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Published: November 28th 2007
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey Three Mosques, Two Markets, and One Boat Cruise: Istanbul in a Nutshell
To begin our trek westward we decided to start with Istanbul, gateway to the west (or east depending on which way you’re heading). Located at the natural divide between Europe and Asia, Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus Straight. One side of this huge shipping lane is Europe, the other side is Asia.
Istanbul contains many sights that are well worth any traveler’s time. Given the history of Istanbul as the center of the Roman Empire during its later years, the heart of Orthodox Christianity, the sight of one of the largest mosques in the world and its military significance to the Ottomans, it is no surprise that this huge, expansive city has much to offer. Would two days be enough time to even get a feeling for Istanbul…read below to find out.
A Cold Rainy Day of Mosques Who would have thought that Turkey could be so cold? Well, we knew it was a possibility, but I had hoped it wouldn’t be the case. We originally thought of going to visit other places in Turkey but gave up when we heard it
Dome
Suleyman The Magnificent Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey could be really, really cold in eastern Turkey. I decided to just get used to the cold raininess, this is what we expect for the rest of the winter, so we best get used to it now!
Armed with my camera, a Rick Steve’s guidebook and winter rain gear, we set out on our first day to see Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Both of these sights were within walking distance of our hotel so we were certain we’d at least get them in before we gave up due to the cold.
Our first stop was Hagia Sophia which was originally built to be a church. Built by Justinian in the 6th century, Sophia acted as the patriarchal Cathedral of Constantinople much like the Vatican is in Rome. Later, when the Ottomans took over the area in the mid 1400’s, Sophia was converted into a Mosque. The Ottomans were so enamored of the style of the building that all subsequent mosques built by them had structural similarities to Hagia Sophia.
What is really amazing about the building is the interior. The dome which stands over the nave is tall enough to put the Statue of Liberty
Enjoying The Bosphorus Cruise
Bosphorus Cruise, Istanbul, Turkey inside it. While, by today’s standards, a building that tall isn’t incredibly special, it was considered a wonder when it was built during the sixth century. While Hagia Sophia was being built, the average home owner was building their houses with thatched grass roofs.
Despite the scaffolding on the interior of the building, the inside is truly amazing. If you stand around and watch people enter the building you notice that everyone stops about six feet inside the door to stare for a minute or two before being able to actually pay attention to any of the building's details. The dome itself just makes you feel small, almost insignificant.
After about an hour of walking around enjoying the detail work inside the cathedral/mosque, we decided to move on to our next destination. The Blue Mosque, which is right across the street from Hagia Sophia, looks incredibly similar to its sister across the street. Built more than a thousand years after Hagia Sophia, it truly shows the impact that the once Cathedral and then Mosque had on Muslim architecture.
Built between 1609 and 1616, The Blue Mosque is definitely more impressive on the outside than its neighbor across
Arabic Gravemarker
Suleyman The Magnificent Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey the street. What you immediately notice as you stare at the building from a distance are its distinctive 6 minarets. Many buildings at the time had a couple of minarets to allow the imams to cry out the call to prayer five times a day but few of them had anywhere near this many. At the time the Blue Mosque was built, the Great Mosque in Mecca had six minarets. Out of a fear of competition, the clergy in Mecca actually added a seventh minaret to the Great Mosque.
The interior of the Blue Mosque may be even more impressive than the outside. Its predominant interior color is blue which gives the mosque its name. Unlike Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque is still a working mosque so tourists need to be respectful when entering the building. We took our shoes off and crept quietly inside to enjoy the interior splendor. While the mosque doesn’t have as many individual items/sights of interest as our previous stop, the overall feel of the Blue Mosque is much more impressive. The intricacy of the decoration and size of the room is truly impressive. More than 20,000 decorative tiles were used just in the
Dome Detail
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey lower level of the building alone.
The only down side of the Blue Mosque is that there isn’t much to actually do there as a non-Muslim. Once you’re inside the Mosque there is really only one big room that you can stand and stare at. Pretty much a half hour of staring is enough for anyone. We decided to head on for our final destination after only having been on the Blue Mosque grounds for a little over an hour.
Our final destination of the day was the Suleyman The Maginficent Mosque. With a decent distance to cover and freezing cold temperatures, we decided to catch a cab to the mosque which turned out to be a bit of an adventure. First off, anyone who drives in Istanbul is slightly crazy and that goes twice for taxi drivers. We have, of course, been through much scarier drives on this trip but it was still a bit of a nail biter. I spent most of the drive staring at the floor so that I wouldn’t get more nervous than I necessary. But the true fun didn’t occur until we arrived.
