Our first Istanbul Day Tour

These were the places on our itinerary to visit on our first day in Istanbul:

-Hippodrome of Constantinople
-Blue Mosque 
-Topkapi Palace
-Hagia Sophia (postponed)

Located at Sultanahmet Square, they are within walking distance of each other.

We were driven straight from the airport to Sultanahmet Square and it was raining when we arrived. The was a very long queue for Hagia Sophia. As there was no shelter to protect us from the rain, Yavuz suggested that we postpone the visit to the 21 October, on our return trip to Istanbul. We gladly agreed to it.

We had to hurdle near a tree to listen to Yavuz talked about the history of the Hippodrome of Constantinople, as not everyone had an umbrella.

The Eastern Roman Empire is also known as the Byzantine Empire. The term “Byzantine” derives from Byzantium, an ancient Greek colony founded by a man named Byzas in the 7th century BC.  Emperor Constantine the Great transferred the empire’s capital from Rome to this ancient Greek city and in 330, renamed it Constantinople. The inhabitants there were primarily Greek-speaking until the conquest by the Ottoman Empire in AD 1453. The fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire marked the end of the Byzantine Empire. Constantinople is now known as Istanbul. Knowing its history will help you understand the relationship of the Greeks in Turkey.

Hippodrome refers to an oval stadium for horse and chariot races in ancient Greece. It was built by the emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire. I found a plan of where the Hippodrome was located in Constantinople at World History.

Click on the following links to see a graphic reconstruction of:

-the ground plan of the Byzantium Hippodrome. 
-the location of Hippodrome in Constantinople

Most of the stadium has disappeared centuries ago and these are surviving monuments that you can still see at its site: 

-the Serpentine Column (its 3 serpent heads fell off centuries ago)
-Obelisk of Theodosius
-the Masonry Obelisk 

(You can read the stories behind them and what they had looked like in the past by clicking on the links)

The construction of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque or the Blue Mosque, covered the ruins of the Hippodrome and Great Palace. It caused the level of the Hippodrome to rise almost 5 meters. You can see the difference in height by looking at the base of Serpent Column.

After his introduction to the location, we were given time to roam around to take photos of the historical monuments at the Sultanahmet Square or the Hippodrome of Constantinapole. 

This is a write up about Obelisk of Theodosius displayed at the square.

Here is the real thing.  It was a cloudy day and I have edited the photo so that you can see it more clearly.

This is the Masonry Obelisk.

There is a German Fountain to provide drinking water for visitors at the northern end of Sultanahmet Square. It was built in Germany, then transported piece by piece and assembled there in 1900. It was constructed in a Neo-Byzantine style with golden mosaics and columns to commemorate Kaiser Wilhelm II’s visit to Constantinople.

After the conquest of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II ordered the construction of Topkapı Palace in 1459 CE. It is now a museum and our Turkish guide shared with us its history.

The palace was built between 1460 and 1478. It served as the administrative centre and residence of the imperial Ottoman court from about 1478 to 1856.  It housed 1,000–4,000 inhabitants, including up to 300 in the harem. It became the first museum of Turkish Republic after the announcement of its independence on 3 April 1924. The palace is divided into 15 different section. Yavuz pointed to us where most of the rooms are located and what they were used for before we were allowed to roam the surroundings on our own.  

I found this floor plan of Topkapi Palace on Bilkent University site.  Click on link to the floor plan to see where each section leads to.

I fount the link to Topkapı Palace layout at Muze Istanbul, which provides a complete guide to museums and archeological treasures in Istanbul.

Click on this link for a 360° view of Topkapi Palace.

I will write about our visit to Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia in another posting so you can see the differences between them.

From Istanbul we were driven to our hotel in Bolu.  

There was a stop for rest and for us and the driver as it was an estimated 3 hr 7 min. drive.