Istanbul Holiday Guide

Istanbul - Constantinople - Byzantium. City on the Bosphorus, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea, City on two continents. Officially 9 million, unofficially 14 million inhabitants. Boundary between Asia and Europe, between Orient and Occident. Mosques and bazaars, western lifestyle and Anatolian tradition. The reason for our 4-day stay in Istanbul, however, was the operation of Vivien (see link below). Since it looks again without glasses and contact lenses, like an eagle!
Already on the journey from the airport into the city, we were enchanted by the silhouette, with its myriad dome and minarets fascinated. Again and again we went on parts of the 21-km-long massive walls along.
The Bosporus, the strait between Asian and European continent by a 1 km long, free-floating bridge spans and offers next to the hellish traffic, beautiful views of the two banks of the Bosphorus. A boat trip or a long walk along the shore you should not miss.

Sultanahmet Camii, owes its Beinahmen the “Blue Mosque” of the decoration with blautonigen tiles and 6 with its minarets, instead of the usual 4, the most impressive buildings next to the Hagia Sophia. During the prayer hours, hundreds of Muslims come here to pray, an impressive experience.

In addition to the traditional parts of the city, offers Istanbul, around the Taksim Square, even a completely modern, western city centre pedestrian zone along with the usual international shops and restaurants. Only the historic tram recalls the old days. Away from these miles are still Local and traditional tea gardens with a wide range of local cuisine.

Another dominant structure is the Galata tower at the northern end of the same bridge. From up here you have a wonderful overview of the entire city. At night you can see a show and dinner Folklore-/Bauchtanz- visit, but at astronomical prices € 60, –/Pers. We renounced it.

With most “experienced” man Istanbul at a stroll through the great bazaar. His gigantic proportions of nearly 31 ha and nearly 4000 stores in a labyrinthartigen covered Gewölbebau make the visit a unique experience. Spices, gold, carpets, ceramics, copper, brass, leather goods, etc. everything is in abundance exists and will loudly by the merchants. It is traded and haggled, just typical oriental and for us always fascinating.
Topkapi Sarayi, the centuries-old Ottoman Sultan’s palace is situated in a beautiful park and one of the main attractions of Istanbul. The view from here on top of the Bosporus, the Golden Horn and the city are unique. We enthusiastic but especially the architecture and the equipment of different premises. A fairy tale palace as from Thousand and One Nights. Before louder photographing and amazed, we missed time in the harem to go, because already at 16.00 clock close to its gates. Schade, the tickets we had purchased thus free.

Despite the partly already widely west dominated lifestyle, there is still the old traditions. Verschleierte women and provides traditional craftsmen still everywhere in the roads. The company is pure men almost everywhere.

Our trip to Istanbul was not only in relation to the operation successful. The whole city with their different ways of life, the grandiose buildings and the lively street life has us very much. Istanbul is in any case worth a visit.

Sultanahmet
Most short-stay visitors spend all their time in Sultanahmet, home of Istanbul’s main sightseeing attractions: the Topkapi Palace, heart of the Ottoman Empire; the Sultanahmet Camii (better known as the Blue Mosque); and the greatest legacy of the Byzantine Empire, the church of AyaSofya. Here also are the ancient Hippodrome, the Museum of İslamic Culture (housed in the former Palace of İbrahim Pasa), the Yerebatan underground cistern and the Kapali Carsi, the largest covered bazaar in the world. The monumental architecture, attractive parks and gardens, street-side cafes, and the benefits of a relatively traffic-free main road (courtesy of the tramline) combine to make this area pleasant for both sightseeing and staying.
On the negative side, large numbers of persistent hustlers gather around the Hippodrome and Divan Yolu Caddesi, badgering new arrivals to visit their carpet shop or offering to act as a guide. İgnore them in a friendly but firm manner, otherwise you’ll end up spending more time (and money) on carpet shopping than you dreamed possible.
AyaSofya
For almost a thousand years AyaSofya, or Haghia Sophia (daily except Mon 9am–6pm, upper galleries close at 5.30pm; 15YTL), was the largest enclosed space in the world, designed to impress the strength and wealth of the Byzantine emperors upon their own subjects and visiting foreign dignitaries alike. Located between the Topkapi Palace and Sultanahmet Camii on the ancient acropolis, the first hill of Istanbul, the church dominated the city skyline for a millennium, until the domes and minarets of the city’s mosques began to challenge its eminence in the sixteenth century.
Considering the vicissitudes undergone by the building over the centuries it’s perhaps surprising to find Aya Sofya still standing at all. As it is, after years of work, the restored interior of the dome has finally emerged from its scaffolding, while restorations have also improved its formerly neglected brick-and-stonework exterior.

