We will start our old city tour with your pick up from your hotel and drive to old city. We will explore the top monuments of istanbul and discover the culture, history and lifestyle.
We will visit Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Hippodrome, Grand Bazaar, Topkapı Palace and more.
The Sultan Ahmed Mosque , popularly known as the Blue Mosque, is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I. It attracts a large number of tourists and is one of the most iconic and popular monuments of Ottoman architecture.
Hagia Sophia, Constructed by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian the 1st between 532 and 537 at the old city center at the historic peninsula of Istanbul as a basilica-plan patriarchal cathedral. After conquest of Istanbul in 1453 by the Ottomans, it was converted into a mosque by Mehmed the Conqueror.
Grand bazaar was first built by Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror and was expanded during the reign of Sultan Süleyman the Great (!520-1566), and reached its present form in 1701. Its extends over 65 streets, covering an area of 30.702 square meters. It contains a mosque, 21 inns, two vaulted bazaars, seven fountains, a well and 3300 shops. It possesses 18 gates, eight of them large, ten of then smaller. It has surrived five fires, and has been restored and repaired and has reached our present times.
Hippodrome of Constantinople, located in Sultanahmet/Istanbul, was a public arena mainly for chariot races. The word hippodrome comes from the Greek hippos (horse) and dromos (way). The Hippodrome of Constantinople was also home to gladiatorial games, official ceremonies, celebrations, protests, torture to the convicts and so on. Hippodrome functioned all in Roman (203-330 CE), Byzantine (330-1453 CE), and Ottoman (1453-1922) periods.
Topkapi Palace Museum Set on top of the most visible hill of Istanbul, Topkapi Palace, is the symbol of the city. Opulent, decadent, and steeped in history, it offers visitors a chance to get to know the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire rather more intimately. It was built in 1461 by Mehmet the Conqueror and remained both the symbolic and political home of the Ottoman Empire until Sultan Abdülmecid I moved the imperial retinue to Dolmabahçe Palace in 1853. During the four centuries in between, it hosted 22 different Sultans and their families.