(Note to viewers: This website scrolls images close up so that you can easily see the detail. If you click on an image it is instantly confined to the size of your screen. Side arrows (or swiping) takes you from one image to another. Click on the "X" in the upper right corner to return to scrolling and text.)
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical center. With a population of over 15 million, it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in the world by population. It is a city on two continents; about two-thirds of its population live in Europe and the rest in Asia. Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus – one of the world's busiest waterways – in northwestern Turkey, between the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea. --Wikipedia
We started our visit to Istanbul by staying in the Fatih district. From there, we could easily access major historical sites by a commuter rail line.
The Basilica Cistern is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul. The cistern was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine emperor Justinian I.
This subterranean cistern was called Basilica because it was located under a large public square, the Stoa Basilica, on the First Hill of Constantinople. Prior to its construction, a great basilica stood on the spot. It had been built during the Early Roman Age between the 3rd and 4th centuries as a commercial, legal and artistic centre.
The existence of the cistern was eventually forgotten by all but the locals who still drew water from it until, in 1565, the French traveller Petrus Gyllius left a record of it. Gyllius recorded being rowed in between the columns and seeing fish swimming in the water beneath the boat. --Wikipedia
The next two images are of Medusa's head. It was believed that placing the head sideways or upside down would negate the myth that an onlooker would turn to stone.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque, is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I.
The mosque has a classical Ottoman layout with a central dome surrounded by four semi-domes over the prayer hall. It is fronted by a large courtyard and flanked by six minarets. On the inside, it is decorated with thousands of Iznik tiles and painted floral motifs in predominantly blue colours, which give the mosque its popular name. The mosque's külliye (religious complex) includes Ahmed's tomb, a madrasa, and several other buildings in various states of preservation.
The Blue Mosque was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1985 under the name of "Historic Areas of Istanbul". --Wikipedia
The minbar (pulpit) is used for formal addresses and sermons. For example, the minbar would be used in delivering the khutbah (sermon) during Friday prayers.
The washing area of a mosque is known as the Wudu (or ablution) area, and is commonly referred to as wudu khana. It is specifically designed for the ritual purification process Muslims perform before prayers, which involves washing the hands, face, arms, and feet. --Shutterstock
The Hagia Sophia, officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, is a mosque and a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul. It was formerly a church (360–1453) and a museum (1935–2020). The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire, it was completed in AD 537, becoming the world's largest interior space and among the first to employ a fully pendentive dome. ... From its dedication in 360 until 1453, Hagia Sophia served as the cathedral of Constantinople in the Byzantine liturgical tradition, except for the period 1204–1261 when the Latin Crusaders installed their own hierarchy. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it served as a mosque, having its minarets added soon after. The site became a museum in 1935, and was redesignated as a mosque in 2020. --Wikipedia
The site was undergoing major renovation during our visit.
The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops, attracting between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. ... The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world. --Wikipedia
The Spice Bazaar is one of the largest bazaars in the city. Located in the Eminönü quarter of the Fatih district, it is the most famous covered shopping complex after the Grand Bazaar. --Wikipedia
Spice Bazaar
The Topkapı Palace is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih district of Istanbul. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1853, it served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire, and was the main residence of its sultans.
