Istanbul - West meets East

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Istanbul is a city of many delights and our four days of exploring was just about sufficient to do justice to the city's famous and popular attractions which included the following;


• A boat trip along the Bosphorus - a wonderful way of viewing the sights and being between the two continents of Europe and Asia
• The Suleymaniye Mosque - probably Istanbul's most important mosque and built between 1550 and 1557
• The Grand Bazaar - a maze of stalls under an intricately painted, vaulted roof
• The Blue Mosque - takes it name from the mainly blue Iznik tilework and is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world
• Haghia Sophia - built in AD537 as a church and in the 15th century the Ottomans converted it into a mosque. One of the world's great buildings
• Topkapi Palace - was the official residence of the sultans for more than 400 years
• Basilica Cistern - vast underground water cistern built by the Romans in AD532


A delightful city full of atsmosphere and history. A must on every tourist's list of places to visit

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Photos

Figure of Christ - Haghia Sophia
Part of the cathedral's original 6th century decoration