"From Byzantium to Istanbul
Foundation for Culture and Arts) as part of the Season of Turkey in France (July 2009 – March 2010).
Byzantium, renamed Constantinople and then Istanbul, has always been a meeting place and a centre for cultural encounters. Its geographical location makes it both a continental and maritime crossroads, as confirmed by the excavations carried out in 2004 when the undersea tunnel for the future metro was being dug. This chronological exhibition will set out the different stages in the city's history. The site, which has been occupied since the Palaeolithic period, became a focal point as a result of the Bosporus for large flows of migrants from the Balkans towards Anatolia. The documented existence of a port for over eight thousand years, is the sign of an eminent and prosperous trading point, the key point in a route running from north to south. The economy and daily life of Byzantium, founded by the Greeks in the 7th century BC, were governed by the city's position. Roman occupation did not alter this identity, but added activities related to the stationing of garrisons."
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