Golden Horn Bay - gate to Istanbul and Vladivostok

It should be said that in the world there are several geographical locations called "Golden Horn". And there are two bays with this name. One of them is in our country. It is located in Primorsky Krai and divides the city of Vladivostok into two halves. And there is Zlatni Rat - the beach on the Croatian island of Brac. Huge, almost six hundred meters in length, a sand bar near the town of Bole is located just opposite the Makarska Riviera. This Golden Horn is one of the "visiting cards" of the tourist Croatia. The Belarusian analogue is little known even to the inhabitants of this country. After Zalati Horn is a small village of the Khalchansky village council of Vetka district of the Gomel region. But here we will talk about the bay, which everyone has heard. This is Chrysokereras, which in Greek means "Golden Horn". And also about his Far Eastern namesake.

The Wealth of Istanbul

This curved bay in the form of a deer horn with numerous branches traces the European part of the Turkish city and divides it into the southern and northern halves. To ride on a walking steamer along the Golden Horn is number 1 in the list "What to do for a tourist in Istanbul". As the banks of the bay cut deep into the historical part of the city, you can make very picturesque photos from the ship's side. The Golden Horn Bay on Turkish maps is modestly called Khalich, which in translation means simply "bay". But do not underestimate the romantic Turkish soul. Haliç is for short. And the full name of the bay is Halich-i-Dersaadet, Bay of the Gate of Bliss. No more and no less. After all, on the high bank is the Sultan's Topkapi Palace. God knows what bliss promised his ruler of the Guria, who lived in the local harem.

Formation of the Gulf

The Golden Horn Bay was created by a sudden shift of the plates of the lithosphere relatively recently - only eight thousand years ago. The shores of the Sea of Marmara were already inhabited by people. As a result of the displacement of plates, the Bosporus was formed. Salty waves of the Mediterranean Sea poured into the Black. This not only increased the level of the last reservoir, but almost all the fish died out. After all, the Black Sea for a long time had no connection with the World Ocean and was insipid. There is an opinion that the toxic hydrocarbon layer accumulated on the bottom is nothing more than the remains of the cadaveric decomposition of the former fauna of this water area. But the crack that formed the Bosporus Strait deepened to the European part of present-day Istanbul. So there was a bay called the Greek Chrysokers.

What gold hides the "Horn"?

Another ancient geographer and historian Strabo noted that thanks to the currents in the Golden Horn, many fish come in. He writes that in certain seasons it could be caught even with bare hands. However, the very bay he refers to as "The Horn of Byzantium." In addition to the fame of the fishing place, the bay earned itself a reputation as a convenient harbor for the fleet. Even serious storms have little effect on the calm surface of the bay. Therefore, the emperor Constantine, in whose honor the city was named, ordered the construction of shipyards there. It is also difficult to overestimate the transport significance of the bay. The shores of the Greek Chrysokers were inhabited by merchants. In order to attract large merchant ships to the bay, in the 16th century, the Khurem Sultan, more known to the world as Roksolana, ordered to deepen the bottom of the Golden Horn. Modern Turks also recognize the importance of this waterway. Therefore, along with the name "Gate of Bliss" is often possible to hear and Altin Boynuz - Golden Horn.

What does the natural harbor look like now?

Earlier, settlements of Jewish and Armenian merchants stretched along the banks of Golden Horn Bay. For a while there was even a colony of the Republic of Genoa. But in the times of Constantinople at the ends of the Golden Horn, in the Greek district of Vlaherna, the palaces of the emperor and the entire Byzantine nobility were located. In the late antiquity the coastal region was called Galatsky. It was to the local Christians that one of the Epistles of the Apostle Paul was addressed . Now the ship sails past ancient mosques, the Galata Tower, museums and landscaped parks. The length of the bay is more than twelve kilometers, and the width is small - only one hundred meters. This allows you to view all the sights along the coast. They are connected by four bridges: Old and New Galata, Halich and Ataturk.

Golden Horn Bay, Vladivostok: a glimpse of glory

The world-famous Turkish harbor gave its name to the Gulf, located thousands of kilometers east of it. Even during the Crimean War in Primorye, there was a small Chinese village, whose inhabitants were engaged in the extraction of seafood, fish and growing vegetables. They themselves called their bay Heishenway, "the bay of the golden trepang." The English, who arrived here, renamed the water area in Port May, on the surname of the captain of the ship. In 1852, when the territory became part of the Russian Empire, the bay was named after Peter the Great. But this name did not take root. Seven years later, Governor-General N. Muraviev-Amursky saw a similarity in the winding banks of the bay with the Istanbul harbor. Therefore, he renamed the former Highline in the Golden Horn. And on the shores of the bay he laid the military fort Vladivostok, later turned into a city.