The magic of night Bosphorus 🌉✨

Istanbul is a city of magnificent history, filled with a spirit of magic. It is a city of great opportunities, different from all other cities in Turkey. Here, you can feel how in the evening the vast space around you gives you nowhere to hide, and during the day, life bustles with people striving to achieve their dreams, people impatiently waiting in traffic, pressing on the steering wheel again and again, hoping it will somehow speed up all this commotion, and people who simply live without striving for anything great. Here, you can truly see all manifestations of life, and how diverse different spheres of life and activity can merge in one place.
This city is a strange combination of history, modernity, and Europe, even though most of the country lies in Asia. Istanbul gives a truly unique feeling that I cannot describe. It is like a global channel connecting the whole world with Turkey.

And so, we came to this magical city of Istanbul, which is full of mysteries when the night falls. After the car crash we had, we had to go to Istanbul for certain reasons, as I mentioned in my New Year’s article. Our car was damaged to such an extent that it was impossible to continue driving it, and it was too expensive to repair it in Turkey. We also faced the deportation of our car because we forgot to extend its permitted stay. So, we were forced to bring it to the Turkish-Bulgarian border and cross the border with it, so that a Ukrainian tow truck could take it back to Ukraine.
And so, we boarded the “Sivas – Istanbul” flight and finally left the place where we had been stuck for a month. At the end of the flight, as we were descending, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the city looked from above. Especially stunning were the large colorful cargo ships near the shore.

When we finally got off the plane, we rented a car at the airport, as we really needed one in this situation. At that moment, it wasn’t the time to explore the great city. We had to go to Edirne, as it is very close to the border. We stayed in a rented apartment for two days, waiting for a Turkish tow truck to arrive and bring our car to the border. During that time, we visited the beautiful streets of Edirne and its unique places. Sadly, most of them were closed for restoration — as always, at the time we visited 😭. For example, the majestic and well-known palace of Edirne. Thankfully, not all of them were under restoration. Some were still open, and we had the chance to visit them. Even though we didn’t see all the landmarks we wanted, the ones that were available were mesmerizing. It will be an honor for me to share them with you — but not now! I will write about them in future articles. This time, it’s all about admiring the beauty of night Istanbul.
After we transferred the car across the border, we drove our rented car back to the airport. No! Not to go home! Just to return it, and after that, our friend, who lives in Istanbul and whom we hadn’t seen for a long time, came to pick us up.
Returning the car turned out to be a bit complicated. Since we were returning it at a different, closer airport this time, we couldn’t find the company’s location for quite a while. But time was ticking, and we were told that even the slightest delay would cost us an extra full day! After several desperate circles around the airport, we had only ten minutes left before our rental time expired. We simply couldn’t find the place, so our friend came to help. Getting into the car and leaving my sister @bugavi behind on watch, he drove around a few times and finally—at the very last minute—found it! It was a victory 🎉

After this chase, we finally headed to the long-awaited Istanbul. Our first task there was to go and check into the apartment we had rented for one day, hoping we would still have time to visit some landmarks that evening and the next morning.

Apartment ⬆️

After checking in, sitting down for a bit, resting and talking, we realized it was already too late. After a few minutes of hesitation, we finally decided, that we in fact will go to one of the most magical nighttime places in Istanbul.
Parking on one of the steep streets typical of this city, we set off to explore. We walked down one of the mysterious dark streets until we finally saw it.

The Bosphorus Bridge — it is like a glowing ornament of the country, a clasp that connects the two parts of Turkey. Its blue and red lights seemed to guide us as we slowly continued descending toward it, wanting to see this phenomenon in all its beauty.

When we reached the bottom, we stepped onto a bright street full of life. Vendors, tourists, and locals—all had come out to experience the magic of Istanbul’s night by the waterfront and admire the majestic bridge (everyone except the vendors, of course 😁).

Walking along the waterfront, we encountered beautiful architecture. Buildings with elegant white balconies and intricate carvings, reminiscent of Austrian style. Alongside them were structures that clearly showed this is still Turkey—mosques, stalls with Turkish ice cream, spices, and other characteristic buildings.

As we approached the viewpoint, we saw the exquisite Ortaköy Mosque. It was illuminated with golden lights in certain places, giving it a truly royal appearance. Which makes sense, as it was built in honor of Sultan Abdülmecid I. Its construction was completed around 1854—meaning it is already about 172 years old! Wow, how many things must it have witnessed standing by the shore?

I wondered why its style was so similar to the Dolmabahçe Palace and its mosque. And recently, I found out that they were designed by the same architects! The palace was built just a year earlier. I’m honestly amazed that, despite Turkey’s seismic activity, it still preserves such historical buildings.

And finally, after stepping away from admiring this architectural masterpiece, we were met with an incredible view ⬇️

It felt as if I saw the entire world before me. Even though it seemed like a vast darkness, you could still make out everything.
The winding night slopes of the city were filled with both calm confidence and a certain energy. Even from afar, you could see the diversity of this fascinating city. In one part, there were dense parks with the main tower—Çamlıca Tower. In another, the city shone with night lights, and the main focus for me was a majestic mosque watching over everything with a quiet pride, shining the brightest—like the North Star in the night sky.

Another part of the city, also visible, was filled with lights and was likely a quieter, non-touristic residential area.

Separating us from this endless place of motion was a vast, unchanging element—water. No matter what happens in the world, what news spreads, or what changes occur on land, it remains steady. The strait is incredible. The water reflected all the surrounding lights like a mirror, adding even more magic to the moment. And the clouds in the sky felt like the final brushstrokes completing a masterpiece. Altogether, the view seemed endless.

And of course, the main part of this picture—the majestic bridge. It is truly a wonder to see it rise above the strait, illuminating it with red and blue lights, giving everything an even more magical appearance. I am always amazed at how people managed to build something that stretches so far—1,560 meters! And it has been standing there, overlooking the strait, since 1973 — over 50 years already!

It was once considered the longest suspension bridge in Europe until the Humber Bridge in England was built, and the longest in Asia until another bridge over the same strait was constructed—the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. It was originally called the Bosphorus Bridge until it was renamed the July 15 Martyrs Bridge after the attempted coup on July 15, 2016, in memory of those who lost their lives.

This bridge is like a pearl, adding even more magical energy to this place. It feels almost hypnotic. When you gaze into the distance of the night Bosphorus, illuminated by the bridge’s lights, you can see everything at once—and at the same time feel a certain emptiness inside.

@olga.maslievich & @bugavi & @darine.darine (me)

After admiring the bridge, we noticed a man organizing a game — there were balloons attached over the water, and you had to pop them (I don’t remember, maybe with 10 bullets? At least try to hit one). Our friend managed to pop one, which was actually a very good result (I won’t mention how I professionally missed with all my attempts 😅).

And after this wonderful walk (despite the failure with the balloons), observing those same beautiful, mysterious streets of Istanbul, we returned home to regain our strength for the next morning of our departure.

I’ll tell you about that morning in the next post!

Bye bye everyone! 🌉