First order of business after arriving in Turkey, sightseeing Sultanahmet, the main tourist area of Istanbul.
1. Sultanahmet Camii (Sultan Ahmed Mosque aka The Blue Mosque)
One of two mosques in Turkey with six minarets. After building the mosque with six minarets, the Sultan ordered a seventh minaret to be built at the Ka’aba in Mecca.
A byzantine cathedral, built in 532, converted to a mosque when the Ottomans conquered Istanbul in 1453, and finally converted to a museum in 1935 by Atatürk.
One of several mosaics that was covered in plaster when the cathedral was converted to a mosque. After conversion to a museum, restorers painstakingly removed the plaster to reveal the hidden mosaics.
The palace of the ruling Ottomans from 1465 to 1856. It currently contains many sacred treasures, including the cloak and sword of the prophet Muhammed.
Formerly a part of the Topkapi gardens, this was the first museum in the world to house Turkish art.
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It's nice to see the Aya Sofia again. I read a book last year called 1453 about the Moorish takeover of Constantinople and it's renaming to Istanbul. I hadn't realised that this mosque which I'd visited was considered at the time the greatest Christian monument of all time (St Peters in Rome it's peer but not yet benefited from the touches of Michelangelo and Bernini). It's amazing place.
Love your Blog Ivan :)
Gayan,
Mind blowing isn't it. They're doing a bit of restoration inside the cathedral, not sure if they want it to its former glory or not.
In Northern Cyprus, there's a couple of old cathedrals converted to mosques, not quite of the same level but still, amazing to see. I'll have the photos up when I get a chance.
In Peter, there's a cathedral modelled on St Peters, though inside an Orthodox Cathedral. My photos were nothing special so here's a flickr link.