Gaps of the Gods: The Bosporus & Dardanelles Straits

The boundary between Europe and Asia can be unclear in places, but one place where the border is the most visible is at the Turkish Straits: the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. For millennia, these two waterways have been central to nations like Troy, Persia, Byzantium, and the Ottomans. Together, we'll learn about the geography, geology, and history of these straits. Let's Explore!
CHAPTERS:
• 0:00 Intro
• 0:28 Basic Geography
• 1:35 Geology
• 2:20 Early History
• 4:16 Rome, Byzantium & the Ottomans
• 5:13 The Straits Question
• 6:03 The Region Today
• 6:46 Bridges and Tunnels
• 7:49 Conclusion
Notes:
The names Istanbul and Constantinople (or its Turkish equivalent "Konstantiniyye") were both used in the Ottoman Era, with the latter usually used by the government.
Sources:
• Türkiye: www.bbc.com/news/world-europe...
• Dardanelles drowned fault valley: earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ima...
• Ryan, William et. al. (1997). "An Abrupt Drowning of the Black Sea Shelf"
• Giosan, Liviu Et. Al. (2009) "Was the Black Sea catastrophically flooded in the early Holocene?" www.whoi.edu/cms/files/Giosan...
• "Noah's Not So Big Flood". Wood's Hole Oceanographic Institute
• Kerr, R. A. (2007). "Support Is Drying up for Noah’s Flood Filling the Black Sea". Science, 317(5840), 886-886. www.jstor.org/stable/20037582
• History of the Sedimentary Infilling of Yarimburgaz Cave, Turkey: William R. Farrand and Jill P. McMahon 1997
• Wilusa/Troy: Easton, D. F., et. al. (2002). Troy in Recent Perspective. Anatolian Studies, 52, 75-109. doi.org/10.2307/3643078
• Straits Traffic: Turkish ministry of transport and infrastructure
• Additional info from Encyclopedia Britannica and Livius.org
Creative Commons Image credits:
Marmara Region: The_Emirr, CC BY 3.0
Anatolian Plate: Mikenorton, CC BY-SA 3.0
Earthquake: 최광모, CC BY-SA 4.0
Sediments: Hannes Grobe/AWI, CC BY 3.0
Yarımburgaz Cave: CeeGee, CC BY-SA 4.0
Petralona Skull: Nadina, CC BY-SA 3.0
Hattusa: Verity Cridland, CC BY 2.0
Hisarlik: Jorge Láscar, CC BY 2.0
Ilios: Carole Raddato, CC BY-SA 2.0
Xerxes: درفش کاویانی, CC BY 3.0
Bosporus Map: Krorokeroro & Kaidor, CC BY-SA 3.0
Diadokhoi: Ian Mladjov, CC BY 4.0
Rome map: Cristiano64, CC BY-SA 3.0
Istanbul Canal map: Randam, CC BY-SA 4.0
Eurasia Tunnel: Sadrettin, CC BY-SA 4.0

[@jreiland07]

Didn’t Napoleon say something to the effect of Constantinople being a natural capital if the entire world were a single state

[@SignoreGalilei]

He seems to have said that yeah. Thanks for telling us about it!

[@cjclark1208]

Whom ever founded Byzantium could never have fathomed how significant that decision would be and dominos continue to falling.

[@Dell-ol6hb]

it really is the perfect spot for a major city

[@Gameinger16]

I can't get over how small this channel is in comparison to its quality, this is beyond many modern documentaries, you get to the point quickly whilst also being entertaining, and cover topics that aren't often covered. This was fascinating, keep it up!

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thank you! It really encourages me to see feedback like this. More videos are on their way!

[@jag3596]

*random YT recommendation with 1.4k views* *description actually cites sources, and a decent amount of them too* aight guess i'm subscribing

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks for the sub! I'm glad citing the sources paid off.

[@gardist]

5:10 Istanbul was an alternative name to the official name of Konstantiniyye during the Ottoman Empire era. The name only fully switched to Istanbul after the Republic of Turkey was founded.

[@xp8969]

That's nobody's business but the Turks...

[@SignoreGalilei]

From what I read, it sounded like the common name was Istanbul but the official name was Konstantiniyye.

