You Say Halic I Say Galata

It is an interesting coincidence that Istanbul's Golden Horn (Halic) [1] lies beside Galata and both names come from the same root pointing to a Celtic background.

Mavi Boncuk |

The name, though spelled identically "Галич" in modern East Slavic languages, is pronounced Halych in Ukrainian and Galich in Russian. The Russian transliteration should not be confused with Galich, Russia. In Polish the name is rendered "Halicz"; in the Yiddish language, "העליטש" ("Helitsh" or "Heylitsh"); in Latin, "Galic"; in Hungarian, "Halics."

The origin of the Slavic toponym "Halych" is after the Khwalis [2] or Kaliz who occupied the area from the time of the Magyars. They were also called Khalisioi in Greek, and Khvalis (Хвалис) in Russian. Historians formerly believed it was Celtic, related to many similar place names found across Europe such as "Galaţi" (Romania), "Galatia" (Turkey), "Gaul" (France) and "Galicia" (Spain).

[1] The Golden Horn (Greek, Χρυσόν Κέρας: Chrysón Kéras; Turkish, Haliç or Altın Boynuz) is a historic inlet of the Bosphorus dividing the city of Istanbul and forming the superb natural harbor that has sheltered Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other ships for thousands of years. It is a scimitar-shaped estuary that joins the Bosphorus just at the point where that strait enters the Sea of Marmara.

[2] The Chalyzians or Khalyzians or Khalis or Khwalis (Arabic: Khwarezmian, Byzantine Greek: Χαλίσιοι, Khalisioi, Magyar: Kaliz (pronounced Kalish)) They were mentioned by the 12th century Byzantine historian John Kinnamos in his epitome twice as khalisioi in the Hungarian army. He first describes them as practicing Mosaic law; though whether they were actually Jews is unclear. Prior to the years 889-92 some Khalis and Kabars (Kavars) of the Khazar realm had joined the Hungarian (Magyar) federation that had conquered and settled in Hungary. Another group had joined the Pechenegs.