Feel Like A Movie Star In The Old City Istanbul!

Etiya Res

Feb 27 1073 read

Istanbul, the Cradle of many civilizations throughout the ages, the largest city, and principal seaport of Turkey.

In this city, you can find great and amazing historical attractions and a very wide range of variant traditional heritage because this magnificent city was the home of many civilizations and was the capital of both the Byzantine and the Ottoman Empire.

This portion of the city is basically what used to be called Constantinople, being a peninsula surrounded by bodies of water to the north, east, and south (the Golden Horn, Bosphorus, and the Marmara Sea. The old walled city of Istanbul stands on a triangular peninsula between Europe and Asia.

The old city of Istanbul contains about 9 square miles (23 square km), but the present municipal boundaries stretch a great deal beyond. The original peninsular city has seven hills, requisite for Constantine’s “New Rome.” Six are crests of a long ridge above the Golden Horn the other is a solitary eminence in the southwest corner. Around their slopes are many of the mosques and other historic landmarks that were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985.

Whether it's walking ancient city walls, haggling in historic bazaars, feeling the holiness of the Ottoman mosques, sipping beer at a rooftop bar, watching the sun go down on the Golden Horn, or relaxing in a Turkish bath, there's always something to do in the Old City of Istanbul, a location accurately known as 'the city of the desire of the world'.

Whether it's walking ancient city walls, haggling in historic bazaars, absorbing the holiness of the Ottoman mosques, sipping beer at a rooftop bar, watching the sun go down on the Golden Horn, or relaxing in a Turkish bath, there's always something more to do in the Old City of Istanbul, a location accurately referred to as the 'city of the desire of the world.

Visit The Old City Of Istanbul! Feel Like A Movie Star!

Here are some of the great places to visit and activities to do when you visit the Old City of Istanbul:

Walkthrough Topkapi Palace or Topkapi Saray is a large museum in the eastern Fatih district of Istanbul. This palace was built by order of Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, Topkapi was originally called the new palace, meaning cannon gate. Topkapi Palace is a whole series of buildings located between the gardens, a visit to this palace one day is hardly enough to see this great palace.

From this palace, there was an empire over which many Ottoman sultans ruled, and that stretched from the Balkans to the Arabian Peninsula and from North Africa to the Crimea.

In this palace, there are tiled stalls, amusement parks, antique warehouses, large kitchens, and a museum that displays the imperial collections of the Ottoman Empire and maintains a wide range of books and manuscripts in its library.

Discover the Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia Mosque, where the Hagia Sophia Mosque depicts the religious changes that occurred over the ages of the city, with minarets and Islamic inscriptions as well as luxurious Christian mosaics. More than a thousand years of history separate these two magnificent huge buildings, rising proudly 500 meters in the heart of Sultanahmet.

The history of Hagia Sophia, or what was previously known as the Church of Holy Wisdom, dates back to the year 527 when it was built by order of Emperor Justinian (one of the most important emperors in the Byzantine era) to be one of the greatest buildings of Christian worship in the world, with its stunning central dome and interior golden mosaic decoration. A short stroll through a green square with a magnificent fountain takes you to the famous Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque), which was intentionally built opposite the Hagia Sophia to emulate the wonders of the previous structure.

The building was named Blue Mosque because of the blue Iznik tiles used in its construction to a large extent. Construction of the mosque began in August 1609, the responsible engineer was Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa, the student of the great architect Mimar Sinan.

Immerse yourself in the biggest market of Istanbul, the famous Grand Bazaar.

The Grand Bazaar has many secrets waiting for you to discover and contains the charm and nobility of the Ottoman civilization that you will definitely feel upon entering one of the many historical doors of the bazaar. This bazaar contains many shops that number about 4000 and they sell literally everything. You will find traditional Turkish gold sellers, sellers of traditional clothes, traditional carpets and rugs, Turkish delights, and many other things, in addition to many restaurants and traditional tea houses with Ottoman splendor and Historical mosques. During your visit to the Grand Bazaar, you will find many beautiful cheap souvenirs that you will definitely love to buy for yourself and your loved ones.

Relaxing at one of Istanbul's historical Hamams, Cleanliness in the Turkish and Ottoman traditions is a very important pillar. Throughout the ages, many Ottoman sultans built a lot of Turkish Hamams as a service and a guarantee for the public health of the people of the region. These Hamams are famous for their traditional hot steam rooms and Turkish massages that help relax after a long day of work. Many visitors flock daily to these baths to get this distinctive experience, relax on the warm marble, immerse themselves in hot water from traditional Turkish copper vessels, and get the famous Turkish massage. There are three famous Turkish baths in old Istanbul which are the Hürrem Sultan, Cağaloğlu, and Çemberlitaş Hamamı, all of which offer a distinctive and memorable experience for visitors.