Overview

This fullday tour of Istanbul visits sites in the historic area of Istanbul.

- Hagia Sophia an important Byzantine structure in Istanbul and one of the world’s great monuments.
- Sultanahmet Mosque is known as the Blue Mosque because of blue tiles surrounding the walls of interior design. (Closed on Friday)
- The Topkapi Palace once served as the main residence and administrative headquarters of the powerful sultans of the Ottoman Empire during. (Closed on Tuesday)
- Hippodrome of Constantinople, located in Sultanahmet/Istanbul, was a public arena mainly for chariot races.- Hippodrome
- The Grand Bazaar built in the 15th century, is the oldest covered market in the world. (Closed on Sunday)

Description

Stop At: Hagia Sophia Mosque, Sultan Ahmet, Ayasofya MeydanI No:1, Istanbul 34122

The Hagia Sophia that you can visit today was the primary church of Byzantine Constantinople and was built upon the site of two earlier churches that had been destroyed. Emperor Justinian I (527-565) commissioned the project and had materials brought in from all around his empire for the massive church’s construction. The Hagia Sophia was the most important church of the Christian East. Structurally, it was the first of its design and boasted the largest dome that had yet been engineered which provided a voluminous and well illuminated interior. After Constantinople fell to the Ottomans in 1453, the Hagia Sophia was converted into a mosque and was used as such throughout the Ottoman period. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the modern Turkish Republic’s most revered founding father and its first Prime Minister, initiated the process to have the Hagia Sophia transformed into a museum which opened for visitors in February 1935.

Duration: 1 hour

Stop At: Topkapi Palace, Cankurtaran Mahallesi, Gulhane Park, Near Sultanahmet Square, Istanbul 34122

TOPKAPI PALACE The great palace of the Ottoman sultans from the 15th to the 19th centuries housing an exquisite collection of cyrstal, silver, and Chinese porcelain, robes worn by the sultans and their families, the famous jewels of the Imperial Treasury, miniatures, the Holy Mantle; enshrining relics of the Prophet Mohammed.

Duration: 2 hours

Stop At: Blue Mosque, Sultanahmet Mah At Meydani Cad No 7, Istanbul 34122

This mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet I between 1609 and 1616 and is located in the district of old Istanbul that is named after this Ottoman Sultan and it is distinguished by its six slender minarets. The central dome is 43 m in height and 33.4 m in diameter and there are 260 stained glass windows throughout the mosque. Due to the intricately decorated blue, green and red tiles of its interior, it has long been referred to as the Blue Mosque. These tiles, produced and painted by hand in Iznik (ancient Nicaea), are an attraction in and of themselves. The Quranic inscriptions that you will see throughout the mosque were made by Seyyid Kasım Gubari, one of the most famous calligraphers of his time.

Duration: 30 minutes

Stop At: Hippodrome, Binbirdirek, Sultan Ahmet ParkI No:2, Istanbul

The ancient Hippodrome was the center of Byzantine social life and the scene of fiercely competitive chariot races. It was located in the square that is now in front of the Blue Mosque and is still the site of ancient relics from its glory days. These are the Obelisk of Theodosius, the bronze Serpentine Column, and the Column of Constantine. Remains of the curved end of the Hippodrome wall can be seen on the southwest side of the three monuments.

Duration: 20 minutes

Stop At: Kapali Carsi, Kalpakcilar Cad. Sorguclu Han No: 22, Istanbul 34126

Your guide will then take you to the GRAND SPICE BAZAAR In this labyrinth of streets and passages are more then 4,000 shops with each trade having its own area: the goldsmiths' street, the carpet sellers, Turkish arts and crafts, such as handpainted ceramic plates, hand-honed copperware, brassware and trays, water ewers, onyx-ware and meerschaum pipes. After your tour, transfer back to your hotel.

Duration: 2 hours