ISTANBUL is one the most beautiful cities in the World with its historical and cultural heritage. While you enjoy the Sightseeing tours within the historical atmosphere of the Old Town of Istanbul, you will find the opportunity to meet the ultural mosaics of Istanbul with the colorful people around the World. The beauty of the city surprises you at each moment and breath with warm Turkish Hospitality. Live, feel and taste the local charm of Istanbul during your visits to the world famous highlights of this “Legendary city“ while shopping in the Old Bazaars & Chick Boutiques at cozy neighborhoods, followed by possible Joys of Wining and Dining with the Exotic Night Life of Istanbul.
HIGHLIGHTS of ISTANBUL
The World famous HAGIA SOPHIA which is one of the most extraordinary constructions in the history of architecture, has an awesome building inspired countless generations by its colossal definition of what the ideal interior space in a domed basilica should be and with its innovations in weight-support and construction techniques.
The 6th century UNDERGROUND CISTERN- perhaps the most unusual structurein Istanbul- exhibits the engineering marvels that solved water supplyproblems. Originally, Constantine built this vast underground space in theearly-4C as the water reservoir for the Imperial Palace, and it was laterenlarged under Justinian in 532.
The BLUE MOSQUE as the masterpiece of 17th centuryOttoman Architecture is famous for its unique handmade original Iznik Tilesimpressing the guests with their rich dominant blue colors and orientalpatterns. They have become collectors’ items today, auctioned at celebratedhouses like the Sotheby’s.
TOPKAPI PALACEwhich was the center of Ottoman government and the court, theTurks ruled most of Europe and the Middle East from here. Covering the primeproperty on the peninsula, the court-defined grounds of the Palace express inthe architectural sense the Ottoman ideal of the perfect life balanced betweenits formative components. Explore the HaremSection, breath-taking grounds, domes, porticos, terraces and great hallsof the Palace, marvel at its exhibits of costumes, Chinaware, jewels andmanuscripts, gaze at its marble and tile covered walls, royal chambers andgardens of tulips and roses, its views of the Sea, the Bosphorus and theGolden Horn.
GRAND BAZAAR No bazaar, however, ismore dazzling than the Grand Covered Bazaar, built in 1461 and in service eversince. Along with magnificent mosque complexes, the mother of all bazaarswas a monument to the ‘Rise of Istanbul’- the great master plan of the Turksfor the rejuvenation and reanimation of an old imperial capital. It contains3,500 shops employing more than 20,000 people all under one roof. Everythingimaginable is for sale, gold and silver jewelry, rugs, carpets, antiques,tiles, leather, souvenirs, but just seeing and experiencing this mother of allbazaars is worth the trip.
SPICEMARKET is for a “true taste” ofculture mosaics in Istanbul! Originally devoted to spices and herbs, it nowsells a great variety of goods in 88 vaulted rooms. You enter from a large citysquare and see before you a lengthy, tunnel-like building with 19 stalls oneach side. At the end, the 'tunnel' turns left 90 degrees where an even longerbuilding stretches away, containing the other 50 stalls.
SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE,the second largestmosque in the city, and one of the best-known sights of Istanbul, was built onthe order of Sultan Suleiman I (Suleimanthe Magnificent) and was constructed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan. The construction work began in 1550 andthe mosque was finished in 1558.
DOLMABAHCE PALACE has the largest and the finest example of Ottoman Baroque Architecture, a monument to the Ottomans’westernization process in the 19th century. The Ottoman response tothe overwhelming changes in the post-renaissance world was rapidwesternization, initiated in the imperial lifestyle at first that gave way tothe creation of a series of baroque-style European-fashion palaces on the shoresof the Bosphorus.
CHORA MUSEUM (ST. SAVIOR IN CHORA), known to be the richest repository of Byzantine mosaics used forthe wall decorations, rivaled only by a few other monuments in the world. Thedramatic mosaics and frescoes blew away the stiff conventions of Byzantine artto that date applied between 1325-1321. The mosaic decorations exhibit aninfinite variety of artistic invention emphasizing in a revolutionary manner,the aesthetics of the physical qualities of the human form in a retro-Hellenisticfashion, featured in scenes from both the canonical and apocryphal sources.
ARCHEOLOGY MUSEUMis founded by the OttomanArcheologist, Osman Hamdi in 1891.It was then called the Imperial Museumof the Ottomans. Two side wings were added in 1902 and 1908, and on itscentenary in 1991 the museum wasenlarged with a new section and reorganized, housing the richest collection ofthe archeological finds in Asia Minor with items dating back ten thousandyears.
MUSEUM OF TURKISH ART defining what ‘Art’ means to the Turkish culture for 1000 years in AsiaMinor is housed in the grandest of all the semi-royal palaces built in theOttoman times. The Palace belongs to IbrahimPasha, the Grand Vizier of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Since then, ithas been the High Court, Janissary barracks, now restored as a museum. Thebuilding itself is impressive, but its contents are extraordinary: manuscripts,miniatures, woodwork, stonework, ceramics, glassware, and metalwork, butparticularly this is the repository of wonderful examples of antique Turkishcarpets, a traditional form of art in Turkey.
ISTIKLAL STREET & GALATA DISTRICT
Istiklal Street, where you canexplore many shops and book stores and enjoy a tram ride, is closed to trafficexcept the trams. You may walk along the street and reach “Çukurcuma” where you will find many antique shops and some localart galleries. At the end of the street GALATA TOWER will be waiting for you. It was builtin 1303 by immigrants from Genoa, Italy. While sipping yourTurkish coffee, you will be amazed with the spectacular view of theGolden Horn and the old buildings located on its shores.
ORTAKOY DISTRICT
ORTAKOY where isprobably a district envied by other districts along the Bopshorus. It islocated in such a beautiful spot...With its cafes stretching along the coasts,the bars in just one street from the back, street bazaars, the famous OrtakoyMosque on its side, sellers of kumpir, gozleme and mussels side by side, it is apopular place not only with Turkish and foreign tourists but also with its ownresidents. The history of Ortakoy is asold as sultans' using here as their summer residence... If you pass by thearea, come to Ortakoy, one ofthe places where you can best view the Bosphorus, andenjoy it with your tea cup on your hand...