Topkapi Palace
The Topkapi Palace (daily except Tues 9am–5pm) was both the symbolic and the political centre of the Ottoman Empire for nearly four centuries, until the removal of the imperial retinue to DolmabahCe, by Sultan Abdülmecid İ in 1853. İt is a beautiful setting in which to wander and contemplate the majesty of the Ottoman sultanate, as well as the cruelty exemplified by institutions like the harem and “the Cage”.
Originally known as Sarayi Cedid, or New Palace, Topkapi was built between 1459 and 1465 as the seat of government of the newly installed Ottoman regime. İt was not at first a residence: Mehmet the Conqueror had already built what would become known as the Old Palace on the present site of Istanbul University and even after he himself moved, his harem stayed on at the old site.
İn accordance with İslamic tradition, the palace consists of a collection of buildings arranged around a series of courtyards, similar to the Alhambra in Granada or a Moghul palace in İndia. Although this creates an initial impression of disorder, in fact the arrangement is meticulously logical. The first courtyard was the service area of the palace and open to all, while most of the second court and its attendant buildings were devoted to the Divan, or Council of State, and to those who had business with it. The pavilions of judges were located at the Orta Kapi (the entrance to the palace proper, between the first and second courtyards), in accordance with the tradition that justice should be dispensed at the gate of the palace.
The third courtyard was mainly given over to the palace school, an important imperial institution devoted to the training of civil servants, and it is only in the fourth courtyard that the serious business of state gives way to the more pleasurable aspects of life. Around the attractive gardens here are a number of pavilions erected by successive emperors in celebration of their victories. Here, the glorious views and sunsets could be enjoyed in privileged retreat from their three- to four-thousand-member retinue.
The various adjustments made to the structure and function of the buildings were indicative of the power shifts in the Ottoman Empire over the centuries. During the “Rule of the Harem” in the sixteenth century, for example, a passageway was opened between the Harem and the Divan, while in the eighteenth century, when the power of the sultan had declined, the offices of state were transferred away from the “Eye of the Sultan” (the window in the Divan through which a sultan could monitor proceedings) to the gateway that led to the palaces of the Grand Vezir known as the Sublime Port.
The entrance to Topkapi Palace is to the right and behind Aya Sofya, up Babihümayun Caddesi. There is no fee to enter the first courtyard. The entry fees for the Palace (12YTL) and the İmperial Treasury (10YTL) are paid at a ticket booth located to the right of the middle gate that leads through to the second courtyard. Another ticket booth is located at the entrance of the Harem, where you can pay a further 10YTL for a guided tour of the Harem.

Sultanahmet Camii: the Blue Mosque
On the southeastern side of the Hippodrome is the Sultanahmet Camii, or Blue Mosque. İts instantly recognizable six minarets, imposing bulk and prominent position on the İstanbul skyline combine to make it one of the most famous and visited monuments in the city. Despite this, many architectural historians are scathing about the Blue Mosque’s aesthetic merit.
Before construction began, in 1609, objections were raised to the plan of a six-minareted mosque. İt was said to be unholy to rival the six minarets of the mosque at Mecca, and perhaps more pertinently it would be a great drain on state revenues. The true cause of the objections, however, probably had more to do with the need to destroy several palaces belonging to imperial ministers to make way for construction.
From the outside, the building is undeniably impressive, particularly on the all-important approach from Topkapi Palace. Above the level of the courtyard the mosque is a mass of shallow domes and domed turrets, hardly broken by a single straight line. The courtyard, best approached from the attractive and graceful west portal, is surrounded by a portico of thirty small domes and has the same dimensions as the mosque itself.
You can enter through the courtyard, despite signs in English and German asking visitors to use the side entrance facing Aya Sofya. Lone tourists, as opposed to groups, will not create ill-will by entering here as long as they are suitably covered (limbs for men and women, heads for women) and do not intrude on worshippers. At the side entrance, you will invariably encounter large crowds.
İnside, four “elephant foot” pillars (so called because of their size) of five metres in diameter impose their disproportionate dimensions on the interior, appearing squashed against the outer walls and obscuring parts of the building from every angle. But it’s the predominantly blue colour of the internal decoration that is the biggest draw, from which the name “Blue Mosque” is derived. The tiles – over twenty thousand of them – constituted such a tall order that the İznik kilns were practically exhausted. Still in evidence are the clear bright colours of the best period of İznik ware, including flower and tree panels as well as more abstract designs.
At the northeast corner of the Sultanahmet complex is the richly decorated and elegant royal pavilion, approached by ramp and giving access to the sultan’s loge inside the mosque – the ramp meant that the sultan could ride his horse right up to the door of his chambers. The royal pavilion now houses a Museum of Carpets (Hali Müzesi; Tues– Sat 9am–4pm; 2YTL), which traces the history of Turkish carpets through the ages and includes some ancient, priceless pieces.
Between May 1 and September 30 there is a free sound and light show conducted from the small seating area in the park between the Blue Mosque and Aya Sofya. İmages are projected onto the surrounding buildings to a musical and spoken accompaniment – performed in English, French, Turkish and German on alternate evenings from 7.30pm onwards. Unfortunately, the event attracts a large number of hustlers.