Showing 1-11 of 11 results
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Aya Sofya
Called Hagia Sofia in Greek, Sancta Sophia in Latin and the Church of the Divine Wisdom in English, İstanbul's most famous monument has long and fascinating history. Built by Emperor Justinian, it was constructed on the site of Byzantium's acropolis, which had also been the site of two earlier Aya Sofyas.
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Beyazit Square & İstanbul University
Beyazıt Square is officially called Hürriyet Meydanı (Freedom Square), though everyone knows it simply as Beyazıt. Under the rule of the Byzantines it was called the Forum of Theodosius. Sections of the forum's columns decorated with stylised oak-knot designs were dug up from the square during the 1950s and can be seen on the other side of Yeniçeriler Caddesi.
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Çemberlitaş
This is one of city's most ancient and revered monuments: a derelict column known as Çemberlitaş (also known as the Hooped, Banded Stone or Burnt Column). Erected by Constantine the Great (r 324-37) to celebrate the dedication of Constantinople as capital of the Roman Empire in 330, the column was placed in what was the grand Forum of Constantine and was topped by a statue of the great emperor himself.
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Fethi Ahmet Paşa Yalı
On the Asian shore of the Bosphorus is the Fethi Ahmet Paşa Yalı, built in the late 18th century. The word yalı comes from the Greek word for 'coast', and describes the waterside wooden summer residences along the Bosphorus built by Ottoman aristocracy and foreign ambassadors in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, now all protected by the country's heritage laws. This one is known as the 'pink yalı '.
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Galata Bridge
Nothing is quite as evocative as walking across the Galata Bridge. At sunset, when the Galata Tower is surrounded by shrieking seagulls and the mosques atop the seven hills of the city are thrown into relief against a soft red-pink sky, the view from the bridge is spectacularly beautiful.
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Galata Tower
The cylindrical Galata Tower stands sentry over the approach to 'new' İstanbul. For centuries the tallest structure in Beyoğlu, it dominates the skyline north of the Golden Horn. Originally constructed in 1348, the tower was the high point (at 67m, literally and figuratively) in the Genoese fortifications of Galata, and has been rebuilt many times.
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Kamondo Stairs
The curvaceous 18th-century Kamondo Stairs, one of Beyoğlu's most distinctive pieces of urban design, run south from Kart Çınar Sokak. Around the corner from the stairs you'll find the Schneidertempel Art Centre. This art gallery, which is housed in a modest former synagogue, hosts shows of Jewish art, usually contemporary and local in origin.
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Kiz Kulesi
It's appropriate that the Kız Kulesi, one of this maritime city's most distinctive landmarks, is on the water. Arriving at Üsküdar by ferry, you'll notice the squat tower on a tiny island to the right (south), just off the Asian mainland. In ancient times a predecessor of the current 18th-century structure functioned as a tollbooth and defence point; the Bosphorus could be closed off by means of a chain stretching from here to Seraglio Point.
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Mihrimah Sultan Camii
The great Sinan put his stamp on the entire city and this mosque, constructed in the 1560s next to the Edirnekapı section of Theodosius' great wall, is one of his best works. Commissioned by Süleyman the Magnificent's favourite daughter, Mihrimah, it has recently been restored. The mosque is noted for its delicate stained-glass windows and its large interior space, made particularly light by its 19 windows in each arched tympanum.
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Patisserie Markiz
In Pera's heyday, there was no more glamorous spot to be seen than Patisserie Lebon in the Grand Rue de Pera (now İstiklal Caddesi). The place to enjoy gateaux and gossip, it was favoured by the city's European elite, who dressed to kill when they popped in for afternoon tea. Noting this, tailors, furriers and milliners opened shops in the adjoining Passage Orientale and did a brisk trade, making it the city's most exclusive retail precinct.
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Taksim Square
The symbolic heart of modern İstanbul, this busy square is named after the stone reservoir on its western side, once part of the city's old water-conduit system. The main water line from the Belgrade Forest, north of the city, was laid to this point in 1732 by Sultan Mahmut I (r 1730-54). Branch lines then led from the taksim to other parts of the city.
Showing 1-11 of 11 results
