Capital of the World

Napoleon Bonaparte once said that if the world was a single state Istanbul would be its capital. That’s an exaggeration, but the city is certainly one of the world’s most compelling  places. For more than a thousand years, its streets have accumulated the legacy of multiple empires into complex material layers. Now, in a new millennium this process continues, as Istanbul faces new challenges posed by its location on the cusp of important political, economic, and cultural changes.