Turkey

ISTANBUL


View from the hostel


Hagia Sophia


Hagia Sophia close-up. Built in the 6th century for the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, looted in 1204 during the 4th Crusade, and converted to a mosque in the 15th century. Now it's a museum, it's not a working mosque.


Entrance foyer


Look at that beautiful scaffolding that takes up half the interior!


The main chamber


First and second stories


Looking up


Sultanahmet area


Sultanahmet Mosque (aka Blue Mosque)


Close-up of the blue mosque. It's still a working mosque.


Entrance to the courtyard


Inside the courtyard


Inside the Blue Mosque


Good shot of the arches


The basilica cistern built by Emperor Justinian in 532


The place is huge


Walking up to Topkapi Palace


One of the minor buildings on the Topkapi Palace grounds


One of the rooms in the Harem


Another shot of the Harem building


Nuruosmaniye Mosque


Kapali Carsi (aka Grand Bazaar)


The rug area of the bazaar


New Mosque


Egyptian Bazaar


Lots of lokum (aka Turkish delight) in the back


Spices & teas


Turkish viagra?


Spice stall


Scarves and lamps


Looking across the Golden Horn. Galata Tower rises up in the background.


Looking down the Bosphorus


Rumeli Fortress, on the Bosphorus


Istanbul skyline


Valens Aqueduct, completed in 368


Now a major road runs underneath it


Sultanahment Mosque at night


Hagia Sophia at night