[@GermanicWorldOrder]

@@SignoreGalilei "Istanbul" is a combination of 2 words in Greek (Istin-poli iirc) that literally means "to the city" You see back then Constantinople was the only major city in that area during Ottoman Empire, when ships head there were asked where they're going to, the answered Istin-poli ("to the city"). That stuck there in people's minds, but officially still Constantinople; it's only after Ataturk reforms that the city renamed into Istanbul. HistoryMatters made a video about it, I suggest you to watch it

[@JohnWick-vb9pc]

I put my feet on ottomans 😂😂😂

[@sams3046]

The modern city of Istanbul has grown a lot just in the last twenty years. The old city districts of the Golden Horn, Galata, and others are quite small in comparison. Living here you can see the population and construction growth every day

[@wisdomaxolotl2766]

5:12 People just liked it better that WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY There is a surprising amount of quality here for so few people. Hopefully this is just the beginning!

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks! More videos are on their way.

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

Turks indeed had a decisive role in triggering historical major events like the Migration Period, Crusades, Age of Discovery as well as ending the Middle Ages with the conquest of Constantinople, fall of the Roman Empire.

[@cavalcadeofbobs3559]

I find it really fascinating that Turks originally were originally just some small people group in Siberia and then decided to come over to Anatolia, end the Roman empire, and then start their own.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Definitely. They've been a major part of history.

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

@@cavalcadeofbobs3559 👁️👄👁️

[@Yanate1991]

@@cavalcadeofbobs3559 yeah our ancestors were wild af

[@Dell-ol6hb]

@@cavalcadeofbobs3559 it really is crazy the massive global effect the Turkic people have had from such humble beginnings, I guess that's the thing about the nomadic peoples of Eurasia they just chill around until they are unified and then they descend from the steppes and make huge empires

[@beverlyreiner-baillargeon6205]

I love history and your video's are always very enlightening. Thanks

[@SignoreGalilei]

You're welcome!

[@just_the_letter_a]

Fell in love with your content. I also really appreciate the people in the comments that add more to the video

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks! I really appreciate the comments as well.

[@nenel24_]

Another quality upload. Looking forward to watch the next video.😃😃

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@natsmith4037]

really loving your content, thanks

[@SignoreGalilei]

You're welcome!

[@worldview730]

Good research 👍

[@lucrehulk5101]

Constantinople was kept as Konstantiniyye under the Ottoman Empire only changing to Istanbul in the 1900s

[@SignoreGalilei]

I put a note about that in the description - that's basically right but there's some details.

[@harryli5979]

I love the style of your vids

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@ArdaSReal]

I was hoping for this video, litterily yesterday i thought about it

[@SignoreGalilei]

Glad I could deliver!

[@pannkale9259]

I really like your channel :D

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@dillypentland]

Easy subscribe from me, great video.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thanks!

[@grubbinvgm]

One other thing to mention about Troy/Ilion/Wiusiya: in ancient times, all the farmland now northeast of Hisarlik wasn’t there. Instead, Troy was on the shore of a large and sheltered bay. That made it even more ideally positioned for controlling trade through, across, and out of the straits!

[@SignoreGalilei]

That makes sense, it would be very strategically important.

[@NeroPiroman]

i remember seeing in a documentary a few years ago that tectonic activity split the bosphorus as well, so thats another posibility

[@SignoreGalilei]

That certainly would be consistent with the strait's shape and proximity to the fault line.

[@NeroPiroman]

@@SignoreGalilei indeed

[@luisaugusto1033]

2:15 beautiful species, Mimachlamys varia.

[@theculturedjinni]

This is a very good short overview video. Though if I shall be pedantic, they did not change the name of constatinople officially until the time of Ataturk and the city was refered to as Constantinople القسطنطينية al-qusTanTiiniiya in official Ottoman documents.

[@SignoreGalilei]

That is fair, someone else in the comments mentioned the same thing.

[@theculturedjinni]

@@SignoreGalilei Your video was still good, it was just a very minor thing!

