Istanbul is a city on two continents; about two-thirds of its population live in
Europe and the rest in Asia. With a population over 15 million, Istanbul
is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural,
and historical heart. Istanbul is one of the most significant cities in
history. Byzantium was founded by Greek colonists, potentially in the
seventh century BC. Over nearly 16 centuries following its reestablishment
as Constantinople in 330 AD, it served as the capital of four empires: the Roman
Empire (330–395), the Byzantine Empire (395–1204 and 1261–1453), the Latin
Empire (1204–1261), and the Ottoman Empire (1453–1922).
Getting there ...
We had a flight from San Francisco at 12:40PM on 10/10 to Istanbul (arriving at
about noon on 10/11). The main destination of this trip was
Madagascar. But we
decided to have a 3-day layover in Istanbul so we would not be too tired when we
started our safari in Madagascar, and we had a chance to explore the fantastic
city, Istanbul. When our taxi entered the city and got close to our hotel
in the old town Istanbul (Sultanahmet district), the traffic was bad and it was
jammed everywhere. In fact, our taxi failed to reach our hotel because of
heavy traffic and lots of one-way streets, and the driver just kept making
circles and could not find the right way to get to our hotel (for some reason,
he did not follow Google Map...). Finally we asked him to drop us off at a
nearby street and we walked (in rain) a few blocks to our hotel,
Hotel
Arcadia Blue Istanbul.
Day 1 (10/11) ...
-
Cagaloglu Hamami
After a
short break in the hotel room, we walked to Cagaloglu Hamami, a traditional
Turkish bath house (hammam). The Cağaloğlu hamami was
constructed in 1741 and is the last hammam to be built after a long period
during the Ottoman Empire. We booked our bath appointments at 4PM
(45-min
Istanbul Dream for me, and 60-min
Tip-to-Toe for
Woanyu). It
started with 15-min hot-room rest (like sauna), and 10-min rubbing with
kese, and then finished with a bubble bath (foam massage). When we
were done, we were served with Turkish tea and home-made sherbet and Turkish
delight. It was a good relax after the long flight.
- We had an early dinner on the way back to the hotel after we finished
the Turkish bath. There were cats everywhere in Istanbul ....
- Views from our hotel room (on the 8th floor) were incredible. We
had clear views of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia.
- Hodjapasha
I booked a
Rhythm of the
Dance Show at 8:30PM at Hodjapasha. Since I booked the tickets very
early (in July), we had the best front row center seats. Hodjapasha
provides Traditional Turkish dance & whirling dervishes in a cultural center
in a 15th-century bath house. I think the Turkish dance show should be
more fun than whirling dervishes performance (too spiritual to me)....
Day 2 (10/12) ...
- Hagia Sophia
The current structure of Hagia Sophia was built by the
Byzantine emperor Justinian I as the Christian cathedral of Constantinople
between 532–537. It was formally called the Temple of God's Holy
Wisdom and remained the world's largest cathedral for nine centuries, until
the completion of the Florence Cathedral in 1436. Hagia Sophia was the
religious and spiritual center of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one
thousand years until the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in
1453, and it was converted to a mosque by Mehmed the Conqueror and became
the principal mosque of Istanbul until the 1616 construction of the Sultan
Ahmed Mosque (the Blue Mosque). The site became a museum in 1935, and
was redesignated as a mosque in 2020. Since it is a functional mosque
now, the ground floor is only open for Muslin for worship, and visitors can
only access from the 2nd floor.
- Basilica Cistern
This grand underground cistern, built by Eastern
Roman Emperor Justinian I (527-565), is called Basilica Cistern as it was
built on the site of the former Stoa Basilica, which was a basilica.
It is also nicknamed “Yerebatan Sarayı” (Sunken Palace). The Basilica
Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath
the city of Istanbul. With its 80,000-ton water storage capacity
covering an area of approximately 10,000 square meters, this colossal
structure has a rectangular shape with a length of 140 meters and a width of
70 meters. Inside the cistern, there are 336 columns, each measuring 9
meters in height. These columns are erected at 4.80-meter intervals, forming
12 rows, each containing 28 columns. Some of the most famous features
are the Medusa heads at the
bases of two columns in the northwest corner of the cistern. The
cistern is featured in several video games and movies including Dan Brown's
"Inferno".
