I spent the day in Istanbul | İstanbul, probably the most important city in Türkiye, and certainly the largest, but not the capital. It was founded as Byzantium in the 7th century BCE, straddling the Bosphorus Strait, which is considered the boundary between Europe and Asia. In 330 CE, Roman Emperor Constantine renamed the city into Constantinople after himself, and made it the capital of his domains. The so-called Fall of Constantinople in 1453 started the Ottoman Caliphate – sometimes called the Ottoman Empire. The empire survived until it joined World War I and was subsequently defeated – Istanbul was the capital during most of that time, until the Turkish Independence War, when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk made Ankara the capital.

Istanbul is probably the only city in the world which stands between two continents, separated by the Bosphorus strait and the Golden Horn – an estuary flowing into the strait. To the west of the Bosphorus is Europe, and to the east Asia. The European area south of the Golden Horn is called the historic peninsula.

Istanbul has claimed its rightful place in history as a key step of the Silk Road and the spread of Christianity during Roman times. The historic peninsula is a Unesco Heritage Site, the Historic Areas of Istanbul, which the day trip I had hired, called “Classical Istanbul” Estambul Clásica (50 €) was supposed to cover.

I woke up around 7:00 and went down for breakfast. Coffee was… unexpectedly dull, considering the fame of Turkish coffee – and I had two cups to kickstart my brain. The scrambled eggs were particularly good, but the bread so-so. At 8:20, ten minutes before pick-up time, I was ready and waiting at reception. At 9:10 I wrote to the person who had picked me up from the airport, who had told me to text her with any question, and at 9:15 they showed up – there was apparently “a lot of traffic”, and we were stuck in it for a while. I spent the time checking out the ruins of Constantinople’s ancient walls Bizans Surları, which are also part of the Unesco Heritage Site.

The group comprised around 30 people, and the bus headed towards an area called Pierre Loti Tepesi, Pierre Loti Hill, and reached there around 10:00. This is a viewpoint above the Golden Horn Altın Boynuz, with a viewing terrace, a café and the Eyüp Cemetery Eyüp Mezarlığı. We were told we’d visit the cemetery later, and were given twenty minutes to take in the views. Afterwards, we hiked (considering the speed, “marched”) down the hill through the cemetery, and saw several tombstones from the Ottoman period, but there was no visit whatsoever.

We hopped back onto the bus to drive towards the quarter called Fener, which we were told was “movie neighbourhood”. We were going to visit the Venerable Patriarchal Church of Saint George, the Orthodox cathedral of Istanbul Aziz George Katedrali, which closed down as we arrived for “an unknown length of time” because the Patriarch was coming out. Instead of letting us amble through the neighbourhood before the church, the guide insisted on us waiting for about 20 minutes before we all came into the church, and he gave a couple of explanations, and gave us free time to check out the church and the neighbourhood.

The church of St George was one of the few places with “real” security. We got through a lot of places with metal detectors and such with guards who would not even care, but the ones that did were ridiculously strict in contrast. The truth is that with the rise of Turkish nationalism, a lot of the church’s flock were deported, so the church and Patriarch are mostly symbolic and a pilgrimage point, and it has even been attacked by terrorists at times. The church itself used to be the centre of the quarter, which was historically the Greek quarter, even after the Ottoman Turks had taken over former Constantinople. Though the church existed previously, it became the seat of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople since the early 1600s. It has been damaged and rebuilt several times, the latest as recently as 1991. It has three naves and aisles, with a rich iconostasis (decorated screen that separates the altar from the nave) in golden wood.

After the cathedral, I wandered the quarter of Fener on my own for as long as was given us as free time. I found a colourful set of stairs Renkli Merdivenler, which led to nowhere but area pretty. The whole area was a hill, and I climbed up to try to catch a view of a very interesting building – the private school Phanar Roman Orthodox Lyceum Özel Fener Rum Lisesi. The building was designed in an eclectic style by Greek architect Konstantinos Dimadis, and built around 1882, though the school itself dates back from 1597. I also saw a film crew on a break in one of the streets.

Once we were called back to the bus, we headed out for lunch. The entrées looked good, actually Turkish, including hummus, rolled paçanga böreği, dolma (stuffed vine leaves), cacik (Turkish tzatziki). The main was rather unremarkable, and something that I could have easily had in either Jordan or Egypt – a sad-looking plate with eight fries, two slices of cucumber, one slice of tomato, a mouthful of rice, and some chicken and lamb. Dessert were the ubiquitous Turkish delights, which are extremely sweet and I’m not a big fan of. Looking back, however, this was one of the most Turkish meals I ended up having, besides kebaps. During lunch, I made acquaintances with some nice ladies who promised to make sure I was not left behind – which has been a bit of a worry of mine when I’m in a guided tour since my last day in Egypt.

Around 14:00 we walked towards the area known as Sultanahmet Square Sultanahmet Meydanı, the neuralgic centre of historic Istanbul. There, the first stop of the afternoon was Sultanahmet Camii, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque colloquially known as the Blue Mosque. It was built between 1609 and 1617, during the Ottoman era. Designed by architect Sedefkar Mehmed Agha, it was the last great mosque built in the Classical Ottoman style, and combines Byzantine details and Islamic architecture. It has a central dome (43 metres high) with four semi domes and six minarets. The interior is decorated with tiles and mostly blue decoration, hence the name – though honestly I mostly felt it was… golden. The mosque has windows which originally had coloured glass, and are now modern, and it has chandeliers hung from the ceiling, with some of the lamps being ostrich eggs, a typical feature in Turkish mosques. One of the minarets was being restored.

