Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
When Justinian first entered the master-
work he had commissioned, he ex-
claimed, 'Glory to God that I have been
judged worthy of such a work. Oh So-
lomon! I have outdone you!' Almost
1500 years later, stepping beneath the
seemingly
floating dome
, you will share the emperor's excitement.
»
Distance
2km
»
Duration
Four to five hours
Aya Sofya Tombs
Look out for these ornate tombs, the final resting places of five Ottoman sultans. The
great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan designed two, and many royal children, including
19 of Murad III's sons, are buried here. It was customary for Ottoman heirs to kill their
younger brothers in order to safeguard their accession; later, junior siblings were confined
to the
kafes
(cage) in Topkapı Palace (Topkapı Sarayı).
Blue Mosque
The exterior of Sultan Ahmet's grand mosque, with its cascade of domes and six slender
minarets, was an Ottoman retort to the Aya Sofya's wham-bam interior. Its courtyard is
the largest of all Ottoman mosques and the thousands of blue
İznik tiles
inside, lit by 260
windows, give the Sultan Ahmet Camii its unofficial name. On busy days, you may prefer
to admire the facade without joining the long queue.
Hippodrome
This promenade was a Byzantine chariot racing arena, and the centre of Constantinople
life for 1400 years. Wander its length, passing ancient relics such as the well- preserved
pink granite
Obelisk of Theodosius
, carved in Egypt around 1500 BC and brought here
by Theodosius the Great in AD 390. South of the obelisk, the
Spiral Column
emerges
from a hole in the ground. It stood in front of the temple of Apollo at Delphi until AD
330, when Constantine the Great brought it to his new capital city.
Grand Bazaar
To reach the famous Grand Bazaar (Kapalı Çarşı), catch the tram two stops from Sulta-
nahmet to Beyazıt-Kapalı Çarsı, or wander through the backstreets from the Hippodrome
to Divan Yolu (Ordu) Caddesi, the thoroughfare leading west. En route, you can't miss the
tall column known as
Çemberlitaş
, erected to celebrate the dedication of Constantinople
as capital of the Roman Empire in AD 330. Wander the bazaar's colourful maze of stalls,
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