Istanbul

  

Istanbul from the top of Galata tower



We arrived in Istanbul yesterday and have been busy trying to see this big busy city.

It’s been a bit of a shock to the senses after almost 3 weeks of traveling through small towns to suddenly be dumped into a crowded city complete with noise, traffic jams and people in your personal space non-stop.

Prices have also tripled for food and accommodations! For example they are charging almost $4 for a coke in the restaurants! Insane.

We have been really busy the last 2 days so I’ll just summarized all the sights we have been to so far!

Galata Tower

The Galata Tower is a medieval stone tower in the Galata just to the north of the Golden Horn and one of the city's most striking landmarks. A balcony surrounds the top floor and you have a wonderful view of Istanbul. Galata tower was built in 1348 as a watchtower for fires.

It is a high, cone-capped cylinder that dominates the skyline and affords a panoramic vista of Old Istanbul. The nine-story tower is 66.90 meters tall and was the city's tallest structure when it was built. The elevation at ground level is 35 meters above sea-level and the walls that are 3.75 meters thick.
The 360 degree views were fantastic.

Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia is spectacularly beautiful and an important monument both for Byzantine and Ottoman Empires. Originally a church and built in 532BC by the emperor Justinian it dwarfed all other buildings in the city.
It was considered one of the greatest churches in Christendom until the conquest of Constantinople in 1432.
Mehmet the conqueror took possession of it and turned it into a mosque.
It is now a museum.

Brillıant frescos



Crazy line ups for everything.

Basilica Cistern

The basilica cistern in an underground waterway built in year 532 was used as a reservoir for water storage for the Great Palace and other buildings.

It is 132 m length, by 65m wide.

At the far end of the cistern, there are two heads of Medusa, which are put upside down and horizontal...why it is upside down has been a question of much discussion, but the best guess is that the people who placed the stone believed that if the head was upside down, it would ward off evil spirits.  Why one head is upside down and the other is sideways only deepens the question about their orientation. Perhaps the builders felt that to place two heads in the same orientation would empower the evil forces living in the snakes on Medusa's head. Also, their presence in the Cistern in the first place is interesting. Perhaps, since they were underwater for most of the ages, the evil forces remained safely submerged.

Today it has been completely renovated. Water still drips through the ceiling...it was very atmospheric.

The acoustıc are so good they hold concerts down here!

Byzantine Hippodrome Square

It contains the Egyptian obelisk, the serpentine column and the Colossus. The 60m high, and 800 tons weight of Obelisk which came from Egypt in 1450BC.
Chariot races took place here for  a thousand years.

Blue Mosque

Just across the park from Aya Sofia, on the Hippodrome. It is one of the most prominent landmarks of Istanbul. It is very impressive with its beautiful domes and semi domes, nice courtyards and six slender minarets. Sultan Ahmet 1 founded the Blue Mosque and the whole complex was completed in 1616.  The mosque is all surrounded by beautiful 17th Century Blue Iznik tiles, which give its name to the Blue Mosque.

Mosque Couture! No knees, shoulders or heads showing!

 Grand Bazaar and Spıce market

One of the largest covered markets in the world. More than 4000 shops in 64 streets and with 22 gates. It looks like a labyrinth and is easy to get lost and turned around inside. The Bazaar was first constructed in 1464 and had many restorations over the years due to the extensive fires and destructive earthquakes.

We thought there would be good shopping here but it all seemed to be the same made in china crap repeated. Way better and cheaper shopping in cute side street shops!

Taksim Square

Taksim Square is the heart of modern Istanbul was laid out in the late 1800s.
The Independence Monument in the circle at the southern end of the square commemorates the Turkish Republics founder, Kemal Atatürk, in both his roles, as military commander-in-chief and as statesman.

Topaki Palace

The Topkapi Palace is the biggest and one of the most popular sites to visit in Istanbul.

It was built in between 1466 and 1478 by the sultan Mehmet II on top of a hill in a small peninsula, dominating the Golden Horn to the north, the Sea of Marmara to the south, and the Bosphorus strait to the north east, with great views of the Asian side as well.

There were originally around 700-800 residents of the Palace at the beginning, but during the centuries it dramatically raised to 5,000 during normal days and 10,000 during festivals. The palace became the largest palace in the world, a city within a city. The walls surrounding it were about 5 kilometers long and he palace has around 80,000 m2 of area.

The Harem, literally meaning "forbidden" in Arabic, was a complex of apartments in the palace belonging to the wives, concubines and children of the sultan, guarded by the black eunuchs. At some point, its population topped to a record high of 474 ladies.

Ortakoy

This is a quaint neighbourhood, formerly a small village, within the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul located in the middle of the European bank of the Bosphorus.

 It hosts a Sunday craft market that was awesome wıth great shopping! It’s got a nice looking mosque with great views of the huge Bosphorus suspension bridge that joins Europe and Asia.

It was a bit of a trek getting there on a hot sweaty bus with standing room only but well worth it!



Hangıng out waıtıng for the tram!



We have one more full day ın İstanbul tomorrow and plan on a bosphorus cruıse. We have enjoyed some great food and great shopping here so far but will be glad to escape thıs crazy city!