Egyptian Bazaar

Located next to the Yeni Cami (New Mosque), it is the second largest covered market in Istanbul. This famous bazaar with its countless shops selling spices and sweets was always a gathering place for tourists. (We are 400 meters away.)

Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar, built in 1461 by order of Sultan Mehmet II, is the largest covered bazaar in Istanbul. Shaped like a huge maze it is spread over more than thirty thousand square meters. Its 60 streets house over 3600 shops selling everything from leather jackets to fine fabrics, jewelry to handicrafts. It is rightfully a tourist magnet and unique to Istanbul. A visit to this City is not complete without it. (We are 1000 meters away.)

Gülhane Park (the old zoo)

This historic park originally served as the grounds of Topkapi Palace from where the Ottoman Empire ruled half the known world for five centuries. Its gardens once awash in a rainbow of roses bloom next to a small forest which provides peaceful walks to this day. In 2003 the park was rebuilt by the Metropolitan Municipality of Istanbul, providing a living monument to a glorious past that paves the way to the City’s exciting future. (This park is located 50 meters from our hotel.)

Maidens Tower

The subject of many legends this fanciful tower is built on a tiny island located off the coast of Salacak where the Bosphorus flows into the Sea of Marmara. The Tower, which takes its name from the tale of a damsel in distress dating from 24 B.C.E, was refurbished in the year 2000 as a restaurant where ancient romantic whisperings still resound amid tinkles of forks and appetising aromas of fine food. Transportation to the island is by small motor-boats that depart from the docks of Salacak, Kabat and Ortaköy.

Palace Cistern (Basilica Cistern or submerged palace)

The Basilica of St. Sophia

The Byzantines built this basilica in the fifth century after Christ and meant it to last forever. They must have done it right because it shimmers in all its former glory to this day. It is considered by many historians as the eighth wonder of the world (It is located 300 meters from our hotel.)

The Blue Mosque

An Ottoman masterpiece built in the Seventeenth Century by the architect Mehmet Ağa Sedefkar, it is one of the most famous mosques of the Moslem world. Sunlight that filters into it turns blue as it reflects the colour of the mosaics that cover the walls and gives it its nick-name in English. The Blue Mosque sits across a landscaped garden from Ayia Sophia fusing the two Empires that shaped Istanbul’s eventful history. (It is located 500 meters from our hotel.)

This Month in Istanbul

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