Bosphorus Tour Istanbul

There isn’t a better way to understand Istanbul’s significance in the world (contemporary or historic) than taking a Bosphorus Tour Istanbul.

Probably, one of the best tourist attractions in Istanbul is the Bosphorus Strait (Istanbul Bosphorus). And the best method to experience the Istanbul Strait is to take a cruise. That stretch of water is the meeting of 2 continents: Asia and Europe. It’s also one of the busiest shipping channels in the planet with thousands of ships crossing these waters every day.

About Istanbul Strait

The Istanbul Strait connects the Black Sea, referred to in past times as Pontius Euxinus, with the Marmara Sea, known as Propontis. The Istanbul Strait was anciently known as Bosphorus and there is a legend to clothe this name.

It is thought that the root of that name, -Bos-, is of Thracian origin. The length of the Bosphorus ranges between 28,5 km and 31,7 km, which means an average length of 30 km. Its width at the north end is about 4700 m, and at the south end, 2500 m. The widest place in the İstanbul Bosphorus is in the Büyükdere vicinity with 3300 m, and the narrowest place is that which lies between Kanlıca and Rumelihisarı (660-700 m). The deepest part of the Bosphorus is 100 m in depth. Apart from that, there are 2 main currents in the Strait; one is the surface current, flowing from the Black Sea to the Marmara Sea, this could be considered as the extra waters of the Black Sea. Another current flow is along the bed of that channel from the Marmara Sea towards the Black Sea under the hydrostatic pressure of salty, heavy density water.

There are some hypotheses about the formation of the Istanbul Strait, that you can take glance them, before the Bosphorus Tour Istanbul event;

1. That the Bosphorus came about as an outcome of the rocks being worn away by friction; that the excessive waters of the Black Sea, which is an inland sea, gradually wore away the channel now known as the Istanbul Bosphorus.

2. That the Strait came into being as an outcome of volcanic activity and that the water of the Black Sea flowed through the fracture that opened up.

3. That the Bosphorus was essentially a valley which gradually filled with water.

If you want to get to know Istanbul better, please contact us for all our Bosphorus Tour Istanbul options.