For over eleven years, we’ve talked about visiting Istanbul! We’d noticed earlier in the year that Easyjet had started to fly there from Bristol. That was it, we booked flights almost straightaway. The four night/five day trip was being wedged in between “The Little Trip” – six months driving around Europe & “The Big Trip – six months of long haul travel.
We opted to stay in the Beyoğlu district on the European side, M had stayed in this area previously on a work trip. A great place to sleep, shop, eat & drink.
The original to see list had on it the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Galata Tower, Grand Bazaar & possibly a trip to the Asian side of Istanbul. We meant business on this trip, we’d bought a guide book & combed through Atlas Obscura for other bits “not to miss”
In five days we walked just under 50 miles!
Hagia Sophia – over 1,500 years of turbulent history.
Byzantine Period – 537–1453 Cathedral
Ottoman Period – 1453–1935 Mosque
Republic of Turkey – 1935 – 2020 Museum
Modern Turkey – 2020 – Present Day Mosque
Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) – Located in the Sultanahmet district & directly across from the Hagia Sophia. Built between 1609-1616. Commissioned by Sultan Ahmed I, who wanted to build a grand mosque to rival Hagia Sophia. Nicknamed the “Blue Mosque” due to over 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles inside, many of which are in shades of blue.
Notable features of the mosque include;
6 minarets (at the time most mosques had 1–4)
A large central dome flanked by 8 smaller domes
Stained glass windows, intricate calligraphy, and geometric patterns
Grand Bazaar – One of the oldest and largest Covered Markets in the world, it dates back to 1455, it has 60+ streets and over 4,000 shops. Rebuilt multiple times after fires and earthquakes, the current structure dates back to the 18th/19th century. It’s one of the largest gold markets in the world, with hundreds of jewellery shops.
One of the attractions not on our original list was the Basilica Cistern, it’s an ancient underground water reservoir in the city, built in the 6th century under Byzantine emperor Justinian I. It could hold up to 80,000 cubic metres of water. There are 336 marble/granite columns. It was intended to provide water for the Great Palace of Constantinople and other buildings in the surrounding area!
Made it to Asia! Found a ferry just down the hill from the hotel, a short twenty five minute sail across the Bosphorus and we were in Kadıköy. Spent a few hours exploring the town and found that it was much quieter than the European side, with less tourists and sightseeing opportunities. The town has a nice mix of shops, cafes and bars, cheaper prices with less hussle & bustle than the “other side”. As we crossed the Bosphorus strait there looked to be other interesting things, so the next day we took a two hour cruise. We cruised along the European side before crossing over and cruising back up the coastline on the Asian side. An absolute bargain at £5.50 each.
We saw so much more than expected, visited several other mosques, found Greek Orthodox and catholic churches, the hotel where Agatha Christie was alleged to have written Murder on The Orient Express, small passages crammed with stalls selling “genuine fakes”, Tunel, an underground funicular railway which is the second oldest in the world after the London Underground and finally a cat museum. Our room in the hotel had a great view of the Galata Tower, so we chose not to climb up to the top (it was about £30 each) The roof terrace also had fantastic views.
All too soon we were on our way home. Time to get the washing done, some jobs in the house & garden and prepare for the “Big One” in twelve days.