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Published: June 28th 2017
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The Yedikule Fortress, built in the mid 14th C
The City Walls were built in the 4th and 5th C We have had an incredible day today in Istanbul. What an action packed day! We got up this morning at about 6:30, and enjoyed breakfast at the hotel. Our guide picked us up about 8:30 and we were off to Yedikule Fortress. The Fortress was completed in 1458 by adding three new towers to a section of the Walls of Constantinople (which date to the 4th C). The Fortress was used a prison in past centuries, and still has a creepy feeling inside. It did have a lovely view though, of the Sea of Marmara.
We then continued to Chora Church, which dates back to the 11th C (the original church was built in the early 4th C, but most of the current church was built in the late 11th C). It's name comes from the fact the original church was built outside the 4th C city walls. During the next century additional protective walls were built further out and the Chora Church was then within the city walls. Chora Church is well known for its frescoes, which are incredibly beautiful. After our visit at the church we headed to Pierre Loti Hill. which is a lovely spot with a
Yedikule Fortress
Susan is in the pink t-shirt, walking towards the Fortress. beautiful view of the Golden Horn. This would have been an ideal place to stop for a Turkish coffee or tea, but unfortunately we didn't have enough time for that.
We then drove to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate at Fener, which was beautiful inside. There was a service going on so we didn't stay long.
We were then dropped off at the tour company office, and we walked to Topkapi Palace, which was built in the mid 1400s. It was the residence for the Sultan and his family for centuries, until in the mid 1800s when the then current Sultan moved to the Dolmabahce Palace. Wow, what a place! The harem was absolutely the best part - such beautiful areas with amazing tilework. I couldn't stop taking pictures. The Treasury had a truly amazing collection of jewels. We slowly moved through the Treasury and the room with the relics, both of which were the most crowded areas at the Palace. We toured around for quite some time, listening to the audio tour on our headsets. It was getting quite hot in the afternoon sun and we were happy to find a place for a well-earned Efes and a
mezze plate.
We then walked to the Grand Bazaar. It sure is something! It is enormous, with hallways leading to hallways, all packed full of stalls and very persistent men trying to convince you to come into their store. I was afraid to look around much because if they caught even the slightest hint of interest, they would pounce on you. We didn't buy anything. While I'm glad we went it was definitely not my favourite place. The part I liked best was an area we found on the way out, where they sold books. After we escaped from the craziness of the Bazaar we stopped for a Turkish tea to refresh ourselves after all the walking and touring we had done. We made our way back to the hotel, where we are resting now. We meet the group at 8 pm for a meeting and optional dinner afterwards (we were supposed to meet at 7 but it was changed to 8). I don't mind, it is nice to rest for a bit. Tomorrow we see the Blue Mosque and the Hippodrome, then it's off to Ankara. I wish we had a few more days in Istanbul since we
really like the city and there are more things we would like to see and more areas we would like to explore. If we have time when we come back at the end of the trip I would like to go to the Galata Tower.
Even though we didn't buy anything in the Grand Bazaar, we did a little shopping today. There were very nice gift shops at the Chora Church and the Topkapi Palace, and we bought 2 t-shirts at the Topkapi shop, and a lovely scarf at Chora (it became my favourite scarf which I wear a lot). Good bye from Istanbul!
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