As Constantine the Great declared the city as the new capital of the Roman Empire and named it Constantinople one of the first things that Constantine rebuilt was the Hippodrome. He enlarged the hippodrome and connected it to the Great Palace of Constantinople. Hippodrome was a public arena mainly for chariot races. It was also home to official ceremonies, celebrations, protests and even executions.

Hippodrome was the centre of the Constantinopolitans’ everyday life. Huge amounts were bet on chariot races and there were four teams took part in these races, each one financially sponsored and supported by a different political party in the Roman Senate: The Blues, the Greens , the Reds and the Whites. Good charioteers were as treated as public heroes and their statues were erected in the Hippodrome.

It is estimated that the Hippodrome of Constantine was about 450 m long and 130 m wide in U shape and the capacity was approximately 100,000. It was decorated with monuments that were brought ancient cities across the empire such as Serpent Column from Delphi and Obelisk of Thutmosis III from Egypt and Walled Obelisk of Romans.

The mystical city of Istanbul was home to two empires, the Roman and the Ottoman Empires, so the city today bears the characteristics of these two different cultures and of course the Hagia Sophia is the perfect synthesis where both influences can be observed under one great dome.

Hagia Sophia was built in just five years in 537 AD as the largest cathedral in the world and was used as the Imperial Church where the coronations of Roman Emperors were held and also functioned as an orthodox patriarchal church. Sources indicate that on the opening day of Hagia Sophia, Emperor Justinian was so impressed by the huge dome and golden mosaics that he said, “God, thank you for giving me the chance to create such a place of worship,” and then “Solomon, I have defeated you,” referring to Solomon's temple in Jerusalem.

Hagia Sophia and Constantinople were sacked in 1204 by the Venetians and the Fourth Crusaders and Hagia Sophia was converted into a Catholic Church.

In 1453, with the conquest of Constantinople, The Ottomans converted the church into a mosque and used it as the principal mosque where the most important religous rituals held.

Later, during the Republican period, in 1935, Hagia Sophia,was opened to visitors as a museum by the order of Atatürk. In 2020, it was reopened as an active mosque. Hagia Sophia has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. Today it is the symbol of Istanbul and one of the most visited sites in Turkey.

Beneath the bustling streets of old city, lies the Basilica Cistern, a 6th-century marvel that was once used for storing water for the city. The largest ancient underground reservoir, built by the Emperor Justinian in 532 AD, now a museum and a popular tourist attraction.

There are 336 columns, recycled from ruined temples .The columns are around 9 meters high and erected 4.8 meters apart and in perfect symmetry. The most notable examples of recycled materials are the two columns decorated with Medusa heads and the so-called “tear-drop” column

Basilica Cistern was built to serve drinkable water for the Great Palace and surrounding buildings, it was able to store up to 80,000 m3 of water that was carried via 20 km of aqueducts.

The cistern was cleaned and renovated in 1985 by the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality and opened to the public in 1987. It's now one of the city's most popular tourist attractions.

The Grand Bazaar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with more than 4,000 shops attracting more than 250,000 visitors daily. In 2014, it was listed as the world's most-visited tourist attractions with 91 million annual visitors.

Thousands of visitors come every day to explore and do shopping in the labyrinth back streets of the bazaar where you can buy jewellery, carpets, leather, silk , etc.