Sultanahmet/İstanbul

Details You Should Know While Visiting Sultanahmet

Details You Should Know While Visiting Sultanahmet

Sultanahmet district is one of the important historical parts of Istanbul. It offers quite a lot of options to visit and see. You can spend a week just for Sultanahmet alone. However, we recommend you to keep in mind that Istanbul is much more than that and has countless beauties waiting to be discovered.

Sultanahmet is an area that attracts a lot of attention with its heavy influx of tourists. We can guarantee that you will be fascinated by the history of Sultanahmet, where you can feel the Turkish hospitality and enjoy Turkish cuisine.

Sultanahmet is like an Open Air Museum

After crossing the Galata Bridge, the oldest bridge in Istanbul, and reaching the Spice Bazaar, you will feel the smell of a thousand flavors. Spices that create wonders with their quality, taste and smell will accompany you throughout the bazaar.

After your walk, we can say that your route should be Hagia Sophia Mosque. Hagia Sophia-i Kebir Mosque, formerly known as Hagia Sophia Basilica. While Hagia Sophia Mosque has been used as a museum since 1934, it was reopened for worship as Hagia Sophia Mosque in July 2020. The Hagia Sophia Mosque, which contains a very long historical journey, fascinates with its architecture and allows you to witness this history from the moment you enter its door. Entrance to Hagia Sophia Mosque is completely free of charge.

After the Hagia Sophia Mosque, why not make the Blue Mosque your next stop? This building, which is called the Blue Mosque because of the mosaics decorating the interior walls, was built between 1609-1616 during the reign of Sultan Ahmet I. One of its prominent features is that it has 6 minarets.

You may get hungry for the flavors of Istanbul while enjoying the texture of history. For lunch, Queb Lounge awaits you with its delicious food and pleasant texture.

When talking about this place, it is of course impossible not to mention Topkapi Palace. With an area of 70 hectares, the palace is surrounded by 5 km of walls. Topkapi Palace was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1985, where it was described as “a unique collection of buildings built over four centuries, with the architectural quality of its buildings as well as their organization reflecting the Ottoman palace”. Topkapi Palace is open from 9 am to 6 pm. It is closed to visitors on Tuesdays.

The Grand Bazaar, one of the favorites of Istanbul, can fascinate you as one of the largest bazaars in the world. Covering an area of 20 km2, the bazaar has 4000 shops along 58 inner streets entered through 18 gates and offers a market where you can find everything. All the vendors here are friendly and love to chat with you. Almost all of them are fluent enough in foreign languages to communicate with tourists. The streets around the Grand Bazaar are also small streets worth visiting.

While in Istanbul, you can visit the Istanbul Archaeology Museum and visit the Basilica Cistern on your way. A huge underground cistern with a fascinating history, Basilica Cistern is open to visitors between 09.00-19.00 every day of the week all year round. Basilica Cistern should definitely be among your stops with its atmosphere, historical texture and unique beauty.

Istanbul Archeology Museum is located at the foot of Topkapi Palace. This museum actually consists of three separate museums. These are: The Main Archaeology Museum, the Museum of Ancient Oriental Art and the Enameled Pavilion Museum, also known as the Ceramic Museum. The Istanbul Archaeological Museum houses more than a million objects representing almost every period and civilization in world history. The Egyptian collection in particular is incredible. The museum is open from 9 am to 4 pm in summer and from 9 am to 5:30 pm in winter. It is only closed on Mondays.

The Sultanahmet district is a place that you will have no difficulty visiting on your own and you will enjoy it immensely. Don’t forget that you will feel and even witness a history during your visit.

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