Turkey Guide
İstanbul
The two faces of İstanbul can come as something of a shock. In many ways, it is very much a European city – with tree-lined boulevards, chic café-bars and modern shopping malls – but step away from the main drag and you enter another age and another culture. Scrap-metal merchants with handcarts, hamals (stevedores) carrying burdens of merchandise twice their own size and weight, hapless beggars and shoeshine boys, all frequent the backstreets around the city centre, loudly proclaiming their business until late at night.
Yet İstanbul is the only city in the world to have played capital to consecutive Christian and Islamic empires, both of which have left remarkable legacies. Sultanahmet, the cultural centre of the city, is home to the imposing Aya Sofya, the former Byzantine church, and the six-minaretted Sultanahmet Camii (or Blue Mosque). The juxtaposition of the two cultures would be fascinating enough in itself, but it's made more so by the fact that the transition between them was a process of assimilation and adoption. The city walls of Theodosius II have been preserved because they were refortified by Mehmet the Conqueror, and most of the city's churches were reconsecrated as mosques – not least Aya Sofya itself, which was a constant source of inspiration to Islamic architects.
Highlights
1 Afternoon tea at the Pera Palas Hotel Passengers from the Orient Express used to stay here, in one of the city's most atmospheric hotels.
2 Aya Sofya The Church of the Divine Wisdom was the largest enclosed space in the world for a thousand years.
3 Topkapı Palace Contemplate the majesty of the Ottoman sultanate in the fine buildings, gilded pavilions and immaculate gardens.
4 Kariye Museum Frescoes portraying the life of Christ are among the most evocative of all İstanbul's Byzantine treasures.
5 İstiklâl Caddesi İstanbul's most elegant street boasts a wealth of palaces, churches, shops, restaurants and bars.
6 Nevizade Sokak Soak up the atmosphere in one of the numerous traditional fish restaurants or bars along İstanbul's liveliest street.
7 İstanbul Modern Bold attempt to showcase (mainly Turkish) contemporary art in a converted warehouse with stunning views over the Bosphorus.
Read more ▼
- Practical Information ▼
- Sight(s) ▼