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 ...