Galata

From Freepedia

Galata or Galatae is a district in Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located north of the Golden Horn that separates it from the city center. The Golden Horn is crossed by several bridges, most notably the Galata Bridge. In the center of Galata is the Galata Tower. Galata was originally the home of the Galatasaray football club.

The name comes either from the Italian calata, which means stairway, or galaktos which means milk in Greek. In history, Galata is often called Pera which comes from the old Greek name for the place, Peran en Sykais, literally 'the Fig Field on the Other Side'. From 1273 to 1453, when it was captured by the Ottomans in the Siege of Constantinople, Pera was a Genoese colony.

It is generally considered to be part of the larger Beyoglu portion of Istanbul.

Another potential source of the word "Galata" is found in the Celtic languages. During the great migration of Celts, the Easternmost tribes reached Ankara (the capital of modern Turkey), and the region was known in Roman times as Galatia. Similarly, some Celtic groups settled on the Bosphorus in the Galata region.

Much later in Byzantine times Galata became significant as the sight of the great tower from which an iron chain could be raised in times of war to block entry to the Golden Horn. This was destroyed during the Fourth Crusade, but later rebuilt by the Geonese as the 'Tower of Christ' (see: Galata Tower), and survives to this day.

• Art Place in Galata: [[1]]