Sights and Sounds of İstanbul

With its long history at the center of empires, Istanbul offers a wealth of historic and religious places to take in. The bulk of these ancient monuments, date back to Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods. While you are there, apart from seeing the sights, you must make a visit to a hamam, or Turkish Bath. At one time, the nargile, or Turkish water pipe, was the centre of Istanbul’s social and political life. Today some of the locals still consider it one of life’s great pleasures and is something interesting to try. In the south of Sultanahmet, near the sea, is Yeni Marmara, where you can sit in the terrace and enjoy the view. Another area with few big good looking places is the Rıhtım Caddesi, between Galata bridge and Istanbul Modern Museum. Take a tram or walk to Eminönü (where the boats leave for trips to Asia or up the Bosphorus). Visit the New Mosque at the back, then the Egyptian Bazaar next to it, and going further in that direction, locate the Rüstem Pasha mosque with its excellent tiles. It's on a raised platform near an old clothes market. The Galata Tower, Rumeli fortress, Hippodrome, Pera and Golden Horn, Chora Church, Beylerbeyi Palace are some of the places not mentioned in detail but one must try and cover them too. Below are just some of the places one must visit when in Istanbul.

 

 

Hagia Sophia

Aya Sofya or Hagia Sophia in Greek, The Church of Divine Wisdom in English, built in 537 AD, is one of the most important and impressive buildings ever constructed in Istanbul. In the 15th century, Mehmet the Conqueror converted it from a Christian church to a mosque, adding the minarets, tombs and fountains. Turkey became a secular republic in 1923 and Hagia Sophia was established as a museum 12 years later by the order of Kemal Ataturk, with many of its Byzantine mosaics revealed from underneath layers of Ottoman plaster. It has an impressive wide flat 56 metres high dome and 30 million tiny gold mosaic tiles cover the interior of the church.

 

Topkapi Palace

Soon after the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II - the Conqueror, began to build Topkapi Palace including the Harem. It was to be the main residence of the Ottoman Sultans till the 19th century, and today exhibits an outstanding treasury and Islamic relics collection. The layout of the palace features a series of interconnected courtyards which progress inwards, from the first, which was open to all citizens, through to the fourth, where the sultans had their gardens and private living area. You need at least half a day to tour this palace and if you pressed for time, the must-see features are the Harem, Imperial Treasury and the views from the innermost courtyard.

 

Sultanahmet Mosque ( Blue Mosque )

The Blue Mosque in the Old City of Istanbul is so named because of the beautiful blue Iznik tiles decorating the interior. Officially called the 'Sultan Ahmet Mosque' by local people, it was built by Sultan Ahmet in 1609 and completed 7 years later. Not only was it built to serve as a mosque, but its huge surrounding complex also held a medrese (theological school), turbe (tomb), hospital, caravanserai, primary school, public kitchen and market, although the hospital and caravanserai were destroyed in the nineteenth century. After the public kitchens were destroyed in a fire in 1970, they were restored and incorporated into the School of Industrial Art. It presently serves as the Dean's Office for the Marmara University. The Blue Mosque is open all day except during prayer times.

 

Istanbul Modern

Created as Turkey's equivalent of London's Tate Modern, Istanbul Modern has grown comfortably into its role since opening in 2004. Housed in a former customs warehouse on the waterfront in Karaköy, the two-storey museum has 8,000 square metres of exhibition space. The permanent collection follows the transformation of Turkish art since the foundation of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1893 and reflects Turkey's shifting economic and political landscape. The Lower Floor Galleries house temporary exhibitions. One of the museum's galleries is dedicated exclusively to photography; another is devoted to video art. The museum's restaurant has proved a big hit in its own right. Stunning views across the Bosphorus to the minarets of Sultanahmet and out to the Marmara Sea just about justify the prices for decent bistro fare.

