• Egyptian Bazaar:

The Egyptian Bazaar (Misir Carsisi in Turkish) is also known as Spice Market. It’s located just behind the Yeni Mosque at Eminonu neighborhood, at the entrance of the Golden Horn. The Bazaar was originally made of wood in mid-17th century by the architect Kazim Aga, and got its final restorations during mid-forties. The name comes from the fact that Egyptians used to sell their spices here and that it once received income from taxes levied on Egypt. Instead the English name comes from the days when the Bazaar was specialized on selling spices and herbs, medicinal plants and drugs. Lately, there are also shops selling stuff other than spices but you can still see and smell many interesting spices, dried fruits and nuts, teas, oils and essences, sweets, honeycombs, and aphrodisiacs.

The Spice Market has 86 shops inside. Outside there is a plant market on one side and a food market on the other. There are 6 gates of the L-shaped Bazaar. The ceiling is higher respect to Grand Bazaar, and this is also covered with domes.

Make sure to visit the Egyptian Bazaar, more colourful and vibrant in Ramadan than their usual.

• Blue Mosque:

Sultan Ahmed Mosque, known as the Blue Mosque by many tourists because of its bluish interior decoration, is the most important mosque of Istanbul standing next to the Byzantine Hippodrome in the old city center. It was built by the Ottoman sultan Ahmed I between 1609 – 1616 facing Hagia Sophia, in order to compete with it. Its architect was Sedefkar Mehmet Aga, a poet and inlayer as well, and a student of the greatest architect Sinan.

Like all the big and important mosques of that time, also the Sultan Ahmed Mosque was built as a complex including a theological school, an imperial lodge, a kitchen for the poor, bazaar shops to raise money for the maintenance works, and a small library. This is the only mosque in Istanbul having 6 minarets; four of these have three balconies on each, and two have two balconies on each, that makes a total of 16 in all, reached by spiral stairs (closed to the public).

There are 3 entrances to the mosque, and after entering inside one gets shocked by the floral and geometrical interior decoration and beauty of over 21 thousand Iznik (Nicea) tiles, about 260 windows with stained glass, and calligraphy art of Koranic verses. The mosque is generally open to the visitors during the day, but closed for a short time during the prayers. During the summer nights, light and sound shows are organized in the park next to the mosque.

• Rustem Pasha Mosque:

Rustem Pasha Mosque (Rüstem Paşa Camii) is a hidden gem of a mosque that some describe as a miniature Blue Mosque, without the crowds. It’s a little tricky to find but it’s well worth it – the stunning beauty of the interior is matched by the feeling of finding a little oasis in the midst of a hectic area.

It was designed by the famous Ottoman architect, Mimar Sinan for Rüstem Paşa, Grand Vizier to Süleyman the Magnificent. However, he died in 1561, before it could be completed in 1563. What makes this mosque stand out is the gorgeous interior, covered in Turkey’s famous Iznik tiles. These intricately designed blue tiles come in a wide variety of floral and geometric patterns.

The Grand Vizier entered popular culture again in recent years, in the popular Turkish TV show, Muhteşem Yüzyıl, which was based on the life of Süleyman the Magnificent (Rüstem Paşa was married to one of his daughters).

• Hippodrome:

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.

The capacity of the hippodrome was approximately 40,000 and it was free and open to male members of the community. At least eight different games could be held throughout the day and it was also used as a symbol of power for the empire. The hippodrome was decorated with monuments that were brought in from across the empire. With these landmarks and monuments -brought from all around the world- the Byzantine Empire was proudly showing its strength and thousands of kilometers long territory ruled by them.

Hippodrome was used by the Ottomans as well and they named it At Meydanı (Horse Square), yet they simply used it as a square. Constructions of İbrahim Paşa Palace in 16th century and Blue Mosque in 17th century damaged the hippodrome. Subsequently, mid-eighteenth century onwards it was abandoned and destroyed. Today, the area is known as Sultanahmet Square and it follows the ground plan and dimensions of the hippodrome.

• Chora Church:

The Chora Church, or Kariye Museum in Turkish, has one of the best examples of Byzantine mosaic art. The museum today is located at Kariye neighborhood near Edirnekapi city walls over the Golden Horn. Originally a Christian church, it was converted into a mosque after the Conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans, and after the Republic it became a museum.

The church was originally built in the early 5th century outside the first wall of Constantinople, as the name Chora means “countryside” in Greek. It’s original name was St. Saviour in Chora and it was a small monastery just outside of the city. Later on, it was destroyed by earthquakes and abandoned for many centuries until the area was inhabited after the city walls were enlarged thus the neighborhood remained within Constantinople.

The Kariye Museum has the best Byzantine mosaics in Istanbul, similar to the ones in Ravenna – Italy. Many mosaics in the narthex and inner narthex describe the life of Jesus Christ and Virgin Mary, with citations from the Old and New Testaments. The typical Ottoman neighborhood with wooden and colorful houses outside the museum is also very interesting to stroll around.

• Dolmabahce Palace:

Where the present Dolmabahce Palace is situated, there once stood and wooden palace, residences and pavilions of the Ottoman dynasty. In palace of all these buildings, a new palace was constructed during the reign of Mahmud II. Some time later, Abdulmecit has this torm down, and in 1853, he has today’s palace built by the arhitect, Karabet Balyan, at a cost of five million gold liras. Built on an area of fifteen thousand square metres, the style of the palace has been influenced by the heavily ornamented style of 19th century.

When looked at from the seaward side, a tall ceremonial section in the middle of the palace can be seen, and apartments on both sides of it are connected to each other by covered passages.

• Pierre Loti Hill:

The name ”loti” come from a name of an exotic flower which grows up in exotic spaces. So who is Pierre Loti?

Gaining the sympathy of Turkish people due to his supports, Pierre Loti was a French author of famous novel ”Aziyade”. It is said that Aziyade was the name of Ottoman woman who Pierre Loti fallen in love once upon a time. For the sake of him, his name was given many places because of his supports to the Ottoman Empire.

Additionally, that special hill includes a huge old historic graveyard in the south slopes of the Hill. Within that graveyard, the tomb of or mausoleum of many famous pashas, sultans, authors are located here.

There is a tea house that has a perfect view of Golden horn from Eyup to Eminonu. It has a magnificent landscape; when you look from at the top of the hill, you will see dreamy location.

There are also many cafes which you can choose from a couple of cafe’s and restaurants like a “nargile house” where you can smoke a water pipe while entertaining your Turkish tea.

So with tea your hand, you should lean back and relax by tasting the unique air.

• Çamlıca Hill:

Camlica, a place with two hills overlooking the Bosphorus and the Marmara Sea, is one of the most favored promenades in Istanbul, and also one of the highest and most charming places in the city. It’s divided into two sections as “Büyük Çamlica” and “Kücük Çamlica”, meaning “Big” and “Small”. Buyuk Camlica is 267 meters above sea level and the other one is 228 meters.

During the Ottoman period, Camlica Hill and some other hills in Istanbul were also used for training birds of prey, such as hawk, falcon and peregrine. Ivaz Fakih, whose grave is in Camlica, was a religious person and a peregrine breeder during that time and the hill was handed to him as Peregrine Grooming Place for the first time, and later to Dogancibasi’s and Sahincibasi’s, heads of falcon and hawk breeders.

Surrounded by historic trees, great flora, colorful flowers and tulips, and with a cool breeze, Camlica attracts many local and foreign visitors enjoying the magnificent panorama of the Bosphorus and the city. The hill is also one of the best locations in Istanbul where the migrating birds can be observed. Bird-watchers from all around the world come here especially in September and October or in the Spring time to watch the birds