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Title
New perspectives to save cultural heritage
Author
Altan, M. Orhan

CIP A 2003 XIX th International Symposium, 30 September - 04 October, 2003, Antalya, Turkey
Figure 2. A view from Rumelihisari.
3. THE PROPERTIES OF BOSPHORUS
3.1 Location and Topography
The “Golden Horn” divides the city of Istanbul into two parts.
The “Historical Peninsula” which is the centre of the city and
Galata-Beyoglu region Bosphorus is an extension of the city to
the north along the strait making up the third part. The low
plateaus that line the Bosphorus from both sides that range in
altitude of 100 to 200 m from the sea form the basic elements of
topography of Bosphorus area. The undulations on the opposite
sides of the strait show an asymmetric formation. The highest
points on the west side are near the Black Sea shores (200-230
m), whereas the highest points on the east side are closer to the
Marmara Sea.
Figure 3. A view from the natural vegetation cover of the
Bosphorus.
Figure 4. Waterfront buildings with the natural vegetation.
Figure 5. A view from slopes of the Bosphorus.
3.2 Climate
The Bosphorus and its periphery are under the effect of regional
climatic conditions (Mediterranean) in general. But local
climatic conditions prevail between different parts due the
location, altitude and vegetation cover. The annual average
temperature ranges between 13.6 C and 13.9 C and the annual
precipitation between 672 mm and 745 mm. The relative
humidity is between 70 to 80% (the highest in Turkey)
(Yaltirik, 1975, p.308-309).
3.3 Vegetation Cover
The natural vegetation cover of the Bosphorus shows a
transition between the Mediterranean climatic type to Black Sea
climatic type. The natural vegetation cover is made up of
forests and pseudo-machi’s. The forest texture is rich in terms
of species. According to the climatic conditions Chestnut
(Castanea), Oak (Quercus), Elm (Ulmus), Linden (Tilia), Ash
(Fraxinus), Locust (Robinia) are the most prominent ones. The
most important species of machi formation are Laurel (Laurus
nobilis), Mastic Tree (Pistachio terebinthus), Judas Tree (Cercis
siliquastrum), Broom (Spartium junceum), Firethorn
(Pyracantha coccinea), and Oak (Quercus latifolius, Quercus
coccifera). Apart from the natural vegetation cover there are
other vegetation types that have perfectly acclimatised in time
in Bosphorus and became an inseparable part of it, like Plane
Tree (Platanus orentalis), Horse Chestnut (Aesculus
hippocastanum), and especially Cypress (Cupressus
sempervirens), Stone Pine (Pinus pinea) (Pamay, 1975,
P.165,166)
3.4 Population
As a result of migration to the big cities (primarily Istanbul)
beginning from 1950 the population in Bosphorus also began to
increase rapidly.
3.5 Transportation
Once the only means of communication in the Bosphorus was
by sea (row boats). The introduction of steam boat was in 1829
and regular trips with these began along the strait in the year
1849. Before the construction of the two bridges over the strait,
the first in 1973 and the second one in 1988, the communication
between the two sides for vehicles was done by ferry-boats.
While the bridges over the strait were planned it was considered
that these would only cause a linear development along their
peripheries without affecting the Bosphorus area, but the rapid
increase in the population immediately after the construction
revealed the opposite.