Istanbul Discover Istanbul 4 Days / 3 Nights
A city much immortalized in art, literature and antiquity, Istanbul today is a sprawling metropolis of old and new. The old part of Istanbul is the old city of Byzantium surrounded by the original city walls on one side, then by the Golden Horn on another and by the Sea of Marmara on the third side. The new modernized section built at the end of the 19 th century is the current business center of Istanbul. The final section is the Asian side, with its residential streets, separated from the European half by the Bosphorus. Blue Mosque: Built between 1609 and by Mehmet Aga, a student of the great architect Sinan, it has 260 windows and 6 minarets forming an impressive skyline from the sea. Originally built as a complex consisting of a covered bazaar, a Turkish bath, a soup Kitchen for the poor, a hospital, schools, and later the tomb of Sultan Ahmet I, not all of the structures have survived. The inside of the Blue Mosque is covered by more than 20,000 Iznik tiles. The floor is covered with carpets donated by believers. The murals are inscribed with verses from the Koran. Saint Sophia: Built originally by Emperor Justinian in 532-537 AD, St. Sophia was originally the largest church in the Christian World, built by Anthemius of Tralles and Isodorus of Miletus, St. Sophia took six years to complete. It was reconstructed in 558 AD after the earthquake of 556 that ruined the dome. In 1453 Mehmet II conquered Istanbul converting the city and the church to Islam in the process. Today, the beautiful Christian mosaics and Islamic calligraphy testify to the spiritual beauty and harmony of both religions. | |
|
