Golden Horn

Autumn brings Contemporary Istanbul to the city, in a brand new location

Contemporary Istanbul, an art fair that will be held for the 16th time in Istanbul, Turkey in October, is full of surprises this year, including a new location at Tersane Istanbul at the Golden Horn.

Alexis Gritchenko: A refugee artist in a city under occupation

Previously set to be held between February and May this year, the Alexis Gritchenko exhibition, featuring works between 1919 and 1921, was delayed due to the coronavirus. It will be open from now until November at Istanbul’s Mesher exhibition space.

A Golden Horn museum offers a window into the Istanbul of yesteryear

The Rahmi M Koc Museum, Turkey’s first and only industrial museum, has reopened after lockdown, meaning visitors can once again see classic cars, planes, and more. They can also take a trip down the Golden Horn on a restored fishing boat.

Leonardo Da Vinci’s future-proof design for an Istanbul bridge

Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology say that had it been built, a design for a bridge in the transcontinental city would have been viable.

Leonardo da Vinci and the Ottoman Empire

Five hundred years after his death, Leonardo da Vinci’s interaction with the Ottomans is memorialised in his designs for a bridge and his overtures to the Ottoman Sultans of the time.

One of Istanbul’s last illumination artists and his Ramadan messages

The journey of a 60-year-old Turk who mastered the art of adorning mosques with glittering messages in the holy month of Ramadan.

How Istanbul’s wounded Golden Horn became Turkey’s success story

From the 1950s to the 1990s, Istanbul’s historic Golden Horn was a prime dumping spot for industrial waste - but all that has changed. This is the story of how Istanbul reversed the damage.

Five hidden Istanbul havens tourists seldom hear about

Think you know the city? Think again.

Cengiz Kocak successfully leaps from Istanbul's iconic Galata Tower

Cengiz Kocak landed safely and his parachute rapidly activated after he jumped from the 36-metre high balcony of the tower.

How one man wants to bring extreme sports to Turkey

Cengiz Kocak, Turkey’s most prolific BASE jumper, has leaped off high-rise buildings, telephone towers and hills. He says he does it to remind himself that he's not dead yet. Next on his list is Istanbul's historic Galata Tower.