Saturday Istanbul in the Rain

A Rainy Day In Instanbul

 

Turkey is about the size of Texas. Quite mountainous. Istanbul was settledaround 6500 bc. It is a great ferred to as both European and Asian and as more Greek than Greece, more Roman than Rome and more Islamic than the Middle East. Romans colonized the area around 200 bc. Ottomans captured the city in 1453 and ruled until 1918. English and French next ruled for 5 years. It became part to the new state of Turkey in 1923.

 

It rained yesterday afternoon and continued throughout the day. Our local guide was oblivious to it. He would just stop and describe the historic places as of the sun were shining. There were many covered but open air cafes filled with people and many of the stores we passed had open storefronts. Hardy folks these Turks.

 

We toured the historic buildings near Sultan Ahmet Park. We were happy to be inside even in these mostly unseated spaces.

 

Sultan Ahmet Park is a beautiful park located between the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia. It has a large fountain in the middle. From the park, there are spectacular views of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.

 

Hippodrome Square, built in the 300s, was a Byzantine chariot racing stadium that held 100,000 people. It was the social center of Constantinople. Now it is a park-like square next to Sultan Ahmet Park

 

 

The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque) was completed in 1716. It is adorned with six minarets (as a testament to its royal purpose) and more than 20,000 hand-painted Iznik tiles.

 

 

Hagia Sophia, first dedicated in 360 by Emperor Constantius, is a museum that was built as a Greek Orthodox basilica. The Ottomans added minarets to convert it to an imperial mosque. Roman architecture techniques including gravel and water under the foundation, and arches helped it survive the earthquakes.

 

 

 

The mosaics date from the 9th and 10th centuries.

 

 

The church as built in six years. The materials and columns came from all over the Roman Empire. The style of the colums depends on where they were make.

 

 

Milion, a tall marble column in the northern corner of the park was the official center of the Byzantine Empire. All distances were measured from there.

 

 

 

Topkapi Palace is the former residence of Ottoman Sultans. It is now a museum that still houses their legion of treasures, including an extensive collection of Chinese porcelain. It was replaced by an even more opulent palace on the Bosphorus.

 

 

 

 

 

Views of Instanbul while walking back to the hotel.

This tower was used as part of the year of ancient water system to regulate water pressure.