A narrow, winding waterway that separates Europe and Asia and unites the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus has a history as rich as Istanbul itself.
This twisting strait gets its name from an affair the Greek god Zeus had with the goddess Io.Legend has it that Zeus's wife, Hera, became jealous and sent a swarm of flying gnats to irritate her rival Io.

The Bosphorus also provided the setting for at least one other mythical story: When Jason and the Argonauts were seeking the Golden Fleece, in order to reach the land of the Colchis at the eastern end of the Black Sea, their treacherous journey included passage on the unpredictable Bosphorus. Shaped rather like an S, the Bosphorus today is one of the world's busiest waterways. Important strategically and politically since ancient times with its unique position that both links and separates the continents, depending upon how one looks at it, the Bosphorus teems with a myriad of water vessels.