- Sultan Turbesi
After emerged from the underground Basilica Cistern,
we visited the tomb (Türbe) of Sultan Selim II (1566-1574), southwest of the
Hagia Sophia. In addition to the sarcophagus of Selim II, the tomb
houses the graves of forty-four other members of the Ottoman family.
- Blue Mosque
The Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque
(Sultanahmet Camii), is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque in
Istanbul. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed
I. It attracts a large number of tourists and is one of the most iconic and
popular monuments of Ottoman architecture. It is free for visitors to
enter the mosque (the center part of ground floor is only open for worship),
but there was a long queue for people waiting for entering the mosque.
- Spice Bazaar
After a lunch break, we walked to the Spice
Bazaar. The covered 17th-century market, also known as the
Egyptian Bazaar, is full with spice, food & textile shops. We spent a
couple hundred Turkish liras ( ~ $5) for some white pepper since Woanyu
likes the pepper we got in Egypt last year.
- New Mosque & Eminonu Square
The New Mosque (Yeni Cami), originally
named the Valide Sultan Mosque and later New Valide Sultan Mosque after its
partial reconstruction and completion between 1660 and 1665, is an Ottoman
imperial mosque located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul. Since
there was a worship service going on, we did not go into the mosque and just
took a few pictures around its courtyard.
- Bosphorus Cruise
The Bosphorus Strait divides Europe from Asia and
connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara. The Bosphorus
cruise is one of the most popular activities in Istanbul. I booked a
5PM cruise so we could enjoy the sunset during the cruise. The cruise
was extremely crowded and there were almost no seats left on the upper deck
when we got onboard.
Day 3 (10/13) ...
- We had a leisure walk around the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia in the
morning before headed toward the Topkapi Palace.
- Topkapi Palace
Topkapi Palace served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire,
and was the main residence of its sultans from 1460s to 1856 (till the
completion of Dolmabahçe Palace). Construction, ordered by the Sultan
Mehmed the Conqueror, began in 1459, six years after the conquest of
Constantinople. The complex expanded over the centuries, with major
renovations after the 1509 earthquake and the 1665 fire. The palace complex
consists of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. Female members
of the Sultan's family lived in the harem, where as popular belief, the
sultan could engage in debauchery at will. The sultans supported
as many as 300 concubines in the Harem, although numbers were usually lower
than this.
After visiting Harem, we visited several museums in the
Palace Complex, including Palace kitchens and porcelain collection, Imperial
Council, Chamber of the Sacred Relics, collections of fine clothing/ropes and
Islamic calligraphy, etc. There was a long line for the Palace Treasury.
Although we knew it would be a fascinating exhibition of the world’s most famous
and spectacular jewels, we decided to skip it and visited a few
buildings/pavilions in other courtyards.
After spending more than 4 hours in the Topkapi Palace,
we were exhausted and went back to our hotel room for a needed long rest (I
originally planned to go to the Grand Bazaar afterwards....).
- Views of the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia from our room in the late
afternoon.
Day 4 (10/14) ...
After the 3-day layover in Istanbul, it's time to move to our main
destination, Madagascar.
We booked a taxi at ~ 10:30PM (10/13) to take us to the IST airport (the driver
made a few unplanned stops, getting cash from an ATM, pick up something on the
road, etc....). We had a flight from Istanbul at 2:10AM on 10/14 and
arriving in Antananarivo (TNR), Madagascar at 2:30PM (also on 10/14). In
fact, the flight stopped at Mauritius first before continuing to Madagascar.
Although this was a short stay in Istanbul, Turkey to quickly sample some famous
landmarks, we already could experience the mix and diversity of cultures in
Istanbul. We would definitely come back and do a full Turkey trip in some
near future.
[Back to Photo Page]
[Gallery]
