Day 2, destinations
---------------DAY 2-----------------
Second day, you can visit:
1) Grand Bazaar - (2-5 hours)
2) Bosphorus ferry tour-(1 hour)
3) Mosques-(2-3 hours)
4) Churchs-(1-2 hours)
5) Galata Bridge-(20 min.)
6) Galata Tower-(1 hour)
Now we can start to explain these places one by one. If you use this order you will not waste your time with walking alot ;) I will edit my blog in time and u can see more details apart from these destination but for now i ll just try to explain these points, keep on reading ;) ok you can see Grand Bazaar, take a Bosphorus ferry tour, Mosques, Churchs, Galata Bridge and Galata Tower, by the way i traveled these places, if there are some better places to see you can recommend me, im not a resident of istanbul so you can also recommend destinations and i will add them to my blog ;)
----------------1) Grand Bazaar----------------The
Grand Bazaar (or
Covered Bazaar,
Kapalıçarşı ("Covered Bazaar")) in istanbul is one of the largest covered markets in the world with more than 58 streets and 4,000 shops, and has between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.
Grand Bazaar(Kapalı Çarşı)
It is well known for its jewelry, pottery, spice, and carpet shops. Many of the stalls in the bazaar are grouped by type of goods, with special areas for leather coats, gold jewelry and the like. The bazaar contains two
bedestens (domed masonry structures built for storage and safe keeping), the first of which was constructed between 1455 and 1461 by the order of Sultan Mehmed the conqueror. The bazaar was vastly enlarged in the 16th century, during the reign of Sultan Suleyman, and in 1894 underwent a major restoration following an earthquake.
If you like taking photos and if you want to see the scenery of asia and europe parts, you should get in a bosphorus ferryboat and take a bosphorus tour. Discover the wealth of impressive sights all along the shores in a Bosphorus boat trip along Istanbul's famous waterway dividing Europe and Asia - take in the colors and aromas of the
Spice Market, the tiny
Rustem Pasha Mosque, a
Bosphorus Cruise Sightseeing Tour , the sumptuously decorated Ottoman
Dolmabahce Palace and the small picturesque fishermen's village of
Ortakoy.
Bosphorus ferry tour
...... i really love taking photos when im in a ferry hehe highly recommended :P,,,,,
Whether you take a traditional ferryboat, or a faster, you're sure to enjoy a tour-cruise up the Bosphorus. You can do it in as little as 1 hour
You set out from the Eminonu Feribot docks (on the Golden horn between Galata Bridge and Sirkeci station) and head north toward the Black Sea.
Beyazid Square, University Gate
----------------3) Mosques---------------
The New Mosque (Yeni Cami), in istanbul's Eminonu district on the Golden Horn at the southern end of Galata Bridge, is officially the Mosque of the Valide Sultan (Queen Mother) because it was commissioned by Safiye, mother of Sultan Mehmet III in 1597.
The Suleiman Mosque was built on the order of sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and constructed by the great Ottoman architect Sinan. The construction work began in 1550 and the mosque was finished in 1557. The mosque is modeled in part on the style of a Byzantine basilica, particularly the Hagia Sophia, which was perhaps a conscious move on the part of the sultan to create a continuity and a symbolic connection with the city's past.
New mosque,
The Suleiman Mosque was ravaged by a
fire in 1660 and was restored on the command of sultan Mehmed IV by architect Fossatı. The restoration, however, changed the mosque into a more baroque style, damaging the great work severely.
The Fatih mosque complex included a caravansary, a hospital, several hamams, the kitchens, and a market, which combined to form a university that instructed up to 1,000 students at any given time. The complex was restored by Bayezit II following an earthquake in 1509 but it was severely damaged in the 1766 earthquake. Except for the mihrab, the medreses (schools), and the inner courtyard, the damaged complex was demolished under Mustafa III and the new construction was completed in 1771.
Sehzade Mosque and Külliye 1543 - 1548, Architect: Mimar Sinan, At the age of 54, Sinan, the Great and already famed architect, considered himself an "apprentice" when he built the Sehzade Mosque, because it was here that he encountered the problem posed by the half-dome, though he came up with a very elegant solution using four half-domes.
Fatih Mosque
Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent commissioned the mosque in memory of his beloved son, Prince Mehmet. The Sehzade Külliye, which was completed before the mosque itself, was made up of the Tomb of Sehzade Mehmed, a theology school, a soup kitchen and a printing house.
Beyazit Mosque, The complex, which is scattered throughout Beyazit Square, was built by Sultan Bayezid II and completed in the years 1500-1505. It was originally thought to have been designed by Mimar Sinan Hayreddin or Mimar Kemaleddin but later research suggests the architect may been Yakubsah Bin Sultan. The complex is composed of a mosque, a kitchen, a primary school, a hospital, a medrese, a hamam, a soup kitchen for the poor and a caravanserai. It differs from the Fatih complex before it in that it was not built symmetrically but in a seemingly random style. Beyazit Mosque is at the center of the complex. Its main dome is 16.
Suleymaniye Mosque
78 meters in diameter and is supported by four pillars. An oddity is that one of the minarets is 79 meters from the other and is contiguous with the hospital.
Laleli Mosque, View looking up at the dome and its eight supporting arches, with the mihrab apse seen at the bottom center. The gilt lattice of the royal lodge appears at the upper left corner. The painting of the domes may be old-fashioned, but the outside details are Ottoman Baroque
---------4) Churchs----------
----- SOON ------
-------5) Galata Bridge--------
The Galata Bridge (Galata Köprüsü) is a bridge that spans the golden horn in istanbul. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels.
Galata Bridge
The oldest recorded bridge over the Golden Horn in Istanbul was built during the reign in the 6th century AD close to the area at the western end of the city. In 1453, the Turks assembled a mobile bridge by putting their ships next to each other and used it for transporting their troops from one side of the Golden Horn to the other.
-----------6) Galata Tower--------------
The Galata Tower (Turkish: Galata Kulesi), is located in Istanbul, Turkey, to the north of the Golden Horn. One of the city's most striking landmarks, it is a huge, cone-capped cylinder that dominates the skyline on the Galata side of the Golden Horn. The 66.90 m tower (62.59 m without the ornament on top) was the city's tallest structure when built. The tower was restored and slightly modified several times during the Ottoman period when it was used as an observation tower for spotting fires. In 1638, Hezarfen Ahmet Çelebi flew as an early aviator using artificial wings from this tower over the Bosphorus to the slopes of Üsküdar on the Anatolian side.
Galata Tower
In the 1960s the original wooden interior of the tower was replaced by a concrete structure and it was opened to the public. There is a restaurant and café on its upper floors which commands a magnificent view of Istanbul and the Bosphorus.
