Istanbul; Thursday, 16 December, 2021

Having experienced the advantage of a personal guide, albeit by accident, the previous December in Tenerife when I was the only person on a tour I’d decided that for Istanbul I’d actually book a guide for a couple of days, and so at 09:30 I met Semih, my guide to Istanbul for the next three days. It turned out to be one of the best investments I’ve ever made with Semih’s knowledge of the city, history and culture helping guide me around Istanbul – as well as some amazing recommendations for dinners each evening that meant I had some incredible, yet really cheap, meals.

The first day of the tour focused on the Old Town of Istanbul, and the first stop of the morning was the Topkapi Palace, the palace of the Sultans from the founding of the Ottoman Empire through until the 19th century and a fine example of an Islamic palace. As the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire was also the Caliph – leader of the worlds Muslims – the palace also played (and to some extent still plays) and important role in the life and worship of Muslims, with the palace being home to a number of religiously important relics. After taking in several of the courtyards and museums, including the spectacular kitchen block that stretches along almost one complete side of the complex, we headed back out to the outer most courtyard and visited the Hagia Irene. This Orthodox Basilica is one of the few in the city that weren’t converted in mosques following the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans. For a while it was used as an auditorium, but in the last few years it’s been turned back into a museum, albeit without any exhibits – just the impressive space.

Exiting the palace grounds we headed behind the back of the Hagia Sophia and on down to the site of the Hippodrome. Here in centuries past chariot races would have taken place. Today the site is marked by three columns in a modern and pleasant square, the columns themselves dating back to when the Hippodrome was in use. After looking round the Hippodrome we headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch, partly as we were hungry, but mostly because lunchtime prayers had just started in both of the next two sites on the itinerary so they weren’t open for visiting.

Lunch completed we headed back down towards the Hippodrome, but diverted off to visit the Binbirdirek Cistern. This is the second largest of several water cisterns that were built during the Eastern Roman Empire period to help the city withstand sieges. The cisterns themselves were built using columns recycled from demolished pagan temples – with the builders marks on each column to show who had relocated it, to ensure they were paid correctly. It’s odd to think that this ancient cistern, at least 1500 years old is made up of recycled columns from temples that are even older.

Having looked round the cistern our next stop was the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, or - as it’s more commonly known – The Blue Mosque, named for the blue tiles that decorate the walls inside. Unfortunately, at the time of visiting the mosque was undergoing some considerable renovation and very little of the inside decoration could be seen through the impressive amount of scaffolding inside. However, it was a good location for Semih to give a quick introduction to the layout and uses of a mosque.

Facing the Blue Mosque, across a large square, is probably the most famous building in Istanbul the Hagia Sophia, and that was our next stop. Originally built as an Orthodox Basilica the building was converted into a mosque shortly after the conquest. However, after the founding of the Turkish Republic it was decided to turn the building into a museum. The plaster that had been placed over the frescos when the building had been converted into a mosque was removed to reveal them – and it turned out that plastering them over had actually helped to preserve them from decay over the five centuries they were covered. The site remained a museum right up until the middle of 2020 when the Turkish government decided to close down the museum and convert it back into a mosque, though in a nod to the importance of the place rather than hiding the frescos they installed curtains that are drawn over them whilst prayers are taking place and exposed again when the building is open for tourism.

The Hagia Sophia is an amazing building, with an outstanding history – like the cisterns parts of the building are made from recycled columns from older temples, so whilst the building is over 1500 years old parts of the fabric are likely to be well over 2000 years old. It really is one of those must see sites that you do actually have to see, and I was more awe struck and impressed by it than even the hype about the building would lead me to believe.

The final stop of the day was a 15 minute walk away as we headed over to the Grand Bazaar – the giant indoor market of the city that houses over 400 shops all under one roof. Again, having Semih with me to guide me around the site was invaluable as there were many parts I would have missed if I’d just been visiting by myself, with his final flourish of the day being able to get rooftop access to a building next to the market to take in the roofline over the Bazaar. From there Semih took me back to the hotel and we arranged meet-up time for the second day.

After a long day of walking round the cobbled streets of the old town what better way to relax than taking advantage of staying in a spa hotel to book a treatment, and so with a little trepidation I headed down into the spa to experience the full Turkish bath experience, complete with a total body scrubbing followed by a foam massage and then a full body massage. I hadn’t felt that relaxed in a long time – though the lady who did the massage told me that I was clearly very stressed as all my muscles were knotted up and I needed to learn to relax more…

Feeling very relaxed, despite what the masseuse said, I headed out to a restaurant that Semih had recommended for dinner which turned out to be excellent and after that I had a wander back up to the Hippodrome to take in the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia and Hippodrome area at night, before heading back to the hotel for a very relaxed sleep.