The cab pulled up to the mosque to
Entrance to the Nave
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey drop us off and the guy proceeded to tell us we owed him 35 lira (about US $30). Kel, having done her research knew this was bogus because a metered taxi should have cost us 15 lira. Kel said no way and told me to hand him a twenty. I went along as the man kept saying, “no 35.” When I handed him the twenty he pulled one of the oldest scams in the book and said that I gave him to small a bill. He had palmed the twenty and handed me back a one lira bill. I, being a fairly savvy traveler said, “Uh-uh.” Grabbed the one from him and stepped out of the taxi. He knew he was in the wrong because he didn’t even complain. I ended up feeling pretty good about Kel and I because not only did we not get completely bamboozled, but I managed to get at least one extra lira back from him due to his stupid scam tactics. Either way, it never feels fun to get scammed!
The Suleyman The Magnificent Mosque was well worth the hassle though. Finished in the 1500’s this Mosque which is on a hill over
Front Entrance
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey most of the old city, is by far one of the prettiest buildings we had seen in months. I would highly recommend that anyone who goes to Istanbul check this sight out. It is a bit further out of the way but is well worth any hike or taxi hassle.
The exterior of the Mosque is surrounded by a beautiful green park which makes the area feel serenely separated from the surrounding city. You could spend hours alone exploring the grounds, tombs and graveyard around the outside of the Mosque but the interior is truly spectacular. If you think the Blue Mosque is beautiful, Suleyman the magnificent takes all of that up at least one notch. I would try to describe it in words, but the pictures are really the only way to describe the beauty. Check them out since I am at a loss for words.
Sadly, after leaving the Mosque in such a state of serenity, we were scammed again by the taxi driver who took us back to our hotel. Not only did this guy try to overcharge us but he wouldn’t even take us directly to our hotel. He dropped us by the harbor
Inner Courtyard Entrance
The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey and pointed towards where our hotel would be and then tried to charge us even more for a shorter taxi trip. I gave him a twenty again but at this point was very mad. I would have been irritated by being overcharged but this guy had the audacity to overcharge us and not actually take us where we wanted to go. WHAT A JERK!!
Market Let Downs It turns out that the more you travel, the higher your “cool threshold” becomes. This means that Paris may be exciting to a new traveler but it feels very “normal” to a seasoned traveler. It may even feel pretty dull to people who’ve traveled to really exotic destinations.
While we haven’t traveled as extensively or exotically as many people on Travelblog, we have seen some pretty cool things at this point and thus, our “cool threshold” has increased. It takes a whole lot more for me to say, “Man, that’s cool!” Istanbul was my first real run in with my increased “cool threshold.”
We spent about half of our last day in Istanbul hitting the Grand Bazaar and the Spice Market. Kel, who had visited Istanbul with
Mimber
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey her MBA program 18 months earlier, had talked about how cool the markets were and how novel they felt to her. Sadly, that was all in the past.
Don’t get me wrong, the markets are pretty cool. You can get all sorts of junk and do tons of shopping all in one place. Kind of a Turkish Shopping Mall with thousands of mini stores. But, there isn’t any awe factor in a Turkish market compared with the markets in Morocco. If you want excitement go to Fez, not Turkey.
We spent a couple of hours roaming around the various markets and had some fun looking at various odds and ends. Of course the really fun parts of markets is listening to the sales pitches that get thrown at you by the shop owners. The averge walk through the Grand Bazaar goes like this:
Mike and Kel walk down a narrow path in the bazaar as four shop keepers come out of their bee-hive like nests: Shop keeper 1 : “Hey mister, want to buy bags? You are the best couple in Istanbul!”
Shop keeper 2 : “Sorry…excuse me!! Excuse me!!!”
Nave
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey Shop keeper 3 : “Check this out!! Very good price!”
Shop keeper 4 : “Need some Turkish Viagra??”
Mike and Kel continue walking, making no eye contact with anyone. The only difference is now Mike is smiling because it's all so funny. The average tourist feels bad just passing the sales people by without saying something in return. The moment you respond, they’ve got you hooked and you’ll have to pull yourself away. These guys are persuasive and smooth, they make used car salesmen look like child's play. I find it all very amusing, it’s a game we all play back and forth. Our favorite was the guy who went for an honesty pitch
"Come to my store, we will cheat you less than the other people" Funny.
After a few hours of market time, we decided to take a Bosphorus cruise because our guide book said it was one of the more fun things you could do. Sadly the weather shifted on us and the winds came up making our time on the boat cold and rocky. By time our brief trip was over I was cold and sea sick.
Hagia Sophia From A Distance
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey Never fun! Kel, of course, was just happy to be on a boat - takes very little to please her that way.
Well, hope everyone is doing wonderfully! Thanks for reading!!
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Stephen Paul
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
wonderful
I havnt read the blog yet, but the pics are fantastic! When a great eye is combined with incredible scenery, the pictures are incredible! Nice job..