[@sinancanyucel2780]

Unfortunately, there are some mistakes in your text. The name Istanbul is just a shorter form of Konstantinoupoli or Konstantiniyye and during the Ottoman period this name (nickname) of the city was never used officially. The names Asitane, Konstantiniyye, Dersaadet ( The Gate of the Empire) were used during the Ottoman period. The official use of the name Istanbul is quite a modern thing. Besides, the city Byzantion did not start as a Greek city, there was already a thousands of year old Thracian city there before it was colonised by the Greeks. This name root Byza is very common in location names in Thrace, which make scholars suggest that it could be the name of an important Thracian king before the arrival of the Greeks to the territory.

[@Paraglidecrete]

Made from local clay and dates 3500 BC. Made with local clay and date about 3500BC : Vasıf Şahoğlu, “’Cycladic Frying Pans’ from Bakla Tepe”, A. Erkanal et al. (eds.) Studies in Honor of Hayat Erkanal: Cultural Reflections, 689-696, İstanbul 2006.

[@Paraglidecrete]

Thracian is GREEK

[@Paraglidecrete]

IS to TAN the BUL city. Istanbul is exactly Doric Greek and means ' to the city' modern greek : istinpolin

[@sinancanyucel2780]

@@Paraglidecrete I would agree with you, and for long I thought it was the true etimology for the word Istanbul but that it is just a shorter way of that long name Konstantinoupoli makes more sense to me. For your other assertion what I can say is nothing is really anything, and everything is actually every other thing , don't take things that serious. Love from modern day Istanbul to our Cretan sisters and brothers. 😍😍😃

[@Paraglidecrete]

@@sinancanyucel2780 Greetings !

[@clarices.6212]

It was 15 million in 2015, it's over 23 million in 2023. The population is higher than Moscow.

[@Paraglidecrete]

Made from local clay and dates 3500 BC. Made with local clay and date about 3500BC : Vasıf Şahoğlu, “’Cycladic Frying Pans’ from Bakla Tepe”, A. Erkanal et al. (eds.) Studies in Honor of Hayat Erkanal: Cultural Reflections, 689-696, İstanbul 2006.

[@TheJediAndTheNinja]

Do sunda strait and the Messina strait

[@SignoreGalilei]

Those could be good ones to do at some point.

[@Paraglidecrete]

Dardanelles is related to the word Brussels . Dardanelles is a compound word from Dardanos and Elle .

[@polyrhythmia]

During the height of ice age glaciation, both the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea are cut off from the ocean.

[@SignoreGalilei]

That makes sense given the relative depths involved.

[@hedgehog3180]

Tbf to the Soviets their carriers also had a ton of missiles so they weren't really like your normal carriers.

[@SignoreGalilei]

I guess so, but it still seems like their primary purpose was the aircraft rather than the missiles.

[@EdbertWeisly]

Next video: Voyager's Flyby of Jupiter and Saturn

[@SignoreGalilei]

The Voyager program was very cool. It's not the next one up though for me.

[@slambam6191]

I don't know why the Ottomans want to rename things. The name is Hellespont. And the city is Constantinople.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Lots of empires rename stuff when they conquer it.

[@slambam6191]

@@SignoreGalilei I understand Signore, but these people committed atrocities, such as the Greek genocide. I have no respect for these people. They did not build Constantinople and neither should you call it the Turkish straits, because you are just going along with it.

[@clarices.6212]

​@@slambam6191Greeks genocided 2.5 million Turks in Western Anatolia and Balkans. There was no Greek genocide. Also the city was Lygos and the first settlers were Hitties before Greeks invaded it.

[@ChrundleTGreat]

Eurasia and the North & South American super continents really are just two big ass continents. Antarctica and Australia are the only truly separate continents.

[@SignoreGalilei]

That's a reasonable interpretation I suppose

[@burner555]

I assume you grouped Africa with Eurasia

[@thomasmills3934]

Umm... we know Troy was real lol.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Well we know the Hisarlik mound is real and had a city there, but it's not clear whether it was actually known as "Troy" around the period the Trojan War was supposed to have happened.

[@jeffb-c]

Um ya mama

[@Waawaaweewaa_]

This channel is criminally underrated

[@SignoreGalilei]

Thank you!

[@katherinebrubaker7788]

Earthquakes, huh?

[@SignoreGalilei]

Yeah this came out just a bit before the recent big one.

[@arposkraft3616]

not "gaps" ... gates... nodes and gates... gates of troy, devils gate, gate of the (bosporus) rock, dover gate

[@SignoreGalilei]

Gates works pretty well too.

