PLACES

TOPKAPI PALACE

The unparalleled might of
the Ottoman Sultans rises in
silhouette along the Tarihi
Yarimada (Historic Peninsula),
revealing a legacy of masterpieces
fit for the capital of
their sultandom.

HAGIA SOPHIA

From the outside, the Hagia Sophia may
seem overwhelmingly big, but the real
attraction of this Istanbul landmark is the
architecture genius inside the domed Byzantine
building.

BLUE MOSQUE

If there are two symbols that
represent the city, they are
the Blue Mosque, named for
its 20,000 richly hued Iznik
tiles hand crafted by the
empire’s best artisans, and
200 stain-glassed windows
and the awe-inspiring Hagia
Sophia, Justinian’s palatial
ode to the Almighty.

BASILICA CISTERN

Just down the road from the Blue
Mosque is the Basilica Cistern, a
“sunken palace” that lies beneath the
surface of Istanbul’s streets.

TRT WORLD

TRT World is an International
News Platform founded by
the Turkish Radio and Television
Corporation.

TAKSIM ISTIKLAL STREET

Located in the historic Beyoğlu
(Pera) district, it is an elegant
pedestrian street, 1.4 kilometers
long, which houses boutiques,
music stores, bookstores, art galleries,
cinemas, theatres, libraries,
cafés, historical patisseries,
chocolateries and restaurants.

ORTAKOY MOSQUE

The Ortakoy Mosque is situated
on the waterside of the Ortaköy
pier square in the Beşiktaş District,
one of the most popular
locations on the Bosphorus. The
mosque was built on the order of
Abdulmecid (1839-1861), the ruler
of the Ottoman Empire, and was
constructed by the Nigoğos Balyan
in 1853. It was during the same
century that the mosque rose to
a higher level of importance on
the European side of Istanbul. It
is also known as “Great Mecidiye
Mosque” and is one of the most
beautiful samples of the Baroque
architecture in Istanbul.

BOSPHORUS TOUR

The shoreline of the Bosphorus has a
lot of history to tell. During the great
wars, battleships were a frequent
sight as troops flooded into the city.
Nowadays the shoreline is home to
grand places, of the Ottoman royalty,
old castles, rich summerhouses, and
the traditional wooden Turkish yalis.

GALATA TOWER

The Genoese tower standing in the
Galata district is the pathway to an
amazing panoramic view of the city
of Istanbul, Golden horn and Bosphorus.
Originally built as a watchtower in
1348, the top floor is also the venue
for evening entertainment in the form
of Turkish night shows.

GRAND BAZAAR

The Grand Bazaar (Kapalicarsi) in Istanbul,
attracting 250,000 to 400,000
people daily, is one of the largest and
oldest underground markets in the
World.

SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE

Suleymaniye mosque, or better
known as the mosque of Suleyman
the Magnificent, was built in the
16th century by the great Ottoman
architect Mimar Sinan for Sultan
Suleyman the Magnificient, also
known as the Legislator. It stands
on a hilltop (3rd hill) dominating the
Golden Horn and contributing to
the skyline of Istanbul. The mosque
is the largest mosque of Istanbul.

ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY

Istanbul University can trace its
origins back to 1453, when it
was founded by the Ottoman
Sultan Mehmed II as a school of
philosophy, medicine, law and
literature. It has gone through
many iterations since then,
serving as a madrasah (Islamic
theological school) and as an
institution of higher education
called the Darülfünûn (House of
Sciences) in the 19th century,
before being reestablished as
Istanbul University in 1933 after
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk reformed
Turkey’s educational system.

GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TURKEY

The Grand National Assembly of
Turkey (Türkiye Büyük Millet Meclisi),
usually referred to simply as the TBMM
or Parliament (Turkish: Meclis), is the sole
body given the legislative prerogatives
by the Turkish Constitution. It was
founded in Ankara on 23 April 1920
in the midst of the Turkish War of
Independence.

KULLIYE OF THE REPUBLIC OF TURKEY

The new presidential kulliyyah was
built in 2014 in Ataturk Orman
Ciftligi area. It covers an area of 300
thousand square meters with around
one-thousand rooms, guests’ rooms,
mosque, library, reception halls,
botanic garden, meeting rooms and so
on. The President has also a summer
compound along the Bosphorus.

CAPPADOCIA

Located on the central Anatolian plateau
within a volcanic landscape sculpted by
erosion to form a succession of mountain
ridges, valleys and pinnacles known as “fairy
chimneys” or hoodoos, Göreme National
Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia cover
the region between the cities of Nevşehir,
Ürgüp and Avanos, the sites of Karain,
Karlık, Yeşilöz, Soğanlı and the subterranean
cities of Kaymaklı and Derinkuyu. The area
is bounded on the south and east by ranges
of extinct volcanoes with Erciyes Dağ
(3916 m) at one end and Hasan Dağ (3253
m) at the other. The density of its rockhewn
cells, churches, troglodyte villages
and subterranean cities within the rock
formations make it one of the world’s
most striking and largest cave-dwelling
complexes.