Excursions

There is an abundance of things to see and do in Istanbul, but a few are not to be missed. Home of the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years, Topkapi Sarayi ("Palace of the Cannon Gate") was the heart of the vast Ottoman Empire, ruled by the monarch who lived in Topkapi's hundreds of rooms with hundreds of concubines, children, and servants.

Near the Topkapi Palace, Ayasofya, or the Church of the Divine Wisdom (Hagia Sophia in Greek), is one of the most impressive and important buildings ever constructed. Its wide, flat dome was a daring engineering feat in the 6th century, and architects still marvel at the building's many innovations.

Istanbul's imperial Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I (Sultan Ahmet Camii) is Islam’s elegant answer to Ayasofya. It is called the Blue Mosque because of its interior tiles, mostly on the upper level and difficult to see unless you're right up there with them. The mosque was built from 1603-1617 and has six minarets and a great cascade of domes. It is built on the site of the Great Palace of Byzantium, on the southeastern side of the Hippodrome.

Istanbul's Grand Bazaar (Kapali Çarsi, or Covered Market) is Turkey's largest covered market offering excellent shopping: beautiful Turkish carpets, glazed tiles and pottery, copper and brassware, apparel made of leather, cotton and wool, meerschaum pipes, alabaster bookends and ashtrays, and all sorts of other things. While tourists enjoy browsing and buying, locals also shop at the Grand Bazaar.