visit istanbul in turkey

Where to Visit Istanbul If you plan to stay five days in Istanbul and want to spend it as efficient as possible, here are my suggestions for you. You can change the ranking of days upon your request. After a relaxing day, now you can go back on the track and spare a day for the Topkapi palace and surrounding structures. Take a tram and get off at Sultanahmet station, when you walk to the Square, you will see St Sophia on you left and Blue mosque on your right. Turn left to the backside of St Sophia. This road will lead you to the Palace. Before reaching the palace two important sights are the Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III and the "Sogukcesme Sokagi". You can easily catch the fountain with its attractive motives and nice Dom. "Sogukçesme Sokagi" with the old Istanbul houses, lays on the other side of the Fountain. Make a short walk in the street and watch for the renovated old Istanbul houses on the Edge of Istanbul Walls. Now you can lead to the big door where is ...

Istanbul city tour . The approaching summer these days, it is beautiful istanbul . After a few days, we will continue to Istanbul. the interesting places in istanbul , location for tourists. You'll see them all on our site

The present day St. Saviour Church of Chora dates back from the late 11th century and originally this was a church outside Constantine's original city walls and so it was named the Church of St Saviour in Chora... this literally means in the country side . The Church was converted into a Mosque in 1510 by the grand vezier of Beyazid II and there after bore the name Kariye Mosque and now it is called KARIYE Mosque & Museum ( Kariye Cami ve Müzesi ). The museum offers the finest example of Byzantine mosaic work in the city, as well as superb fourteenth-century frescoes depicting the Genealogy of Christ, the Life of the Virgin and Christ's Ministry. This complex is often passed over because of it's inconvenient location in Istanbul's western edge near remnants of the old Constantinian Walls, built by Emperor Theodosius II in AD 413. At Church of St.Saviour in Chora walls protected Constantinople from numerous onslaughts and were breached only twice: by the crus...

Basilica Cistern , YEREBATAN SARAYI It is a Byzantine cistern from the 6th century and it is located at Sultanahmet Square Istanbul... in walking distance to HAGIA SOPHIA MUSEUM and BLUE MOSQUE(Sultanahmet Camii). Turks call 'Yerebatan Sarayi'(The Sunken Palace). Well, however it is not a palace at all... it is an huge water storage place. This cistern has fine brick vaulting supported by 336 Corinthian columns. It is the largest covered cistern in Istanbul, dating back to the Roman times. Its dimensions are 140 by 70 meters, and it is capable of holding 80.000 cubic meters of water. The Basilica Cistern was actually the reservoir for the prodigious quantity of water required for the Byzantine Great Palace, and it is thought to date back to the reign of Justinian in 532. Later in Ottoman years it has been use for conception of complex of Topkapi Palace. Cistern has a huge structure, measuring 140m (460ft) long and 70m (230ft) across, and it is virtually empty; only a ...

Yerebatan sarayi, byzantine cistern Topkapi Palace the blue mosque and st. sofia the bosphorus Rumeli hisari

Whirling dirvishes of istanbul video

Suleymaniye Mosque (Sultan Suleyman the Magnificient) Suleymaniye Mosque is the second largest but finest and most magnificent of the imperial mosque complexes in the city. It’s as magnificent as its founder Suleiman the Magnificent and a masterwork of the greatest Ottoman architect, the incomparable Sinan. Suleiman the Magnificent is the 10th Sultan of Ottoman Empire who expanded the boundaries of the Empire far to Vienna’s City Walls. Conquering Vienna was his ultimate aim but he could not succeed. The construction of the Suleiman’s Mosque began in 1550 and the mosque itself was completed in 1557. The mosque is actually a complex building with the tombs of Suleiman and his wife, Hurrem Sultan(Roxelana). The other buildings were finished some years later. The mosque is preceded by a courtyard with columns of the richest porphyry, marble and granite. At the four corners of the courtyard rise the four great minarets. The four minarets are said to signify that Suleiman was the fourth sul...

Dolmabahce Palace The word “Dolmabahce” in English means “The stuffed garden”. Because the Dolmabahce Palace is founded upon a reclaimed area by filling up the sea. It’s a beautiful 19th C palace right by the Bosphorus, on the waterfront. It’s in baroque and rococo style and very French. Many people think that it is a small model of the palace of Versailles in Paris, France. It can be visited with a tour guide of the palace as a group. Open everyday from 9:30-17:00 except Mon and Thu. When one enters the palace area, the first thing to see is the beautiful French style gardens. After having a lovely walk by the Bosphorus, one reaches the main building. The palace was constructed between 1842-1853 by one of the Ottoman Sultans, Sultan Abdulmecid. The architect was a famous Armenian architect, Nikogos Balyan. The palace reflects the European and more “modern” side of the Ottoman Empire. The Sultans moved to Dolmabahce Palace after its construction was finished and never went back to Topk...