The magnificent city of Istanbul is located on the border of the two continents, so the heart of the city can rightly be called the Bosphorus. Amazingly beautiful Bosphorus fascinates its waters and shores contrast retracted. Next to the fishing villages and modern skyscrapers of the majestic palaces that could not be better reflect the fate of the city - a symbol of luxury and poverty plexus, ancient and modern.

Mirror waters of the Bosphorus, betraying the charm of the old town, can not be compared with anything else. All the greatness and misery of Constantinople is reflected in the sparkling surface of this Strait. Summer residences and elegant palaces that are scattered randomly along the banks peacefully side by side with dilapidated villages inhabited by fishermen. Only occasionally the impression created by ancient buildings, steel shine destroyed by modern skyscrapers.

With the name of the strait connected Greek myth, Zeus fell in love with Io - a priestess of Hera, who was the daughter of the king Inachus. Loving wife of Zeus, for it turned Io into a cow on it and cast a terrible hornet, which Io tried in vain to escape. It helps her that she hid in the waters of the Bosphorus, which is then received its name - "cow ford".

If we turn to the true, not an imaginary story, we can see that the first bridge built across the strait, was the Persian king Darius crossed the Bosporus seven hundred thousandth army of temporary bridge, which consisted of flesh, thrown from ship to ship. Today's Turkish residents are proud of their bridge across the strait. At the time when he began to build, many said that the bridge can ruin the silhouette of the city and the charm of the Bosphorus. But, despite this, the bridge, which was built in one of the most beautiful cities in the world among the great monuments of history, along with its mosques and palaces, able to fit harmoniously into the surrounding hills gyrus.

The current theory is that the Bosphorus was formed about 5600 BC the melting of large masses of ice and snow at the end of the last ice age, as a result of a sharp rise in the water level. Just a few days a powerful stream broke way from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, while representing a freshwater lake. On submarine slopes of the Black Sea coast of Turkey during recent archaeological studies have found flooded city. Most likely, the formation of the Bosphorus was the reason for the emergence of the myth of the Great Flood and Noah's Ark. By the way, relatively nearby, in eastern Anatolia, is Mount Ararat.

To fully experience what the Bosphorus, you need to take a fascinating walk through the Strait on board any cruise ship in the quarter Karakoy. Walking through the Bosporus - the pleasure is indescribable. Your eyes will appear all Istanbul with its inherent grandeur and pathos. Once the evening on board a pleasure craft, you can try to look into the very soul of the "miracle of miracles" - the ancient Greek name Constantinople.

City at sunset dress like their most beautiful mask. In the off-crowded ferries crowded vessels, the roar of the pipes in the setting sun can be seen as the city lights the lights of its wonderful hills. There are voices of muezzins. Rumor has it that for evening prayers in the old days often heralds took the blind that they are not embarrassed by the beauty of the coming night. Hagia Sophia, like the mast of the ship, towering over the town and gives it an unearthly magnificent views from the Bosphorus.

Nothing is more exciting than the Bosphorus in the evening. Painted crimson color of the setting sun, the Bosphorus and the city, put on a special mask, mysterious and enchanting.

During the walk, you can learn a lot about the inner, hidden life of the Bosphorus .  The Turks called torrent Strait "Sheytan akantysy", which translates as "the devil within .  "Sheytan" starts raging especially with the onset of spring and the melting of snow in the Danube Basin .  At this time, it reaches its maximum speed and flow of the Strait .  Blue Stream waters boom are beginning to sweep along the coast that leads to boiling the water in the boiler at its most narrow areas .  There is still the Bosporus "double bottom" - the so-called 'lower course', which comes from the Marmara Sea to the Black in the opposite direction .  It turns out that the Bosphorus - a contradictory "being", the current at the same time in two opposite directions .  Port quarter - it's an amazing place, it seems, life does not stop for a minute .  Near passenger pier is a small market where you can buy freshly caught fish .  Amidst all this bustle and movement is difficult not to get confused and do not get lost .

The monstrous ruins of dilapidated tower battlements Rumeli Hisar dull look from Europe to Asia and the other side, where the Anadolu Hisar fortress. This is the bottleneck of the Bosphorus - a total of about 650 meters. Here, the closest Europe comes to Asia. Istanbul is situated on two continents, defining his face. The city center has always been in Europe, Asia and the coast for a long time remained the only margin. Now everything has changed exactly the opposite shore -European covered the old and desolate and Asia can be proud of its clean modern quarters. Nowhere do not converge so close two continents, as if looking into each other's eyes. It should be noted that the strait considered probably the most narrow in the world. Bosphorus by as much as six hundred meters already Dardanelles.

Courts sometimes have to literally squeeze, hardly warming up while passing through the Bosphorus. Traffic movement in the Strait is very tough. The fact that the Bosphorus has international status, leads to the fact that the Court ply from around the world in both forward and reverse directions. Even a small mistake during the passage of the fairway can be a disaster. Skeletons of sunken tanker is decorated from time to time this treacherous Strait.

The main task at the marina is not to get lost in the many intricacies of berths allocated separately for all defined trends.