The Basilica of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom), now called the Ayasofya Museum, is unquestionably one of the finest buildings of all time. Built by Constantine the Great and reconstructed by Justinian in the 6th century, its immense dome rises 55 meters above the ground and its diameter spans 31 meters. Linger here to admire the building's majestic serenity as well as the fine Byzantine mosaics. (Open every day except Monday). The Archeological Mu...

Across from Hagia Sophia stands the supremely elegant Imperial Sultanahmet Mosque with six minarets. Built between 1609 and 1616 by the architect Mehmet, the building is more familiarly known as the Blue Mosque because of its magnificent interior paneling of blue and white Iznik tiles. During the summer months an evening light and sound show both entertain and inform visitors. The cascading domes and four slender minarets of the Imperial Süle...

On a finger of land at the confluence of the Bosphorus, the Golden Ham and the Sea of Marmara stands the Topkapı Palace, that maze of buildings that was the focal point of the Ottoman Empire between the 15th and 19th centuries. In these opulent surroundings the sultans and their court lived and governed. A magnificent wooded garden fills the outer, or first, court. In the second court, on the right, shaded by cypress and plane trees, stand the p...

Istanbul embraces two continents with one arm reaching out to Asia and the other to Europe. Through the city's heart, the Bosphorus, course the waters of the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Golden Horn. The former capital of three successive empires, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman, Istanbul taday honors and preserves the legacy of its past while loaking forward to a modern future. It is Istanbul's endless variety that fascinates its ...

When you have a travel to Istanbul first time, you can hear a voice from mosques. It's athan (ezan in Turkish). It's a call for praying. And it's very affective voice. Let's watch it. I want to share a video from Sultan Ahmet Mosque in İstanbul. ...