ABSTRACT
Judging from the diversity and multitude of publications and events organized in and about it, Istanbul has become many things throughout the ages, including the bridge between East and West and between tradition and modernity; the capital of the Islamic World; and finally, the cultural capital of Europe in 2010. It has gained eventually the status of an icon, in the sense that it has become an epistemological tool, opening up space to discuss a wide range of issues, among which modernity is a prominent one.