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

Être fort comme un Turc (‘to be strong like a turk’): This expression originates in the 15th century when the Turks had a reputation for being strong, almost unbeatable warriors due to their numerous victories. At the time, the Ottoman Empire ruled large parts of south-east Europe, north Africa and western Asia. It is said that François I, King of France, was gifted Turkish armour by Suleiman the Magnificent (the tenth and most famous sultan of the Ottoman Empire) during their alliance. When he wore it, he is said to have exclaimed: “Here I am now, strong as a Turk!”.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Cool!

[@papazataklaattiranimam]

@@SignoreGalilei 😎

[@tanura5830]

Her yerdesin bi yavaşla

[@lorisperfetto6021]

People just liked it better that way

[@SignoreGalilei]

Well, they might be giants

[@santoast24]

I think you mean the BYZANTINE Straights

[@SignoreGalilei]

Found the Paliologos.

[@Yanate1991]

600 years ago

[@bernier42]

5:11 Answer: People just liked it better that way.

[@SignoreGalilei]

Doo doo doo...

[@hardwaylearner]

Hisarlik has been proven to be Troy!

[@SignoreGalilei]

From what I understand people know it was an important city, but not that it was actually called "Troy" or that the events of the Iliad actually happened there (or happened at all) beyond the fact that it was the place later Greeks associated with Troy.

[@Yanate1991]

@@SignoreGalilei aye Troy is more of a legend

[@trumpetmano]

..."Whether Troy really existed?"... get a grip dude.

[@npalmi88]

We should reconquer Constantinople and Anatolia. It is in terrible need of freedom and democracy.

[@SignoreGalilei]

The Byzantines weren't completely democratic either though.

[@npalmi88]

@@SignoreGalilei I know, democracy is literally the worst form of government imo, actually. Was just making a joke

[@SignoreGalilei]

@@npalmi88 Yeah, I wanted to assume it was a joke but you never know on the internet.

[@Yanate1991]

who are "we"? the only people who can say reconquer would possibly be anatolian greeks

[@bpett1999]

@@Yanate1991 I mean... *technically* Italy could use the term "reconquer" as well... but the idea of the Italian army conquering İstanbul is a bit laughable.

[@Neonium10]

Good thing it’s a international zone now

[@SignoreGalilei]

It's much better than it being fought over, that's for sure.

[@NightbirdProductions]

Don’t you mean the Byzantine straits. Constantinople belongs to the Greeks!!

[@SignoreGalilei]

Ho boy, that's certainly a subject.

[@Fireball_og]

They are Greek, always have been. Just because the turns came from the steppe to kill and pillage doesn't give them any right to the hand they stole.

[@tyrannosauruscock]

Turkish gays when

[@Pawtooler]

Very interesting, but do they have good looking women with little to no moral values?

[@alperenbaser7952]

Name change happened in republic era . It was called Konstantiniye in Turkish . Simply turkish version of Constantinople . Ataturk made a clear line between imperial past and new republic so city names are changed which were more common in public and relocated capital as Ankara .So name change in 1453 is a myth.

[@SignoreGalilei]

I talk about that in the note in the video description - is what I have there accurate?

[@alperenbaser7952]

@@SignoreGalilei Thats mostly true . Istanbul used by public while Konstantiniye used by royal elit and high rank diplomats . Konstentiniyye is a arabic version . We dont use double yy in our city names . Such as Antalya Malatya or Sakarya

[@Paraglidecrete]

Bosporus is a language word from ΒΟΥΣ bous =bull + ΠΟΡΟΣ poros = crossing , in the dialects for bull ΒΟΥΣ : bull english , wół poland ,vol bosnia , вол bulgaria , boi galicia ,bœuf france ,bovo esperando , buey spain , bue italy ,bou katalan , boe korsican ,bèf creol aiti , vol croatia ,bovis latin , вол brussia , बैल ,bawngpa mizo ,os holand ,віл ykraine ,بیل ,ਬਲਦ , boi portugal ,bou rumania , russia , povi ,baka sempuano ,poo sepenti , вол serbia , vôl slovakia slovenia ,vůl τσεχια , source google translate ,

[@walternutts]

a beautiful place, too bad infested with roaches

[@viktorreznov1548]

Watch it