İstanbul, Turkey

The Old City of Istanbul (Turkish: Eski İstanbul, "Old Istanbul", also Tarihi Yarımada, "Historic Peninsula" and Suriçi, "Walled City") is the oldest part of the city, and the location of most of its historic sights.

Being a peninsula bounded by bodies of water to the north, east, and south (the Golden Horn, Bosphorus, and the Sea of Marmara, respectively) and by the old city walls to west, this part of the city is essentially what used to be called Constantinople. The rest, of what is today Istanbul, were independent cities, towns, villages, fields or even complete wilderness later absorbed by the city. This process is still going on as Istanbul grows with an increasing speed.