Byzantine Visions

Drive to the old town and visit Hippodrome Square, the scene of chariot races and the centre of Byzantine civic life, originally built by Roman Emperor Septimus in 203 AD. Then visit the Blue Mosque, built in the early 17th century and known as the Blue Mosque because of its magnificent interior decoration with blue Iznik tiles. It is also unique in the world since it has 6 minarets.

Continue to St. Sophia, built by Emperor Constantius in 360 AD. St. Sophia was for many centuries the world's largest church and today is the fourth largest after St. Paul's in London, St. Peter's in Rome and the Duomo in Milan. Throughout its Byzantine history it served as the cathedral of the city where emperors were crowned and victories celebrated. After the conquest of the city in 1453, Sultan Mehmet II ordered the building to be converted into a mosque by the addition of Islamic elements such as a mihrab, a mimber and minarets. After serving as a mosque for 481 years, the building became a museum in 1934 by the order of Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey.

The last stop is the famous historical Grand Bazaar, the largest covered oriental shopping mall in the world, where 4,400 shops sit under one roof and each trade has its own street. There is a wide selection of leather, jewellery, antiques, copperware, souvenirs and famous hand-made Turkish carpets displayed in this historical shopping centre.