While it would likely be impossible to come up with a universally accepted list of the 'World's Greatest Cities', any serious attempt to do so would certainly have to include Istanbul - and in our book it would be listed as a first among equals. New York, London, Paris, perhaps Berlin and St Petersburg, then there's Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore and Sydney in the Asia-Pacific, maybe Toronto, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires if you're feeling generous about the 'new world'. For our money, none of them can match the Turkish capital for the sheer scope of its history, its literal spanning of East and West, its chaotic fusion of the ancient and the modern.

This is not to say that the city (and the country) are not without their problems, especially in recent years, but while these might undoubtedly scuff the varnish on Istanbul's bona fides, they're hardly enough to do it any real damage. Since it was founded by the Greeks as Byzantium in 657 BC, through more than a millennium of Roman and Latin rule under the guise of Constantinople, almost five centuries as the seat of the vast Ottoman Empire and finally a century of a turbulence as a republic, the city has seen countless kings, emperors, sultans and now presidents come and go, and proudly wears this unparalleled history on its proverbial sleeve for all to see.

In the same way you can't help but be at least vaguely jealous when someone tells you that they've never read one of your favourite books or seen one of your favourite films, when someone tells us that they've yet to step foot in Istanbul, the slightest hint of envy wells up somewhere inside of us at the thought of being able to experience this magnificent metropolis again or the first time. This is of course followed by involuntary reminiscences from the countless times we've visited Istanbul, or even got to call it home for short spells, over the years - the sights, sounds, smells and nostalgia-heavy memories of unforgettable experiences.