Description

Essentials about the Golden Horn in brief

If you really want to get to know Istanbul, you should definitely do it from the water and take a boat trip on the Golden Horn. From hardly any other place you have such a great view of the historic center of the city. The Golden Horn is an estuary about seven kilometers long, which flows into the Bosphorus and is about 750 meters wide at its mouth. The Golden Horn is located on the western, European side of the Bosphorus just before it exits into the Sea of Marmara. The estuary is actually the common mouth of the Alibeyköy and Kağithane rivers into the Bosphorus.

The name “Golden Horn”

The name, common in most European languages, is attributed to its shape curved like a horn and the splendor and wealth of the Byzantine and Ottoman metropolis, but also to its golden glow in the evening sun. Its Turkish name Haliç simply means “mouth”.

The history of the Golden Horn

On the peninsula between the Golden Horn, the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara lies the historical core of the city of Istanbul, where Greek colonists founded the settlement of Byzantion around 660 BC. While the area to the north of the Golden Horn was hardly inhabited until the second half of the 19th century, today the estuary lies in the middle of the built-up area of the center of the metropolis of Istanbul with its approximately 15 million inhabitants.

The shores of the Golden Horn are lined with numerous green spaces and parks. The estuary is crossed by four bridges. From the Bosphorus upwards, these are the Galata Bridge, the Metro Bridge over the Golden Horn, the Atatürk Bridge and the Haliç Bridge.

For a long period in Istanbul’s history, the Golden Horn was the city’s most important port. This centuries-old function was lost with the increasing size of ships. At the latest since the construction of the Galata Bridge, only minor port activities took place in the Golden Horn within the bridge.

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Getting there

By public transport:

Due to the length of the Golden Horn, there are many ways to get there.

By car:

Due to the length of the Golden Horn, there are many ways to get there and parking facilities.