Turkey - Part 2

When I originally planned my trip, I only intended to visit Istanbul but because I enjoyed Istanbul so much, I decided to tour the rest of Turkey.  I first  tried to make a reservation with a couple of US/UK tour companies but most had either cancelled or completely filled their tours of Turkey.  I finally went online and found an address for Turkish Tour Group that had good reviews onTripAdvisor.com.

The TTG (Turkey Tour Group) was a tour consolidator which means that they don't actually run tours, they put you on other companies tours.  The problem is you can have an excellent tour (ex:  Troy/Gallipoli) followed by a real bad tour (ex: Pergamon).  The other problem is that  since each tour is by a different company, the transitions between the tours can be a problem.  Company A does a tour and drops you at a bus station with the directions that the next tour Company B will be by to pick you up in 3 hours.  Now remember, I don't speak the language and didn't really know where I was nor where I was supposed to go next.  It was fortunate that I had such good travel mates (Pauline, Don and Christopher - Thank you!) on the tour, otherwise it would have been a bit scary for a solo traveler.  Instead it turned out to be an excellent adventure with newfound friends.  The time I spent on tour with the Beaton family is one of my most favorite parts of my trip!
Pictures:

Topkapi Palace - Built in 1470's, overlooking Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and Golden Horn.  Residence of the reigning  Sultans for over 400 years until the "New" Dolmabache Palace was built in the 1800's.  It's a mishmash of styles because every Sultan who lived there added on his own buildings.

No this picture is not upside down! 



Nor is this picture sideways, either!

 The above pictures were taken in the Underground Cistern.  The cistern was built around 600 A.D. to provide water for the city.  It has 27 million gallon capacity and is bigger that 2 football fields in size.  What an amazing feat of engineering!    These heads are statues of Medusa (Recall - Snakes for hair, one look turned you to stone...) and they hold up 2 of the 336 columns in the cistern.   No one knows for sure why they were used, but speculation is that they were recycled from earlier Roman buildings and just happened to be the necessary height to level the columns they support.  

The Blue Mosque - built in 1617.  It's has 6 minarets which was exceptional because when it was built, only the Mosque at Mecca had 6 minarets.  Five times per day faithful Muslims are called to prayer here.  Tourist are allowed to visit inside but must take their shoes off and women must cover their heads.  I did it but I admit I felt uncomfortable, like an intruder.  It's calld the Blue Mosque b/c there are over 20,000 blue/white Iznak tiles in the interior domes.

Blue Mosque beautifully lit at night.

The next 3 pictures are interior shots of Aya Sophia and unfortunately, they don't do it justice.  Aya Sophia was built by Byzantine Emperor Justinian between 532 - 537 A.D.   Everything Justinian did was big  - (Remember the Cistern).  This church - the Great Church of Constantinople was basically the Eastern Vatican.  It is considered to be the single greatest architectural achievement of the Byzantine Empire. It continued to be a church for the next 900 years until the Ottomans  aptured Constantinople and converted it into a Mosque in 1453.  It remained a mosque until 1930's when it was converted into a museum. 

I can't even begin to describe how amazing Aya Sophia is.  The first picture is the entrance with marble on every surface and very elaborate mosaics on the ceilings and pillars.

In the second picture, you are in the main part of the church and looking up at the main dome which is 185 ft high, and 105 ft. wide.  
   

 

Galanta Tower - is 205 ft. tall and was built in the mid 1400's.  It has been used as a fire tower, a prison and currently is a restaurant!  It's the most prominent feature on the New District side which is across the Golden Horn from the old part of Istanbul.  There are stunning views from the top!

 In this picture you can see Old Istanbul, the new District both of which are on the European side of Istanbul and in the distance you can see the Asian side of Istanbul. 

That's only Istanbul.  I haven't even begun to cover the rest of Turkey!
Shari