Istanbul: Memories and the City Istanbul: Memories and the City Istanbul: Memories and the City ("İstanbul: Hatıralar ve Şehir") is a largely autobiographical memoir by Orhan Pamuk that is deeply melancholic. It talks about the vast cultural change that has rocked Turkey – the unending battle between the modern and the receding past. It is also a eulogy to the lost joint family tradition. Most of all, it is a book about Bosphorus and Istanbul's history with the strait. It was translated into English by Maureen Freely in 2005. Pamuk wrote the book when he was on the verge of depression. In an interview he
Names of Istanbul Names of Istanbul The city of Istanbul has been known by a number of different names. The most notable names besides the modern Turkish name are "Byzantium", "Constantinople", and "Stamboul". Different names are associated with different phases of its history and with different languages. According to Pliny the Elder the first name of Byzantium was "Lygos". This may have been the name of a Thracian settlement situated on the site of the later city, near the point of the peninsula (Sarayburnu). "Byzantion" (Βυζάντιον), Latinized as "Byzantium", was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC. The name is believed