Description: The Bosphorus Straits.
The Bosphorus straits is a channel of water that separates Europe from Asia and is a strategic channel because it runs from the Black sea in the north through the sea of Marmara, the Dardanelle straits, to Mediterranean sea in the South.
The Bosphorus is approximately 17 miles long and is only 1 and three quarter miles at its widest point. It varies in depth from 118 feet to 407 feet deep which makes it an ideal shipping channel. At its southern end the city and former capital of Turkey Istanbul is situated.
The Bosporus was such an important channel of water the British Government and Allies wanted to keep its shipping lanes open so that supplies from the Black sea countries could be maintained and this was the main reason for the failed Battle of Gallipoli took place to secure the Bosphorus and to keep it open. Six countries rely on this channel to maintain links and supply routes to the rest of the world these countries include Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Russia and Georgia.
During the middle of the 19th century the then Sultan had a few hunting lodges and villas along the side of the Bosphorus and it became fashionable to build large villas in the wooded and less crowded areas of Istanbul. The Sultan decided once and for all to relocate his palace to the side of the Bosphorus and built the delightful Dolmabache palace in the baroque style along the water front. Others followed suite and the gentry also built their villas. Small but exclusive and expensive villages were built and it has become quite fashionable albeit very expensive to own a villa beside the Bosphorus.
Crossing the Bosphorus.
Centuries ago boats were tethered together at its narrowest points to provide floating bridges to cross the channel but today there are currently two bridges that cross the Bosphorus both well over a mile long. One is quite central to Istanbul whilst the other bridge is further north on the outskirts of the city. The Turkish government are currently building an underground railway line to connect to the Asian side which is due to be finished in 2012. The government has also just agreed that a third bridge will be built that will bypass central Istanbul thereby easing some of the constant congestion in the city. Currently there are also many car ferries and smaller commuter boats that ply from the European side to the Asian side and these run all day long. You can also take a trip up the Bosphorus on a cruiser which is what we did.
Our cruise.
We took the cruiser from the area called Eminonu ferry boat dock down by the water front of the Golden Horn. There are lots of cruise companies based along here and various tours are available lasting from a few hours to an all day cruise if you wish to traverse the whole way to the Black sea. Of course the cruises are similarly priced. We paid £30 for our cruise which lasted about an hour and a half but dropped us on the Asian side after we had gone under the Fatih Koprusu Bridge.
There were only about 25 people on our boat so there was plenty of room to sit. The boat was nice and clean and the crew came around at regular intervals offering drinks that you could buy should you so wish. Our first sight that we came across was of the lovely Dolmabache palace which fronts the Bosphorus. Queen Victoria gave a 7.2 ton crystal chandelier to the Sultan which is still in the palace today. The palace is completely white and looks beautiful almost like icing sugar. The gardens and water frontage are very long. We pass smaller hunting lodges and smaller palaces which are now used as hotels or Embassies.
The boat that belonged to the republics first President Kemal Aturturk is also moored alongside the palace looking splendid and quite regal it made me think of our own Royal Yacht Britainnia.
We passed the Yacht club and a concert venue where the only way to get to it is by boat which means that it helps stop congestion in the city. It is in a beautiful setting against a back drop of trees and private villas. We also passed a naval academy which looked quite splendid and one of the hospitals that Florence Nightingale was responsible for.
One of the fashionable little waterside towns had a marina with some quite impressive boats moored in there and of course some of the other waterside homes and villas had their own motor launches and super yachts.
Asian side.
We were dropped off at a staging post beside a park and were collected by a bus which took us up to a viewing point above the Bosphorus with splendid views of it. However it is right next to an army base... There is a coach park there and a cafeteria. Whilst taking pictures of the bridges and the Bosphorus below the soldiers were going apoplexic because we were taking pictures. Why on earth build a viewing point and cafeteria near such a facility if it is supposedly in a sensitive area... To us it did not appear that there was anything sensitive in the compound that we were overlooking just scrubland. None of us were interested in the least about the compound which ran down to the waterfront. Thankfully we managed to get our photos of the Bosphorus and the bridge without being shot or arrested.
Safety aspects.
There were plenty of life vests available on board the boat we travelled on and as it was not very crowded we felt quite safe. There are also night dinner cruises on the Bosphorus however I would not have wanted to go on one of these. The Bosphorus is quite a busy straight and traffic is going up and down and from side to side all day long. It is not without its dangers however and there have been many accidents involving loss of life mainly on large container ships with massive oil spills and pollution although not of recent years I would like to add.
Would I recommend a trip on the Bosphorus?
Definitely but obviously it would depend on time constraints. We were only in Istanbul for three days so our time was very restricted and we wanted to pack as much as we could into our three days. The good thing is that I intend to go and spend more time in Istanbul and would probably take a cruise up the Bosphorus to the Black sea when I shall have more time to allow it. It is definitely a worth while trip.
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