Istanbul

Why Istanbul works

Istanbul is the only city in the world spanning two continents, split by the Bosphorus strait into a European side, where most major sights cluster, and an Asian side, reached easily by ferry across water that has carried trade between Europe and Asia for over 2,500 years. The Hagia Sophia, built as a Byzantine cathedral in 537 AD, converted to a mosque under Ottoman rule, secularised as a museum in 1934, and reconverted to a working mosque in 2020, embodies the city's layered religious and imperial history under a dome that remained the world's largest for nearly a thousand years. Facing it across Sultanahmet Square, the Blue Mosque takes its nickname from over 20,000 handmade Iznik tiles lining its interior, its six minarets famously controversial when built for reportedly rivalling Mecca's mosque. The Topkapi Palace, former residence of Ottoman sultans for 400 years, holds the Imperial Harem and a treasury including the emerald-studded Topkapi Dagger. The Grand Bazaar, one of the world's oldest and largest covered markets with over 4,000 shops across 61 streets, has traded carpets, gold and spices continuously since the 15th century, while the Spice Bazaar nearby offers a smaller, more fragrant equivalent. A Bosphorus ferry crossing at sunset, passing Ottoman waterfront mansions (yalis) and the fortress of Rumeli Hisari, remains the classic way to see the city's skyline of minarets and domes silhouetted against the water.

Trip Snapshot

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