Istanbul – Ashraf AboArafe
With NO exaggeration and more than 50 hours roaming in the historical Istanbul, the city of winders where historical monuments, Tranquility, peace of mind, purity touched on the ground.. the sky, the sea of Marmara/ the gulf/ the bay of Phosphorus.. Egyptian media delegation entertained by Turkish Authorities and a lot of thanks to the embassy of turkey in Cairo, ministry of Turkish TOURISM and ministry of culture..
The 20th of November 2024 morning was the first day of our trip which included visits to:
* Sultan Ahmet Camii !
The Blue Mosque, officially the Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii), is an Ottoman-era historical imperial mosque located in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed between 1609 and 1617 during the rule of Ahmed I and remains a functioning mosque today.
The mosque has a classical Ottoman layout with a central dome surrounded by four semi-domes over the prayer hall. It is fronted by a large courtyard and flanked by six minarets. On the inside, it is decorated with thousands of Iznik tiles and painted floral motifs in predominantly blue colours, which give the mosque its popular name. The mosque’s külliye (religious complex) includes Ahmed’s tomb, a madrasa, and several other buildings in various states of preservation.
It also attracts a large number of tourists and is one of the most iconic and popular monuments of Ottoman architecture.
Sultan Ahmed I (18 April 1590 – 22 November 1617) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1603 to 1617. Ahmed’s reign is noteworthy for marking the first breach in the Ottoman tradition of royal fratricide; henceforth, Ottoman rulers would no longer systematically execute their brothers upon accession to the throne.
The mosque was built next to the former Hippodrome and stands across from the Hagia Sophia, another popular tourist site. The Blue Mosque was included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list in 1985 under the name of “Historic Areas of Istanbul”.
* Hagia Sophia !
Hagia Sophia (Turkish: Ayasofya; Ancient Greek: Ἁγία Σοφία, romanized: Hagía Sophía; Latin: Sancta Sapientia; lit. ’Holy Wisdom’), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (Turkish: Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi; Greek: Μεγάλο Τζαμί της Αγίας Σοφίας), is a mosque and former church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire, it was completed in AD 537. The site was an Eastern rite church from AD 360 to 1453, except for a brief time as a Latin Catholic church between the Fourth Crusade and 1261. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, it served as a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum. In 2020, the site once again became a mosque.
Hagia Sophia, officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, is a mosque and former church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively erected on the site by the Eastern Roman Empire, it was completed in AD 537.
* Galata Tower !
The Galata Tower (Turkish: Galata Kulesi), officially the Galata Tower Museum (Turkish: Galata Kulesi Müzesi), is a medieval Genoese tower in the Galata part of the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey. Built as a watchtower at the highest point of the mostly demolished Walls of Galata, the tower is now an exhibition space and museum, and a symbol of Beyoğlu and Istanbul.
* GalataPort !
Galataport, the place where you can the water streams: Marmara Sea, the gulf, the bay of Phosphorus.
is a 400,000-square-metre (4,300,000 sq ft) mixed-use development located along 1.2 km (0.75 mi) of shore in the Karaköy (formerly called Galata) neighbourhood of Istanbul, Turkey on the European shore of the Bosporus strait near its confluence with the Golden Horn right in the heart of the city. It includes the city’s cruise ship terminal, around 250 shops and restaurants, a Peninsula hotel, the Istanbul Modern art museum, and other cultural and entertainment facilities; the complex also hosts festivals.
* Istanbul Airport !
Surely, Istanbul Airport is not included in the old historical monuments, but actually it’s historical modern one as
iGA Istanbul Airport has been voted as “The Best Airport in the World” by Travel & Leisure readers.
All scheduled commercial passenger flights were transferred from Atatürk Airport to Istanbul Airport on 6 April 2019, following the closure of Atatürk Airport for scheduled passenger flights.The IATA airport code IST was also transferred to the new airport.
It served more than 76 million passengers in 2023, making it 2nd-busiest airport in Europe of 2023, after Heathrow Airport and the 2nd-busiest airport in the Middle East, after Dubai International Airport, it was also the 7th-busiest airport in the world of 2023 in terms of total passenger traffic and, by serving more than 58 million international passengers, the 6th-busiest airport in the world in terms of international passenger traffic according to ACI World traffic values. It serves up to 114 countries and is the hub for Turkish Airlines.
