Istanbul Sapphire, or Sapphire, is a skyscraper, and as of 2011, the tallest building in Istanbul and Turkey, located in the central business district of Levent. It will relegate to the second spot upon the completion of the Diamond of Istanbul triple towers, located in the nearby central business district of Maslak. It is the country's first ecological skyscraper. Sapphire rises 54 floors above ground level, and boasts an above-ground roof height of 238 meters (the building has an overall structural height of 261 meters including its spire, which is part of the design and not a radio antenna.) It is a shopping and luxury residence mixed-use project by Biskon Construction (a subsidiary of the Kiler Group of Companies.)

It is strategically located close to the TEM and O1 main road arteries and to the Bosphorus and F.S.M. bridges. The building has a direct access to the 4. Levent subway station from its 3rd basement floor, and is situated on Büyükdere Avenue, one of Istanbul's main thoroughways, in the middle of the city's central Beşiktaş and Şişli districts, and in close proximity to the quarter of Etiler.

Istanbul (Turkish: İstanbul) is the largest city in Turkey, forming the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With a population of 13.4 million, the city is at the center of the second-largest urban area in Europe after Moscow, and among the world's largest cities by population within city limits. Istanbul's vast area of 5,343 square kilometers (2,063 sq mi) is coterminous with Istanbul Province, of which the city is considered capital. Straddling the Bosphorus—one of the world's busiest waterways—in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, Istanbul is a transcontinental city, with one third of its population living in Asia but its commercial and historical center in Europe.

Founded around 660 BC as Byzantium on the Seraglio Point, the city now known as Istanbul developed to become one of the most significant cities in history. For nearly sixteen centuries following its reestablishment as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires — the late classical Roman Empire (330–395), the Eastern Roman ("Byzantine") Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922). It was instrumental in the advancement of Christianity during Roman and Byzantine times, before the Ottomans conquered the city in 1453 and transformed it into an Islamic stronghold from which the last caliphate ruled. Although the Republic of Turkey established its capital elsewhere, in Ankara, remnants of Istanbul's previous central role still remain highly visible across the city, with palaces and imperial mosques lining its hills.

Alain Robert (born as Robert Alain Philippe on 7 August 1962), is a French rock and urban climber, from Digoin, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France. Known as "the French Spider-Man" (after the comic character Spider-Man), or "the Human Spider", Robert is famous for scaling skyscrapers.

Robert has scaled 85 giant structures around the globe including many of the world's tallest structures, most of which he has scaled using only his bare hands and climbing shoes.

Robert began climbing as a young boy, scaling rock cliffs in the area around his home. At the age of 12 when he forgot his keys and was locked out of his parents' eighth-floor apartment, he chose to simply scale the exterior wall to his home. In 1982 he suffered two accidents, the first in January, aged 19, and the second in September, aged 20. He fell 15 metres (49 ft) on each occasion. He suffered multiple fractures and now suffers from permanent vertigo. The doctors considered him 60 percent handicapped and told him he would not be able to climb again. Within six months he was climbing again. He kept taking on more and more challenging structures and improving his skills. He polished his rock-climbing skills in the French Alps before turning to buildings.^{[citation needed]}