 

Basilica Cistern

This extraordinary subterranean structure, built by Justinian in 532 (perhaps on the site of an earlier cistern), is the largest surviving Byzantine cistern in İstanbul. Now one of the city’s most popular tourist attractions, it’s a great place to while away 30 minutes or so, especially during summer when its cavernous depths stay wonderfully cool. The cistern’s roof is 65m wide and 143m long, and is supported by 336 columns arranged in 12 rows. It once held 80,000 cubic metres of water, delivered via 20km of aqueducts from a reservoir near the Black Sea. The cistern was constructed using columns, capitals and plinths from ruined buildings, and its symmetry and sheer grandeur of conception are quite extraordinary. Don’t miss the two columns in the north western corner supported by blocks carved into Medusa heads or the column towards the centre featuring a teardrop design. James Bond fans will recognise the cistern as one of the locations in the film From Russia With Love (1963).

 

Bosphorus Cruise

One of the most enjoyable, and certainly most romantic, night-time activities in İstanbul is to take a Bosphorus ferry. Enjoy the view back to the Old City, the twinkling lights, the fishing boats bobbing on the waves and the powerful searchlights of the ferries sweeping the sea lanes. Apart from the romantic night ferry rides, enjoy full-day Bosphorus river cruise with lunch, including a visit to Dolmabahçe Palace and other sites along the way. During the summer, there are private boat tours of the Bosphorus, as well as trips to the Princes' Islands. The Tur Yol boat owners consortium also operates frequent Bosphorus cruises (duration: 90 minutes) with departures from the Eminonu ferry docks.

 

Dolmabahçe Palace

Irrefutable evidence of an empire on its last legs, Dolmabahçe Palace was built for Abdül Mecit by Karabet Balyan and his son Nikoĸos. It was completed in 1855, whereupon the sultan and his household moved in, abandoning Topkapı Palace, which had been the imperial residence for four centuries. Don’t set your watch by any of the palace clocks, all of which are stopped at 9.05am, the moment at which Kemal Atatürk died in Dolmabahçe on 10 November 1938. Visitors are only allowed into the palace, which is still used for state functions, in guided groups. The full tour of the palace takes about 2 hours.

 

Galata Mevlevihanesi

Sufi music is one of Turkey's best-known cultural exports but the Whirling Dervishes sect is technically outlawed and therefore rarely seen in the city. This is the only institution in Istanbul dedicated to the Whirling Dervishes that is open to the public. A peaceful courtyard leads through to the octagonal tekke (lodge), a restored version of the 1491 original, which contains various musical instruments and beautifully illuminated Qu'rans. Also within the complex is the tomb of Galip Dede, a 17th-century Sufi poet after whom the street is named.

 

Princes’ Island

Set in the Marmara Sea off Istanbul's Asian Shore, the Princes' Islands are where Istanbul’s mainly non-Muslim elite built their summerhouses and pleasure palaces. These nine small islands, 12km southeast of Istanbul, offer a taste of the past with horse-drawn carriage tours and no cars. Only four are publicly accessible. Büyükada is the largest and has beautiful wooden mansions and hotels, and a cool pine forest for picnics. A cobblestone path leads from Kadiyoran Caddesi near the ferry terminal to the ancient Ayios Nikolaos (St George) monastery. Heybeliada, probably the prettiest of the islands, is a relic of the Byzantine Empire, with six Greek Orthodox churches and monasteries, one dating from 1431. Burgazada also has an Orthodox monastery on a cliff overlooking the sea. Ferries run to the islands from Sirkeci and Bostanci, taking about 50 minutes to reach the first island and 15 minutes between the other three. Fast sea-buses run thrice daily from Kabataş, near Dolmabahçe Palace. Today, they are one of the last places to offer a glimpse of the old ethnic mix of Istanbul in all its splendour: Greeks, Armenians and Jews still rub shoulders with Turks in the local squares, and churches are more numerous than mosques.

 

Apart from these, there are beautiful museums, mosques and churches you must try and cover during your visit. The best way to see Istanbul is from above, as Istanbul’s nightlife impresarios have discovered – a revelation that has revolutionised dining and drinking in recent years. Rooftop bars and restaurants are springing up everywhere, desperately trying to outdo each other with the most sweeping skyline and exotic cocktail list. The British down pints in pubs, the French guzzle wine in brasseries, and the Greeks smash plates in tavernas. The Turks? They make merry in themeyhane, the age-old Istanbul version of a tapas bar, a place to indulge in meze, drink raki and sway to some fasıl folk music.