Istanbul, or Constantinople?

Good thing we’re not working on assignment, because Istanbul has made us truant in our blog updates.  We’ve been having too much fun to write!

We got here and liked it so much after 8 days in a guesthouse, that we rented an apartment and arranged to stay another two weeks.  We’re on the third floor of an old apartment building off a charming cobblestone street that leads to a 13th century tower.  We’re right around the corner from Istiklal Avenue, Istanbul’s main promenade and shopping street. We can see the Bosphorus from our living room and watch the barges and cruise ships float past, the passenger ferries darting between Europe and Asia.

I’ve been thinking about those cruise ships lately.  How the passengers only have one, or at most two, nights in this magical city.  Logically, their main agenda is to hit what I think of as Istanbul’s “Big Three” — the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, and Topkapi Palace.

The Big Three are worth seeing, no doubt, especially the Hagia Sophia.  A colossal church built by the Byzantines in 537 A.D., it was turned into a mosque by the Ottomans in 1453, and transformed into a museum by Ataturk in the 1930s.  It is one of the most impressive buildings I’ve ever seen, with a soaring dome and beautiful mosaics.  And to think it was built a thousand years before either of the other main Istanbul sights or St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

 

The Blue Mosque is probably the most photographed building in Istanbul.  It is beautiful, with its cascading domes and gorgeous interior covered in blue tiles.  It’s right next door to the Hagia Sophia and the Hippodrome, the site of Roman chariot races.  We liked coming down here on the nights of Ramadan to watch families break their fast together and then stroll the brightly lit holiday market nearby.

Topkapi Palace, the seat of Ottoman power and the setting for centuries of palace intrigues, left me a bit cold.  But hey, when else can you stand inches from ruby-, emerald- and diamond-encrusted everything?  (Sorry, no cameras allowed!)

 

We found Istanbul’s most profound pleasures to be on a much smaller scale, tucked away in sunken gardens and old neighborhoods.  In our next post, we’ll share same of our favorite Istanbul “slightly off the beaten path” sights and experiences.