Description

The city of Istanbul has had many names throughout its history, depending on the culture, language, and religion of its rulers. Byzantium, Constantinople, Stamboul and Tsarigrad are examples that may still be found in active use in certain countries. Among others, it has been called New Rome or Second Rome, since the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great founded it on the site of the ancient Greek city of Byzantium as a second, and decidedly Christian, capital of the Roman Empire, in contrast to the still largely pagan Rome.[2] It has also been nicknamed "The City on Seven Hills" because the historic peninsula, the oldest part of the city, was built by Constantine on seven hills to match the seven hills of Rome. The hills are represented in the city's coat of arms with seven mosques, one at the top of each hill.[3] Another old nickname of Istanbul is Vasileousa Polis (Queen of Cities), which rose from its importance and wealth throughout the Middle Ages.

With the Turkish Postal Service Law of March 28, 1930, the Turkish authorities officially requested foreigners to cease referring to the city with their traditional non-Turkish names (such as Constantinople, Tsarigrad, etc.) and to adopt Istanbul as the sole name also in their own languages.[4] Letters or packages sent to "Constantinople" instead of "Istanbul" were no longer delivered by Turkey's PTT, which contributed to the eventual worldwide adoption of the new name. Similarly, letters or packages that were sent to "Smyrna" instead of Izmir, "Angora" instead of Ankara, "Trebizond" instead of Trabzon, and other ancient city names were no longer delivered; a measure which forced the quick worldwide recognition of the modern Turkish names of every prominent city in the country.