I Visited Istanbul, Türkiye

For a number of years, probably shortly after I became interested in medieval history, the crusades and the Order of St John, I had thought of visiting Istanbul. And, fortunately, in December this year, I was able to visit.

I was only there for about twenty hours on a stopover, but I thought that this would be long enough for me to see what I wanted to see. Before I went, I had saved about forty places on Google Maps.

Let’s Begin

Before I arrived, I had looked into how to get from the airport to the old city, or the Sultanahmet as it’s called. So, once I left the airport, I knew that I needed to get the bus, as this would take me straight there.

After I had been on the bus for about an hour, I knew we were close as I saw the Galata tower and a little while later, I saw the Theodosian walls. It was at this point that I started to feel alive and couldn’t wait to get off the bus.

I was ready

The bus stopped on the road below the blue mosque, so with this mosque in front of me, I turned left and went toward the Hippodrome. On my way there, a site that I had saved on Google was close by.

This site was in the middle of a car park on the left-hand side of the road. At the time, I couldn’t remember what it was, but afterwards, I found out it was part of the Great Palace of Constantinople.

An incredible Sight

After this, I soon arrived at the lower part of the hippodrome and saw part of the wall that used to support it. As the hippodrome no longer exists, I didn’t think there would be much to see.

But, as part of the wall was there, it gave me an idea of how big the circus must have been; it was a very impressive structure. It was around this time that I started to see a few cats, and this was one of the reasons why I wanted to visit Istanbul.

Time to Refuel

My next stop was Sultanahmet Square, where the hippodrome used to be. Here, I saw the front of the blue mosque, the Serpent Column, the obelisk of Theodosius, and the Ibrahim Pasha place. The obelisk and the marble that it stood on had been there since 390 AD.

At this stage, as tired as I was, as I had been up since the day before, I was ready to keep walking as I felt energised, but I knew that if I didn’t eat, I wouldn’t soon need to stop. So, I ended up having something to eat near to the Firuz Aga Mosque.

The Main Event

Next on my list was to visit the Hagia Sophia, or Aya Sofia as it’s called. As it has been turned back into a mosque and is no longer a museum, I was only able to see the upper gallery.

After seeing pictures of the inside for years, it was great to finally see the inside, but as I wasn’t able to walk around downstairs, I was deeply disappointed. For me, it was like going into a restaurant, looking at a full-course meal, looking forward to eating it, and only being served the starter.

No Time to Waste

I soon put my disappointment to one side, though, as I had so much more to see. From here, I saw a few other sites and then went to the Boukoleon palace.

Sadly, I couldn’t see it as it was being repaired, which is a good thing, of course. I then went along the Theodosian walls, going up to where the marble tower is, then onto Yedikule fortress, and ending up at the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus.

Few Churches

The next place I visited was the Saint Stephen’s Bulgarian Orthodox Church. I took a few pictures and videos of the outside, but none of the inside, as it wasn’t allowed. This was a shame as it looked spectacular.

I saw the Phanar Greek Orthodox College after this, and this had been built using brick from France in 1454. I thought it was a very interesting looking building, but as it was built on a hill, it wasn’t easy to take pictures of.

The last Stop

I saw the Church of St. Mary of the Mongols after this, and then I headed to St. George's Cathedral. I was about ten minutes too late to go inside the latter, but I did see a cat outside that was very friendly.

I ended up having my second kebab after this, and as I had walked about 8 miles, I walked about ten in total, I felt pretty tired, and it was getting dark. I walked past the New Mosque after this and went back to the area where the Hagia Sophia is.

Final Thoughts

I’m very grateful that I was able to visit Istanbul, and I would like to go back there for a little while longer, as there is so much that I didn’t see. In addition to there being so many historical sites, there are friendly cats everywhere, and I found the people to be friendly overall.

So, with that said, if you like visiting historical sites, like being around cats and want to go somewhere where people are generally friendly, I would recommend Istanbul.  

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk