Highlights of Old Town

Today we will discover the Ancient Monuments of Istanbul. We will start with exploring the monuments of the ancient Hippodrome; seeing the Egyptian Obelisk, the Serpentine Column and other sights. From here we will walk to the Topkapi Palace Museum, residence of the Ottoman Sultans for about 400 years, with its fabulous collections of jewels and other artifacts. The palace consists of four separate courtyards and we will be visiting the sections in the second, third and the fourth courtyards. We will also visit the ”Harem” section, which is its own palace inside the Topkapi, where you will hear us recount the history of the white and black Eunuchs and the high education of the concubines. After lunch at a local restaurant with local tastes, we will continue our tour with a visit to the Megale Ekklesia, the great church of Hagia Sophia Museum; originally built as a church by Justinian the Great in the 6th century, then used as a mosque from 1453 until 1935. Today it is a museum encompassing both Christianity and Islam. We also visit the Sultanahmet Mosque, or better known “Blue Mosque”, which is famous for its beautiful tiles decorating interior walls. It was built in the 17th century, designed by the architect Sedefkar Mehmet Aga. Both Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia are considered as masterpieces of their periods. Last on our itinerary, we will go into the underground cistern, the Basilica Cistern Museum. It is believed to be the best known and the largest of the underground cisterns built under the Justinian basilica in the 6th century. For those interested, a part of the James Bond movie ”From Russia with Love” was filmed here in the cistern back in 60’s. End of tour and return to hotel.