Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it's Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, Constantinople
Why did Constantinople get the works
That's nobody's business but the Turks.
And so it is indeed, nobody's business but the Turks - but a pretty interesting place all the same.
It's well documented that Istanbul sits in a strategic location with the Bosphorus dividing the city into sections - most notably the continent of Asia on one side and the European continent on the other side.
Not only that but the European side of the city is further divided by another stretch of water, beautifully named The Golden Horn.
Istanbul is a mix of modern and older philosophies with Istanbul being far more modern than say, Morocco - and more akin to western Europe - but still nonetheless with an older charm in certain areas.
We only had a few nights to spend in Istanbul, so we would be far from experts, especially as the city is absolutely huge!
In fact, we really only scratched the surface by exploring the Sultanahmet section but what we did see was very interesting.
We visited the usual sites - Topkapi Palace (the Royal Palace of days gone by) and it's Harem where women were trained to, shall we say, please the Royal family. This Palace was situated on the hill overlooking the Bosphorus, so great views all round there. The downside was the amount of people there.
This surprised us a little but looking out over the Bosphorus, we could see the massive cruise ships in town, and there's the reason.
Aside from the multitudes of American and German cruise ship tourists, the palace was pretty cool and well worth a look. I suppose it compares somewhat to the Alcazar in Seville or the Alhambra in Grenada (both in Spain) but it was more chaotic and less well maintained in Istanbul than the Spanish palaces - but still quite good.
So, onwards to Sultanahmet Mosque, otherwise known as The Blue Mosque.
First, let's just say that there are mosques EVERYWHERE in Istanbul.
I know there are a lot of western Churches in large cities such as London, Sydney or wherever, and perhaps it's because they are so visual with the minarets (towers) but seriously, there are stacks of them. This was all good mind, as we visited several mosques as the architecture is superb and it's quite interesting to learn more about other religions.
In fact, the Turks seemed very liberal with allowing visitors and the mosques were also free - save for a small donation (receipt provided!) at the end of the visit. Great to see the mosques and each a little different and offering something new and interesting - same for Christian cathedrals and churches for that matter.
Anyway, some people we spoke to mentioned that they had missed seeing the Sultanahmet Mosque as it was prayer time when they visited or others had said it was very busy with tour groups. Perhaps we were fortunate, but it was very quiet when we visited with no tour groups. It was JUST before prayer time so maybe this is the time to visit.
At any rate, this mosque is more famously known as The Blue Mosque. This is due to the colour inside the mosque with the majority of the pattern being a shade of blue. To be honest, i'd expected it to be more blue, so there you go. I'd also read that it was viewed unfavourably at the time it was built as it was built with six minarets - instead of the usual four. Apparently, six minarets is the number at Meccah, the holiest Islam Mosque city and it was deemed inappropriate for six - nonetheless, looked pretty good to me.
Also, the columns holding the central dome are ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE!!! The book i'd read had castigated this but to me, it seemed quite interesting and let's be honest, entirely appropriate. After all, the option of a smaller column and having the roof come down didn't seem favourable to me. That said, the columns in the Haghia Sophia are significantly less visible and this dome is as large, if not larger, so a point for reference really.
The Blue Mosque was interesting with some colourful detail on the dome ceiling and surrounds and one of the largest chandeliers I have ever seen.
Outside, the Sultanahmet Mosque is nothing short of impressive, as the photos (somewhat) attest. (You really have to be there, but a reasonable representation of the beauty and magnitude of the mosque).
The Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar are ancient covered marketplaces - the first covered marketplaces in the world i'm led to believe. The Bazaars are comprised of several sections, each selling various types of material (tat mainly!).
Apparently there were several drinking fountains, many mosques, a police station, school and other facilities in the Grand Bazaar but now it's pretty much wall to wall shops.
I personally didn't find the markets as interesting or compelling as the souks in Marrakech as there wasn't the variety of goods, colour and aromas as there, with the main goods being modern clothes and handbags (generally fakes of big brands). If this is your go, then good luck to you, you'll love it.
Me, I prefer more traditional goods that are generally more representative of the local culture, although the spices and local sweets (turkish delight, nougat & baklava) are always worth a look.
The building itself was quite interesting though and the fact that it was so old was quite impressive.
One of the highlights for me was the Basilica Cistern. This is an ancient subterranean, Roman made lake with fabulously stylish columns and ceilings.
This Cistern was made famous in the James Bond movie, From Russia With Love. You may recall James Bond in a small dinghy moving through the waterway to spy on the Russians above. Of course, the Russian embassy is not directly above the cistern but hey, that's movies for you.
The Turks have done well with this attraction and it is lit really well.
Even with loads of people down there, it was very peaceful and I can imagine that on a hot day in Istanbul, this would be the place to go as it was nice and cool.
Finally, in the Basilica Cistern, there are two massive column bases that have been pilfered from somewhere else. They represent Medusa and as you can see from the photo, they are quite large and impressive.
The Haghia Sophia is situated between the Topkapi Palace and Sultanahmet Mosque. It features a massive dome and for some time, in Roman times, it was considered an extremely important Christian church.
At some point in Turkey's history, it was converted to become a mosque and four minarets were added externally.
To be honest, it is impressive but it is a little run down now. A point noted by the Islamic community who are keen to again turn it from the museum it is now to again be a working mosque. This would probably lead to the Haghia Sophia being restored but on the downside, there is access to a considerable amount of the museum at the moment, so this could change.
In the centre, underneath the dome is possibly the most extensive amount of scaffolding I have seen. So, they are looking to complete repairs and who knows down the track it may well be fully restored. We shall see.
It was also used in the same James Bond movie as mentioned earlier and on size alone, it's pretty impressive.
We had planned on taking a ferry across the Bosphorus to the Asian shore but we got a bit sick on our final day and had to be content with wandering around - lest lose what was left of our breakfast over the side of the ferry. (sounds lame I know, but it was not worth the risk - trust me!)
Istanbul on the whole was a pretty interesting place with vast amounts of traffic to see and hear and in general, far more modern than it probably receives credit for.
