Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) was built by Architect Sedefkar Mehmet Aga for Sultan Ahmet l in 1617. It is world-famous with its beautiful 22.000 floral-shaped handmade blue İznik tiles,therefore foreigners call it a blue mosque and attractive 6 minarets around the main building.

Located directly across from the great Hagia Sophia.

Hagia Sophia is and should be on every traveler’s itinerary in Istanbul. It was built 3 times in history at the same location and served as a Greek Orthodox cathedral until the end of the Byzantine Empire.

As can be understood from the minarets, it also served as an important place of Muslim worship. That was after Sultan II. Mehmed designated the building as a mosque following the conquest of Constantinople in 1453.

This is an exceptional monument with its mosaics from the Byzantine period, its huge dome, decorative and functional elements added during the Ottoman period, and its endless mysteries after many years serving as a museum,now you can visit it as a mosque.

There is another mysterious world under the houses and structures we see especially in the Historic Peninsula. Only a few of the underground water cisterns are open to visitors today and the Basilica Cistern is the largest and best excavated.

Located to the west of Hagia Sophia, the cistern had a capacity of holding 80.000 cubic meters of water. The Basilica Cistern was the scene of several international movies. Among others, scenes from James Bond’s “From Russia with Love” with Sean Connery and Dan Brown’s “Inferno” with Tom Hanks.

Grand Bazaar was built as the first covered market in 1461 after the conquest of Istanbul by Sultan Mehmet II. Experience the old Ottoman atmosphere in the Grand Bazaar, a huge building that has preserved its authentic identity, unlike today’s modern shopping malls.

Each quarter is specialized in a particular kind of merchandise in Grand Bazaar. This is the reason why each street has the name of a particular type of merchandise.