Photo Essay: 1954, when the Bosphorus froze over

“If the Earth were a single state,” Napoleon Bonaparte once said, “Istanbul would be its capital.” And if that were the case, the Bosphorus would be its soul.

A shimmering snow globe — that’s what Istanbul looked like on Thursday night.

Flurries of snow gently dusted the city, a far cry from the 49 inch-blanket that descended upon Istanbul earlier this January.

But even that blizzard was no match for what happened over 50 years ago.

On February 1954, the city’s water thoroughfare froze over. Ice blocks from the Danube River travelled through the Black Sea, amassing in the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn, halting sea traffic.

Walking over the frozen waters was prohibited by the governorship of Istanbul. That didn’t stop Istanbul’s great and good from taking a risky jaunt on the frozen strait, and posing atop blocks of ice.