Understand
"Land of the Blind"
Before setting sail to find a suitable place for a colony, Byzas, legendary founder of Byzantium, was told by soothsayers that he was going to found new city across the water from the land of the blind. Then, one day, during his pursuit of the new land, he set foot on a beautiful, forested, and easily-protectable peninsula, surrounded by the sea from three sides. On one side, there was a deep and long bay, too, where storms of open seas have little effect, perfect for a harbor. Looking more carefully, he saw some fishermen inside the bay. After learning that they are from Khalkedon across the Bosphorus, he remembered the prophecy, and convinced that they were indeed âthe Blindâ, who couldnât see the wonderful land he was standing on and preferred to build their city in a rather inconvenient location. Soon thereafter, Byzas set the first stone of what has become the city of Istanbul, and Khalkedon todayâs Kadıköy got the nickname âthe Land of the Blindâ.
Kadıköy ancient Khalkedon and Ãsküdar ancient Chrysopolis/Scutari forms the historical cores of this part of the city. Both started as cities independent of Istanbul in fact Khalkedon was founded about 30-40 years earlier than Istanbul itself, and only incorporated into the city of Istanbul in late 19th century. Itâs no coincidence that the regular steamer services across the Bosphorus was started a few years earlier.
Today Kadıköy and Ãsküdar are mainly commercial zones. The rest of this part of the city mainly consist of soulless suburbs full of quite high-rise apartment blocks, most of which date back no more than 30 years which, again, is no coincidence that the first inter-continental Bosphorus bridge was constructed a few years before. Major exceptions are the Bosphorus bank, with its historical palaces, mansions, and neighborhoods with a character; and the coast of the Sea of Marmara, all along which lies a lovely and, unsurprisingly, long park on the edge of which a number of impressive wooden mansion lie.
Known as the less crowded and more orderly half of the city, Asian Side nonetheless houses about 4.4 million people, or one of every three Istanbulites, out of which around 1.3 million commute daily to Europe.
