Travelling in Istanbul – Part 1

Not only that Istanbul is the biggest city in Europe, one of the biggest cities in the world, it is also an important historical city because of its strategic location on the merge of two continents. The city, which has been connecting Europe and Asia since the beginning of its history, has had many different names. It has been called Byzantium and Constantinople, and some nations know it by the name Stambol.

The area, where you can now find Istanbul, was populated long ago, but the history of the city started in 7th century BC with the Greek colony Byzantium. After the fall of the Roman Empire, the city named Constantinople was the centre of Byzantine Empire. In 1453 the area was occupied by Ottoman Turks who chose Istanbul to be the capital of their Empire and the seat of sultans. After World War I, the founder of modern Turkey, Atatürk moved the capital to Ankara, which lies in the centre of Anatolia in Asian part of Turkey. Since 1923, Istanbul isn’t the capital of Turkey anymore, but this didn’t stop its development and expansion. Istanbul is the biggest city of Turkey and it’s the cultural, economical and financial centre of Turkey and much more attractive to tourists than the capital.

Asian part of Istanbul with the third of its population isn’t particularly interesting for tourists as most of the attractions lie in the European part of the city. But tourists still take a ferry over the Bosporus because there’s an amazing view from the ferries to the panorama of the city with all the mosques, rising to the sky. My article focuses on the European part where I spent most of my time.

Istanbul was the centre of many empires and that is why the city offers many historical and religious attractions from Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman times. The most interesting part of Istanbul for tourists lies on Sarayburnu peninsula. In Sultanahmet you can find the most crowded tourist attractions. Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace simply mustn’t be left out when visiting the city. Entrance to the Blue Mosque is free and those who have press cards also have a free entrance to Hagia Sofia and Topkapi palace if you commit to write an article.

Despite Istanbul being a Christian city in the past, most of the inhabitants are Muslim, which shows in many mosques and on the streets as most women wear head scarves. Sultan Ahmed Mosque or the Blue Mosque was built in the beginning of 17th century in time of Ahmed I, and is the most known mosque in Istanbul. It has six minarets (it is one of the three mosques in Turkey with six minarets), five main domes and eight secondary domes. The legend says that the mosque has six minarets because of a misunderstanding. The sultan supposedly wanted gold minarets and the architect understood it as six minarets because of the similar Turkish words. The mosque is also called the Blue Mosque because of hand-painted blue ceramic tiles. On the opposite side of Blue Mosque, one can find Hagia Sophia or church of holy wisdom with a mighty dome. Hagia Sophia was the main mosque of Istanbul until the Blue Mosque was built. Today’s building is the third church built on that site. The first was built in year 360 and would be 200 years older than the building we can see on that site today. Hagia Sophia was the main Christian church in Constantinople from 537 to 1453. It even amazed the Ottomans as they didn’t tear it down after claiming Constantinople as they did with the other buildings. They kept it, added four minarets to call the worshippers to pray and turned it into a mosque. Once a mighty Christian church, which used to be a model for many mosques, is a museum from 1935. Hagia Sophia is today one of the most visited attractions in Istanbul, mostly because of many mosaics, which represent Mary, Jesus, saints, and emperors. The mosaics go back to 8th century, which means that some are even 1000 years old but they are well preserved, as they’ve been hiding under plaster from 1453 to 1931 when the building served as a mosque and Koran bans any depiction of people or animals.

Whoever visits the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia cannot avoid the former race track. In the past, the race track was used for horse racing. Above this sports and social centre of Constantinople are two obelisks, one of them is 3500 years old and originates from Egypt. The ancient cistern, called Basilica Cistern from the 6th century, is also worth a visit.

Here is where I conclude the first part of my travelogue to Istanbul and I kindly invite you to read the second part in the next issue of Globetrotter.