The mosque stands next to the square, which is long and narrow – it is actually built on the former Hippodrome of Constantinople Hipodrom, the centre of the city during the Byzantine period. Upon the founding of Constantinople, both Constantine and his successor Theodosius the Great brought works of art into the area. Today, there stands the Serpent Column Yılanlı Sütun, an ancient bronze column representing a hydra, whose heads are now missing (part of one is now in the nearby Archaeology Museum). Another monument of the square is the Egyptian Obelisk of Theodosius Dikilitaş, originally erected for Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479 – 1425 BCE, 18th century) in Karnak. It stands on a Roman pedestal from the time it was transported to Constantinople around the year 390 CE. The final construction in the square is the German Fountain Alman Çeşmesi (The Kaiser Wilhelm Fountain), a neo-Byzantine fountain that was constructed to commemorate the visit of German Emperor Wilhem II to Istanbul. It has eight sides, with marble columns and an inside covered with golden mosaics.

The official day trip ended there – though they were supposed to take us to the Grand Bazaar. However, the extended tour (25 € extra) included visiting the Orthodox church-turned-mosque-turned-museum-turned-mosque Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. The current structure was commissioned by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I to be the Christian cathedral of Constantinople as the Church of God’s Holy Wisdom, designed by Greek geometers Isidore of Miletus and Anthemius of Tralles. At the time it was built, it was the largest interior open space in the world.

It has a central dome with rises 55.6 metres from the ground and a diameter of around 31 metres. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453 it was converted into a mosque. In 1935, the new Turkish Republic turned it into a museum, but in 2020 the controversial decision to turn it back into mosque was made. With the first transformation into a mosque, minarets were erected and the Byzantine mosaics on the ceilings were covered or destroyed. They were recovered for the museum period, and now they are hidden away. While originally the mosque was going to be “open for all”, now the ground floor, covered with a carpet, is only for praying Muslims, and tourists have to pay to access the second floor and see the Christian mosaics. From the second floor, you can see the mosaics, and are close to the domes, which allows you to see the questionable state of conservation. The dome is fantastic, and there are mosaics of the archangels there. On the way out, there is another mosaic depicting the Virgin Mary with the child, and Constantine and Justinian giving them presents – Istanbul itself and Hagia Sophia. The walls however, are in dire need of restorations.

The day trip ended after an introduction to the building, and I wandered around for a while, seeing everything I was allowed to before I stepped out. At that point it was 16:50. I had the option of walking, as recommended, to the Grand Bazaar, but I decided that I had better things to do. I rushed towards the palace-turned-museum Topkapı Palace Topkapı Sarayı. Construction of the complex was ordered just after the fall of Constantinople by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror overlooking the Golden Horn. Closed-off by walls, it has several buildings and palaces, some of which hold exhibitions. The palace closes at 18:30, and the ticket booths at 17:00. I was able to buy a ticket at 16:57 because I am very motivated, and I even saw most of the key areas of the palace in those 90 minutes. Though the recommended visit time is four to five hours, at least I felt accomplished – I wished I had prepared better for it, but I thought that I was standing next to the palace, and even if it was expensive I could return the next day if I felt I wanted to see more.

The first courtyard is free for everyone to see, and that is where the ticket booths are. I hurried towards the second courtyard, where I was able to see the Ottoman Empire Imperial Council, the Treasury, the Arms collection, the Gate of Felicity, the Chamber of the Sacred Relics, the Harem, the Baghdad kiosk, the Grand Kiosk, and even the panoramic view of Marmara Sea, among other smaller buildings – and of course, the feral cats. I did miss the porcelain and miniature collection, but I felt rather accomplished for the 90 minutes I had.

I left the palace among the last visitors, as they closed the gates behind us. I had two options now – head back to the hotel and try to see the Grand Bazaar, or explore around for a while. To be fair, the area looked rather full and with a bunch of tourists looking more like a target than myself. That happened a lot during this trip, fortunately. I was not considered “targetable”.

Most visitable monuments had closed or were about to at this point. However, I knew that the Basilica Cistern would reopen an hour later, so I decided to wander around and try to get to the promenade along Kennedy street Kennedy Caddesi, which allowed me for nice views of Bosphorus Strait İstanbul Boğazı, the Golden Horn Altın Boynuz and Galata Bridge Galata Köprüsü.

I went back towards the city centre through Gülhane Park Gülhane Parkı. At this point it was dark, so the fountains were on, and they looked very fun, all lit up.

I reached the queue to enter the Basilica Cistern Yerebatan Sarnıcı (Subterranean Palace). The ancient cistern has a normal opening schedule, and an evening schedule, which is a bit more expensive, with live music. But it worked for me. The cistern was built in the 6th century with the goal of providing water to the Great Palace of Constantinople, which stood where the Blue Mosque is now. It is an underground chamber with 336 columns that are up to 9 metres high, and it can hold up to 80,000 cubic metres of water. The columns seem to be recycled from ruined buildings, and at least one of them is carved with an upside-down Medusa face on the base. Today there is very little water, and there are modern art installations, and there are cool changing lights that give it a very interesting look and feel.

By the time I left, I kind of regretted having signed up for the second day trip, because I had been rather more efficient on my own, but again, I had not done much planning for the city. I went back to the hotel and I ordered food using the online room service. This time I decided on a kebap chicken wrap and a Turkish yoghurt, which was delicious. I had a shower and went off to bed.