a series of travel images from Europe, Turkey - Istanbul. The countries most populous city and the cultural and financial hub. Situated in the west on the Bosphorus Strait between the Black Sea and the Marmara Sea it's home to an approximate 19 million inhabitans making it one of the largest cities in Europe and the world. The Bosphorus Strait is the dividing line between Europe and Asia. Istanbul is tremendously rich in history. Formerly known as Byzantium in Greek and later Constantinopel in Roman times most of the sites dating from the later Ottoman period are in the old city Sultanahmet. The old city was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1985. Photography by Astrid Kruiff and Willem Proos ©