Historic Cities · Turkey
Istanbul through the ages
Istanbul is the largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical center. With a population of over 15 million, it is home to 18% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is among the largest cities in Europe and in the world by population. It is a city on two continents; about two-thirds of its population live in Europe and the rest in Asia.
Istanbul in AD 550
Justinian's Constantinople
Constantinople under Justinian is the empire's ceremonial heart a generation after Hagia Sophia's dome first astonished the city; the Great Palace, Hippodrome and the colonnaded Mese shape a dense, public centre ringed by mighty land walls. This walk follows the peninsula from the southern approach, through palace forecourts, markets and the racing Hippodrome, and finishes atop the Theodosian ramparts with a view across the Golden Horn.
The skyline is a forest of domes, squat brick-and-ashlar towers, and porphyry columns lifted from Egypt and Greece, punctuated by the new hemispherical dome of Hagia Sophia resting on a ring of light and narrow windows; streets are narrow, paved in worn stone, and shaded by continuous colonnades along the Mese. Marble and gilded stone catch the sun, fishers crowd the quays with gaffed boats, and squat stone lids and low wellheads mark the vast cisterns that lie below almost every block.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Sea of Marmara View → Bucoleon Harbour → Great Palace Seawall → Palace of Daphne → Chalke Gate → Augustaion Square → Hagia Sophia Exterior → The Milion → Lower Mese Colonnade → Forum of Constantine → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Shipwrights' Harbour Shed · Peacock Mosaic Audience Hall · Palace Private Chapel · Bronze Vestibule of Chalke · Augustaion Receiving Hall · Main Nave Under the Dome · Milion Imperial Niche · Covered Mercantile Stoa · Colonnaded Curia of Constantine · Zeuxippus Great Bath Hall · Imperial Loge Above the Arena · Columned Cistern Hall · Golden Gate Ceremonial Hall
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Constantinople.
Istanbul in 1200
Byzantine Constantinople
Constantinople in 1200 stands at the height of its medieval splendour, still ringing with the Komnenian court's wealth and religious prestige even as trading Latins crowd the harbours. This walk moves from the Sea of Marmara across the great domes and colonnades to the Blachernae palaces and the Pantokrator monastery, along the Golden Horn's merchant quays and into the neighbourhoods where Venetian and Genoese ships anchor.
The skyline is a cluster of broad lead-covered domes, squat brick drum-cupolas and the high silhouette of the Theodosian land walls; facades alternate white marble and reddish brick bands, columns reclaimed from Roman temples rise in public squares, and narrow colonnaded streets funnel sunlight and dust. The Golden Horn and inner harbours are crowded with lateen-rigged and galley hulls, timber masts and open warehouses, while palace roofs and church mosaics catch the sun and gleam of gilded interiors.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Approach from Sea of Marmara → Pharos Lighthouse Promontory → Neorion Quay → Chalke Gate → Augustaion → Hagia Sophia → Hippodrome → Mese Main Street → Forum of Constantine → Forum Tauri → …
Step inside — 13 interiors
Pharos Chapel of Relics · Neorion Merchant Warehouse · Grand Nave of Hagia Sophia · Imperial Kathisma · Chrysotriklinos Throne Hall · Imperial Audience Hall · Shrine of the Theotokos · Pantokrator Marble Church · Golden Horn Customs Hall · Fondaco of the Venetians · Genoese Merchants' Hall · Great Shipwright Workshop · Columned Cistern Hall
Planned from the Wikipedia record: Constantinople.
Istanbul in 1560
Suleiman's Istanbul
The imperial city stands at the height of Ottoman power under Suleiman: mosques and palaces rise above a dense web of markets, quays and city walls. This walk follows the shoreline, the great processional streets and the crowded bazaars from the Bosphorus and Golden Horn to the new Süleymaniye, showing the public face of the capital in daily use.
In 1560 the peninsula is a compact, layered city of domes, slender minarets and red-tiled houses crowding its seven hills. Stone palaces and mosque complexes sit amid narrow, vaulted bazaars and timber-fronted waterfronts; the shoreline is carved by caiques and laden merchant craft. Roofs glimmer with lead and tile, mosque domes and minarets puncture the skyline, and the city’s streets are a close, sunlit tangle of stalls, arches and workshop doors.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Üsküdar Shore View → Üsküdar Quay → Eminönü Quay → Seraglio Point → Bab-ı Hümayun → Topkapı Outer Esplanade → Gülhane Meadow → Ayasofya Exterior → Hippodrome (Atmeydanı) → Divan Yolu → …
Step inside — 14 interiors
Harbour Warehouse Hall · Chamber of Privy Counsel · Imperial Audience Chamber · Vast Imperial Nave · Caravanserai Inner Courtyard · Silk Draper's Showroom · Stone Bedesten Hall · Bookbinders' Workshop · Beyazıt Mosque Prayer Hall · Main Domed Sanctuary · Imaret Kitchen Hall · Early Coffee House · Cannon Foundry Furnace · Stone Tower Chamber
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Istanbul.
Istanbul in 1900
Late Ottoman Istanbul
This is Istanbul under Sultan Abdülhamid II at the turn of the century: an imperial capital of minarets, palaces and embassies, strung across the Bosphorus between Stamboul and Pera. The walk follows ferries, the Orient Express at Sirkeci and the crowded Galata Bridge into the Frankish quarters of Pera, past trams, hamals and the stone façades of Dolmabahçe toward the Bosphorus ramparts.
The skyline is a pierced silhouette of imperial mosques, tall minarets and the lower masses of wooden houses and European palaces. Along the Golden Horn and Bosphorus the city alternates stone quays, wooden piers and sailing masts; horse trams and the new electric fittings run beside gas lamps; crowds of porters, sailors, consular flags and café terraces animate steep streets that climb from Galata to Pera and the promontories of Dolmabahçe and Rumeli.
The walk — 22 streets, squares and views
Uskudar Shoreline View → Eminönü Ferry Quay → Sirkeci Station Façade → Sirkeci Tram Terminus → Eminönü Quay and Hamals → Galata Bridge Midspan → Yeni Camii Forecourt → Spice Bazaar Approach → Karaköy Waterfront → Galata Tower and Streets → …
Step inside — 15 interiors
Imperial Ferry Waiting Hall · Sirkeci Arrival Hall · Tram Terminus Ticket Hall · Hamals' Weighhouse Lodge · Galata Bridge Fish Café · Yeni Camii Prayer Hall · Spice Bazaar Vaulted Hall · Tünel Lower Station Concourse · Ottoman Bank Grand Hall · Pera Palace Marble Hall · Pera Palace Smoking Room · Asmalı Meyhane Cellar · Dolmabahçe Crystal Staircase · Ortaköy Mosque Chamber · Bebek Yalı Reception Salon
Planned from the Wikipedia record: History of Istanbul.
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