Individual tour of Istanbul "Old City" Sultanahmet

Description of the tour:

After the meeting at the hotel, we will head to the so-called Old Town, to the Sultan Ahmet district, where the brightest sights are located in walking proximity to each other. On the square with fountains there will be a view of the majestic Blue Mosque and the beautiful Hagia Sophia, where we will alternately go. We will also visit the Roman Hippodrome and the Sultan's Palace of Topkapi, and then go down to the cool, mysterious place, the underground reservoir of the Basilica, where we will see the head of Medusa, feed the fish and make a wish at the magic column.

Excursion to the Roman Hippodrome:

The largest of the five Constantinople Hippodromes, the second largest in the Mediterranean, after the Great Circus in Rome, is used as the Turkish Ethnographic Islamic Art Museum. It was used as a place of horse races, gladiatorial battles, triumphal processions, public acts related to the transfer or addition of imperial power and the execution of executions. It was a kind of center of social and political life of the common people of the capital. There you will see the German spring, the column of Constantine, the palace of Ibrahim Pasha.

Excursion to the Blue Mosque of Sultan Ahmed:

The mosque is located on the shores of the Sea of Marmara in the historic center of Istanbul in the Sultanahmet area opposite the Aya Sophia Museum. The mosque is one of the symbols of the city. The architecture of the mosque combines two styles - classical Ottoman and Byzantine. According to legend, the sultan ordered the construction of a standard number of (4) gold (altyn) minarets, but the architect confused something and built six (alta) minarets. The construction of the mosque lasted seven years and was completed in 1616, a year before the Sultan's death.

Excursion to the Basilica reservoir:

History Underground - Basilica Reservoir. The Basilica Reservoir, or as it is now called, the Yerebatan Palace (Underground Palace), located southwest of Ayasofya, is considered one of the most impressive monuments in Istanbul. A huge underground reservoir was built on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, because of the countless columns rising from the water, the people called this place – the Palace of Yerebatan. During the period of the republic, the Basilica Reservoir, after restoration, was turned into a museum by the City Hall of Istanbul and opened to tourists who do not leave the city without visiting this impressive building of antiquity. In 1985, the repository was closed for repairs, from it were removed from the mud and built paths for excursions 50,000, 1987 and reopened in. In May 1994, the Basilica Reservoir again underwent repair and cleaning, and today continues its centuries-old history, and how fish once swim in it. Visitors to this unusual museum can watch how fish swim among the numerous columns, and to the sounds of classical music heard under the ancient vaults go on a mental journey back in time.

Excursion to the temple of St. Sophia:

The former patriarchal Orthodox cathedral, later a mosque, now a museum; the world-famous monument of Byzantine architecture, a symbol of the “golden age” of Byzantium. The official name of the monument today is the Museum of Hagia Sophia (Tourist Cathedral of Hagia Sophia).

During the Byzantine Empire, the cathedral was located in the center of Constantinople next to the imperial palace. It is currently located in the historic center of Istanbul, Sultanahmet district. After the capture of the city by the Ottomans, the Sophia Cathedral was converted to a mosque, and in 1935 it acquired the status of a museum. In 1985, Sofia Cathedral, among other monuments of the historic center of Istanbul, was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Excursion to Topkapi Palace:

The main palace of the Ottoman Empire is just behind Hagia Sophia. The palace includes four courtyards. The first leads to the main entrance, there are ticket offices and on the foundation of the ancient temple of Aphrodite built a slightly younger (1700 years old) Church of St. Irene.

Entrance to the second courtyard through the Greeting Gate. The Harem is on the left. Here lived wives, eunuchs, concubines and the mother of the sultan - the mistress of this part of the palace.

The Gate of Happiness leads to the third courtyard. At the entrance there is a small pavilion - the audience hall, where negotiations were conducted under the noise of the fountain. On the right is a collection of sultans' clothes. Next is a treasury of three halls, here are collected jewelry - for example, an 86-carat diamond "Spoon", surrounded by 49 smaller diamonds. Near the entrance to the Assembly of sacred relics, such as the tooth of the Prophet Muhammad, hair from the beard of the Prophet, the banner of the Prophet, the clothes of the Prophet. There are also Christian shrines - the hand of St. John the Baptist, for example.

In the fourth courtyard there used to be the famous Tulip Garden, there was even the position of “Minister of Tulips”. The homeland of these flowers is not Holland, but the Ottoman Empire, which is why the tulip (or lale) is chosen as a tourist symbol of the country.

Excursion to the Egyptian market "Mysyr charshasy"

One of the most famous local markets is the Egyptian market or Mysyr Charshysy. The Egyptian market is also known as the Spice Market. It is the second largest market in Istanbul after the Grand Bazaar. It is built in the shape of a mirror-reverse letter La gate and has 6. The bazaar domes are covered in lead.

The Egyptian market is behind the New Mosque, famous for its piazza with pigeons. It is located at the very edge of the shopping quarter, where it opens to the Golden Horn. This is the oldest market in Istanbul. It was built by the mother of Sultan Mehmed the Fourth in the year with the New Mosque of 1660. He was given a certain function: to provide funding for the construction of the mosque. According to legend, on the site of the existing stood a market called “Marco Envalos”, and it was during the heyday of the Byzantine Empire. It was called Egyptian or a manger, as the goods sold here were transported through Egypt, and ships arriving from that country unloaded their cargo near the market. According to this version, the construction of the market was made with funds from taxes in Cairo, the capital of Egypt. The name "Egyptian Market" appeared, first of all, in the folk vocabulary, and only then it received official status.