Tour & Activities

GALATA TOWER

Galata Tower is one of the eye catching land mark of Istanbul for sure. This nine-story tower is 66.90 meters tall and was the tallest building when it was built in 1348 during an expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople. The tower is used to called the Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) by the Genoese and the Megalos Pyrgos (The Great Tower) by the Byzantines Galata tower had several restorations due Earthquake in 1509, fire in 1794 and 1831, big storm in 1875. It's mostly functioned as observatory and prison during the time of Byzantine and Ottoman Periods.

ISTIKLAL STREET

The first thing that comes to mind when Istanbul-Taksim called is Istiklal Street. Istiklal Street, on which nostalgic trams runs, open to pedestrians only and surrounded by old embassy buildings allocated to consulates during the Republican period, is also Istanbul's most popular street.
Istiklal street, which is the most visited city of Istanbul's people, especially young people and tourists, offers 24 hours of entertainment and life with its cafes, bars, restaurants, art centers, cinemas, shopping centers and historical texture. Istiklal Street is history, culture, entertainment and the heart of Istanbul.
Not only in Istanbul, within which all the cultural activities carried out in the street, one of Turkey's most cosmopolitan areas, a day of shopping and eating opportunities 24 hours a wealth of exhibits lively appearance. In addition, thanks to its ethnic diversity in the past, İstiklal resembles an open-air museum in terms of architecture.

DOLMABAHCE PALACE

Located in Besiktas district of Istanbul, the palace was built in 1853. It was built during the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid. The architect of the palace, whose name is unknown, was built by Armenian Garabet Bayan. The architect who died before completing the palace was replaced by his son Nikogos Balyan. Topkapi Palace, the main palace of the Ottoman Empire, was abandoned with the construction of this palace. With the abolition of the caliphate, it was home to 6 sultans and the last Ottoman Caliph Abdülmecid until 1924. Between the years 1927-1949 was used as the office of the President. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk used this palace in his work in Istanbul and died here. After 1984, the palace was opened to the public as a museum. Dolmabahçe Palace has 3 floors and a symmetrical plan. It has 285 rooms and 43 lounges. There is a 600 meter dock from the sea and 2 monumental gates, one of which is very ornate on the land side. In the middle of this seaside palace, surrounded by a well-kept and beautiful garden, there is a ceremony and ballroom, which is higher than the other sections.

BLUE MOSQUE

The Blue Mosque or Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii) is a historic mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey.

A popular tourist site, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque continues to function as a mosque today; men still kneel in prayer on the mosque's lush red carpet after the call to prayer. The Blue Mosque, as it is popularly known, was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed's tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles adorn the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes.[2] It sits next to the Hagia Sophia, another popular tourist site.

HAGIA SOPHIA

The Hagia Sophia, one of the historical architectural wonders that still remains standing today, has an important place in the art world with its architecture, grandness, size and functionality.

The Hagia Sophia, the biggest church constructed by the East Roman Empire in Istanbul, has been constructed three times in the same location. When it was first built, it was named Megale Ekklesia (Big Church); however, after the fifth century, it was referred to as the Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom). The church was the place in which rulers were crowned, and it was also the biggest operational cathedral in the city throughout the Byzantine period.

TOPKAPI PALACE

Topkapi Palace Museum, understanding the administrative structure of the Ottoman Empire, observing the palace life of the Ottoman Empire and reaching the riches of the Ottoman Empire. In the museum you can visit the administrative buildings of the Ottoman state and the Haremeden Treasury, Sacred Relics, Weapons Collection, Sultan's Portals, Portalı and Porcelain sections of the Sultan's family.

The Topkapi Palace, which is the administrative center of the state and the place of life of the sultan and his family for 380 years since 1478, was opened as a museum on October 9, 1924 and was opened on that day it continues to serve as one of the highest number of visitors since the number of visitors.

HIPPODROME

The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social centre of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı (Sultan Ahmet Square) in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving.

The word hippodrome comes from the Greek hippos (ἵππος), horse, and dromos (δρόμος), path or way. For this reason, it is sometimes also called Atmeydanı ("Horse Square") in Turkish. Horse racing and chariot racing were popular pastimes in the ancient world and hippodromes were common features of Greek cities in the Hellenistic, Roman and Byzantine era.

GRAND BAZAAR

The Grand Bazaar (Turkish: Kapalıçarşı, meaning ‘Covered Market’; also Büyük Çarşı, meaning ‘Grand Market’) in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.

In 2014, it was listed No.1 among the world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91,250,000 annual visitors. The Grand Bazar at Istanbul is often regarded as one of the first shopping malls of the world.

BASILICA CISTERN

One of the magnificent ancient buildings of Istanbul is the Basilica Cistern located in the southwest of Hagia Sofia. Constructed for Justinianus I, the Byzantium Emperor (527-565), this big underground water reservoir is called as “Basilica Cistern” among the public because of the underground marble columns. As there used to be a basilica in the place of the cistern, it is also called Basilica Cistern.

The cistern is 140 m long, and 70 m wide, and covers a rectangular area as a giant structure. Accessible with 52-step staircase, the Cistern shelters 336 columns, each of which is 9 m high. Erected at 4.80 m intervals from one another the columns are composed of 12 rows, each has 28 columns. The case-bay of the cistern is conveyed by the columns through arches. Majority of the columns, most of which is understood to have been compiled from the ancient structures and sculpted of various kinds of marbles, is composed of a single part and one of it is composed of two parts. The head of these columns bear different features in parts. 98 of them reflect the Corinthian style and part of them reflect the Dorian style. The cistern has 4.80 m high brick walls, and the floor is covered by bricks, and plastered by a thick layer of brick dust mortar for water tightness. Covering 9,800 sqm area in total, the cistern has an estimated water storage capacity of 100,000 tons.