The Kapalicarsi (or Covered Bazaar), located in the old city, is a favorite shopping place for tourists in Istanbul. During the Byzantine period, the area was a trade center. Years later, the Grand Bazaar was formed. In the streets and passages of the Grand Bazaar are more than 4,000 shops separated by product type: gold smiths, carpet sellers, jewlers, etc. Turkish arts and crafts such as hand painted ceramics, handmade copper and brassware, water ewers, and the like are favorite souvenirs of tourists.
Built betwen 1609-1616 by the architect Mehmet, it is known as the Blue Mosque because of its mmagnificent interior decoration of blue tiles.
Facing St. Sophia is the supremely elegant, imperial six minaret mosque of Sultan Ahmet I.
Overlooking the Bosphorus and the Marmara Sea stands the Topkapi Palace, a maze of buildings that were the great palace of the Ottoman Sultans from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The Treasury, Harem, Audience Hall of the Sultan, Library of Sultan Ahmet III, and countless other architectural structures and artifacts are of unique significance.
Travelogue: May 26-May 30, 2001
Destination: Istanbul
Built in the 5th century by the emperor Theodosius, the second city walls stretch 7 kilometers from the sea of Marmara to the Golden Horn. The land walls and the area which they enclose have been declared a "cultural world heritage" by UNESCO.
The Golden Horn, one of the best natural harbors in the world, was very important during Byzantine and Ottoman times. Along this horn-shaped bay, visitors can see many parks, promenades, churches, and synagogues.
