park.
3. Atatürk Bridge, aka Unkapanı Bridge, completed
in 1940, which connects Kasımpaşa and Unkapanı
4. Golden Horn Metro
Bridge, a pedestrianized railway crossing, completed in 2014, that
extends subway line M2 of the Istanbul Metro across the Golden Horn
5. Galata Bridge (its fifth incarnation,
completed in 1994), between Karaköy and Eminönü
History
Seraglio Point from Pera, with the Bosphorus(left), the entrance of the Golden
Horn (center and right), and the Sea of Marmara (distance) with the Princes' Islands on the horizon.
Gol
An aerial view of Galata (foreground), the Historic Peninsula (background), and the
new Galata Bridge, which straddles the Golden Horn and, connects its two shores
at the point where it meets the Bosphorus(off the picture, left) and the Sea of Marmara (behind the Historic
Peninsula). Seraglio Point is
located at the eastern tip of the Historic Peninsula (center, left). The Princes' Islands are along the horizon,
at upper left.
Archaeological records show a significant
urban presence on and around the Golden Horn dating back to at least the 7th
century BC, with smaller settlements going as far back as 6700 BC as confirmed
by recent discoveries of ancient ports, storage facilities, and fleets of trade
ships unearthed during the construction works of the Yenikapı subway station and the Marmaraytunnel project.
Indeed, the deep natural harbor provided by
the Golden Horn has always been a major economic attraction and strategic
military advantage for inhabitants of the area, and the Eastern Roman colonizers that
established Nova Roma along
its shores, which became, in order, Byzantium, Constantinople, and ultimately, Istanbul, were no different.
The Byzantine Empire had its naval
headquarters there, and walls were built along the shoreline to protect the
city of Constantinople from
naval attacks. At the entrance to the Horn on the northern side, a large chain was
pulled across from Constantinople to the old Tower of Galata to
prevent unwanted ships from entering. Known among the Byzantines as the Megàlos
Pyrgos (meaning "Great Tower" in Greek), this tower was largely destroyed by
the Latin Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. In 1348,
the Genoese built
a new tower nearby which they called Christea Turris (Tower of
Christ), now called Galata Tower.
There were three notable times when the
chain across the Horn was either broken or circumvented. In the 10th century
the Kievan Rus' dragged
their longships out of the Bosphorus, around Galata, and relaunched them in the Horn; the
Byzantines defeated them with Greek fire. In 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, Venetian ships were able to break the
chain with a ram. In 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, having failed in his attempt to
break the chain with brute force, instead used the same tactic as the Rus'; towing his ships across Galata
over greased logs and
into the estuary.
After the Ottoman conquest of
Constantinople in 1453, Mehmed II resettled ethnic Greeks along
the Horn in the Phanar (today's Fener). Balat continued
to be inhabited by Jews, as during the Byzantine age, though many Jews decided
to leave following the takeover of the city. This area was repopulated
when Bayezid II invited the Jews who
were expelled from Spain to
resettle in Balat.
In 1502, Leonardo da Vinci produced a drawing of a
single-span 240-metre (790 ft) bridge over the Golden Horn as part of a
civil engineering project for Sultan Bayezid II. Leonardo's drawings and notes
regarding this bridge are currently displayed at the Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia in Milan, Italy.
While the original design was never executed, the vision of Leonardo's Golden
Horn Bridge was resurrected in 2001, when a small
footbridge based on Leonardo's design was constructed
near Ås in Norway by Vebjørn Sand.
Until the 1980s, the Horn was polluted with
industrial waste from the factories, warehouses, and shipyards along its
shores. It has since been cleaned, and the local fish, wildlife, and flora have
been largely restored.
Nowadays, the Golden Horn is settled on
both sides, and there are parks along each shore. The Istanbul
Chamber of Commerce is also located along the shore, as are
several Muslim, Jewish and Christian cemeteries. Other institutions
along the Horn's banks include museums, congress and cultural halls, supporting
facilities of the Turkish Navy, and
campuses of various universities.
Today, the Horn's rich history and natural
beauty make it a hugely popular tourist attraction in Istanbul, visited by 10
million international vacationers
annually.
In popular culture
The Golden Horn is featured in many works
of literature dealing with classical themes. For example, G. K. Chesterton's poem Lepanto contains
the memorable couplet "From evening isles fantastical rings faint the
Spanish gun, / And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun."
