ISTANBUL
During the "Great Colonization" from the 8th to the 6th century BC, the settlement area of the Greeks stretched from Spain to the Caucasus, from southern Russia to Egypt. Guided by the oracle of Delphi, Greek leaders were directed on where to establish their new cities.
One such leader, from the city of Megara, sought advice from the oracle about where to found his new city.
The oracle instructed him to establish his city opposite the "City of the Blinds" and to go east.
Intrigued by this cryptic advice, the leader embarked on his journey, searching for the "City of the Blinds" but found nothing that matched the description. Eventually, the Greeks reached the Bosphorus. They crossed from Europe to Asia and arrived at Kadıköy (then known as Chalcedon, now a part of Istanbul's Asian side). This area had been settled twenty years earlier by other Greeks.
The view from Asia to what is now Istanbul’s historic peninsula was as stunning then as it is today. Curious about the choice of location, they wondered why the earlier settlers had not chosen the peninsula, which seemed a more advantageous spot. They concluded that those settlers "must have been blind."
"Aha," one of them exclaimed, "now we understand the oracle's message. This must be the land of the blinds—Chalcedon." With this revelation, they returned to the peninsula and established a new city there, naming it Byzantium, after their leader. Thus, Byzantion was founded in what is today known as Istanbul.