Construction, ordered by the Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, began in 1459, six years after the conquest of Constantinople. --Wikipedia
Topkapi Dagger 1730-1754. Gift from Mahmud I to Nadir Shah
Kaftan, Ottoman 2nd half of the 16th century
Kürk fur lined Kaftan, Ottoman 2nd quarter of the 16th century
The Istanbul Archaeology Museums are a group of three archaeological museums located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul. These museums house over one million objects from nearly all periods and civilizations in world history. --Wikipedia
Funerary Stele with a Farewell Scene, late 5th century BCE (Anisos, Turkey)
Statue of Baebia, mid 1st century BCE
Statue of Emperor Hadrian, 117-138 CE (Hierapytna, Crete)
Relief Depicting Chariot Race 530-520 BCE (Cyzicus, Greece - now part of Turkey)
Frieze Depicting a Flying Nike 1st half of the 5th century BCE (Xanthus, Turkey)
Thasos Relief. Funerary Stele with a Symposium Scene 470-460 BCE (Thasos, Greece)
Statue of Alexander the Great mid 3rd century BCE (Magnesia ad Sipylum, Turkey)
Statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius 161-180 CE (Antalya, Turkey)
Statue of Tyche 2nd century CE (Praises ad Hypium, Turkey)
Alexander Sarcophagus (Marble) 312-307 BCE (Sidon, Lebanon)
Amphora (Terracotta) 6th century BCE
Hydria (Terracotta) 5th-4th century BCE (Rhodes, Greece)
Female Head (Terracotta) 7th-6th century BCE (Khalkis, Greece)
Crown (Gold) mid 3rd century BCE (Bergama, Turkey)
The New Mosque (Turkish: Yeni Cami) and later New Valide Sultan Mosque (Turkish: Yeni Valide Sultan Camii) after its partial reconstruction and completion between 1660 and 1665, is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in the Eminönü quarter of Istanbul. It is situated on the Golden Horn, at the southern end of the Galata Bridge, and is a notable Istanbul landmark marking the crossing from the old historic core of the city to the Beyoğlu (Pera) district.
The construction of the mosque began in 1597. It was ordered by Safiye Sultan, who was the wife of Sultan Murad III and later Valide Sultan (Queen Mother) of Sultan Mehmed III. She ordered the mosque in her capacity as Valide Sultan, two years after Mehmed III's ascension to the Ottoman throne in 1595, hence the original formal name "Valide Sultan Mosque". --Wikipedia
The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Turkey which is straddled by the city of Istanbul. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental boundaries between Asia and Europe. It also divides Turkey by separating Asia Minor from Thrace. It is the world's narrowest strait used for international navigation. --Wikipedia
Dolmabahçe Mosque designed by architect Garabet Balyan and commissioned by Bezmailem Valide Sultan in 1855.
Çamlica Mosque, the largest in Turkey, was inaugurated in 2019.
Dolmabahçe Palace is a 19th-century imperial palace along the European shore of the Bosporus, which served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1853 to 1887 and from 1909 to 1922.
Çirağa Palace is currently a five-star hotel.
Mansions on the Bosphorus.
Rumelihisari (Rumelian Fortress) is a historic Ottoman fortress on the east shore of the Bosphorus. It was constructed in 1452 by Sultan Mehmed II to prepare for the conquest of Constantinople.
Kuleli Military High School, founded in 1845, is now a museum.
During our stay in the Fatih district we were looking for coffee and found Rivolta Caffee, owned by a delightful man who had a following of regular customers. It is a small and friendly gathering place. We went there three times; the coffee was fantastic.
Halfway into our time in Istanbul we moved to a hotel just off of İstiklal Avenue, a 1.4-kilometer pedestrian street running from Taksim Square to Tünel. This avenue is a center for shopping and dining. It was very crowded and fun. We found many interesting intersecting streets.
Turkish Delights
Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, colloquially referred to as Istanbul Modern, is a contemporary art gallery located inside the Galataport complex in the Beyoğlu district of the city. Inaugurated on December 11, 2004, Istanbul Modern was Turkey's first modern and contemporary art gallery and focuses on Turkish as well as international artists. --Wikipedia
The Landscape of Silence by Azade Köker 1949
No: 5 by Kemal Onsoy 1954
Earth Man by Neşet Günal 1974
Untitled by Abidin Elderoğlu 1965 (tapestry)
My Hell by Fahreinissa Zeid 1951
The Arena of the Sun by Fahreinissa Zeid 1954
Race Care by Mehmet Güleryüz 2007
And...that wraps up our Cities Tour 2026. I hope that you enjoyed the ride.
Next up, a look back in time
