ITINERARY

• Old City Morning An important tour to have in Istanbul. The center of four empires in the history as Roman Empire, Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, Latin Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Hagia Sophia is closed on Monday / replaced with Chora Museum. Grand Bazaar is closed on Sunday HAGIA SOPHIA is the fourth biggest church in the world. Its construction dates back to the 4th century and it was chosen as the 2nd best engineering construction of human history by BBC.BLUE MOSQUE BLUE MOSQUE is the best interior design mosque in Ottoman architecture with it 20 000 pieces of Iznik tile. It is unique with its 6 minarets.HIPPODROME HIPPODROME is the center of byzantine entertainment where 30 000 civilians were killed by queens order with arrow rain in the inside of it during the Nika revolt.GRAND COVERED BAZAAR GRAND COVERED BAZAAR is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world with more than 58 covered streets and over 4 000 shops that attract from 250 000 to 500 000 .
• While the master architects of the time were making their mark on history during the transition from Byzantium to the Ottoman Empire, they respected this square and showed this by not touching the works of the past. The Hippodrome, called Horse Square during the Ottoman reign, witnessed festivals and parades. The history of the oval Hippodrome, which has been the scene of many sports activities including chariot races, dates back to 203, during the reign of Emperor Septimus Severus. During the time of Constantine the Great, the area was expanded and reached the dimensions of 480 meters by 118 meters. It's hard to visualize its magnitude, but to appreciate it, stand next to the Kaiser Wilhelm Fountain, where race cars and spectators enter the area. Look at the area in front of you, you are now in the central part of the square called “spina” (the section passing through the middle of the race track), decorated with statues and monuments.