The Galata Bridge in Istanbul

The Galata Bridge in Istanbul has been serving millions of people in the city for several hundred years. The present bridge, in fact, is the fifth one at the site. The others outlived their usefulness or deteriorated or became unsafe for the thousands of people who cross it each day and were replaced by more modern structures. The bridge has to be one of the busiest bridges in the world in terms of how many cars, buses, trams, and pedestrians use it each day of the year. In several ways, the bridge is a microcosm of the history of Turkey in that it has seen armies crossing it, ships docking near it, for?eign powers trying to impose their will on the local people, revo?lutions starting or continuing there, the latest clothing fashions being demonstrated there, etc. This present book is one of the very few, if perhaps the only one, that illustrates the fascinating history of an important structure in one of the greatest cities of the world.