Ibrahim Pasa Oteli

Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works

by Arkeolog

The palace of Ibrahim Pasha houses the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works. During the Ottoman centuries, the palace served as the loggia for the sultan during imperial ceremonials in the Horse Square, such as circumcision feasts and military parades. Now functioning as a museum, the structure seems still to hold many secrets from the past. The museum provides an ideal outdoor setting for a cup of Turkish coffee while overlooking the Hippodrome through a wooden lattice. The beautiful minarets of the mosque seem to replicate and echo the vertical shafts of the obelisks.

Museum of Turkish & Islamic Arts

by Willettsworld

This excellent museum looks over the Hippodrome and is well worth a visit. Constructed in 1524, the building was formerly the palace of Ibrahim Pasha, who was the first grand vizier to Suleiman the Magnificent.

The collection includes notable examples from the Ottoman (14th to 20th centuries),
Seljuk (11th to 13th centuries), and earlier periods beginning in the 8th century of Islamic calligraphy, tiles, manuscripts, and one of the world's best collections of carpets. There's also ethnographic displays on various cultures in Turkey, particularly nomad groups (see next tip).

Open: 9am-4.30pm Tue-Sun. Admission: TL10.

Maiden's Tower

by Willettsworld

Another of Istanbul's famous sights, the Maiden's Tower was first built by the ancient Athenian general Alcibiades in 408 BC to control the movements of the Persian ships in the Bosphorus strait. Back then the tower was located between the ancient cities of Byzantion and Chrysopolis. The tower was later enlarged and rebuilt as a fortress by the Byzantine emperor Alexius Comnenus in 1110 AD, and was restored and slightly modified several times by the Ottoman Turks, most significantly in 1509 and 1763. The most recent facelift was made in 1998.

The structure was named Arcla, meaning "Small Tower". It was used for defence purposes during the conquest of Istanbul in 1453, and during the Ottoman period, it was used rather as a show platform, than a defence tower. Furthermore, it acted as a lighthouse but burnt down with the fire from the light, in 1719, and was repaired again in 1725 by the Head Architect of the city, Nevsehirli Damat Ibrahim Pasha. It was converted into a quarantine hospital in order for the cholera epidemic not to spread to the city in 1830. An epigraph bearing the signature of Sultan Mahmut II was placed on the marble above the gate, with the handwriting of the famous calligrapher Rakim. In 1857, a light was added again, and in 1920, an automatic system was introduced as the light of the lighthouse.

It featured in the James Bond film The World Is Not Enough where 'M' is imprisoned.

Sehzade Camii | Prince's Mosque (I&V)

by Zvrlj

Built by Sinan, the greatest architect of Ottoman Empire, Prince's Mosque is dedicated to Sehzade (prince) Mehmet, the first son of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hurrem, his wife, the first especially powerful and the most influential woman of the Ottoman Empire. Prince Mehmet died of the small pocks at the age of 21. Some sources indicate that Sinan was asked by the prince himself, to start working on the plans for the mosque and then, after his death Suleiman wanted it to be built. Other sources assert that the mosque was originally started for Suleiman himself, and was then converted to be in the name of prince Mehmet upon his death.

Although the exact date of construction of the mosque is not precisely known – it is considered to be about 1548 – it is known that it was the first Sinan's large scale commission after he had been appointed as the chief architect. Prince's Mosque has a square plan, covered by a central dome, 37 m high, with diameter of 19 m, and two minarets. The decorative style of the mosque is in contrast to the classical austerity of Sinan's later works.

By the mosque there are mausoleums – turbes – of prince Mehmet himself and of two Grand Viziers: Ibrahim Pasha and Rustem Pasha Opukovic. The mosque complex includes two medreses – theological schools, caravanserai – building for rest and recover from the day's journey, and kitchen for the poor.

It's All In Istanbul

by mizzzthanggg

"A Tale of Two Cities?"

I go to Istanbul at least once or twice a year. It's only 3 hours away from Ashgabat and the closest point to 'civilisation' as I know it (those living in Turkmenistan will understand what I mean! Ok ok just kidding).

You can have very contrasting experiences in Istanbul. There is loads to do and discover and see here, everytime I come back I can do different things, which is very lucky because I really don't think one can do justice to all the city sights in just a few days. There are plenty of museums, treasures, bazaars, hammam bathhouses, shopping malls, parks, monuments, mosques, churches etc. It has excellent public transportation and it's also very walkable. There are old, traditional pockets of Istanbul and there are the modern, sparkling new sections of city like anywhere else in Europe... so it can feel like you're in two completely different cities when you're in the old historical area of Sultanahmet or the upmarket, high-end areas like Nisantasi or Istinye. Wherever you are though, the main areas are vibrant & bustling, but just a few corners and streets away you can find peace & quiet.

"Cats & Tulips"

Two of my favourite things in Istanbul are the amount of cats roaming the city, and also the abundance of tulips (on tiles, cushions, and real ones) at springtime (especially in May!)... in fact, Istanbul was the original city of tulips before the Dutch brought some bulbs back to the Netherlands and became even more famous for tulips than Istanbul.

"Melting Pot of History"

Apparently everyone was in Turkey at some point or another - Greeks, Romans, Egyptian, Venetian, Byzantine, Alexander the Great, Ottomans, the Amazonia women warriors... churches became mosques became churches and museums, ancient ruins & temples and cities built on top of other cities... i'm no expert but it's all fascinating to me! It's good to get a guide in at least one or two of the sights you're seeing... the stories they can tell are amazing. The treasures you can find in the museums in Istanbul alone are spectacular - everything from the wand which Moses used to part the Red Sea, that amazing 86 carat Spoonmaker's diamond found in a rubbish dump & sold by a beggar for three spoons, footprint & hair of the Prophet (all at Topkapi Museum), the Alexander Sarcophagus (just one in an amazing collection of sarcophagi at the Archaeological Museum), statues & columns from ancient temples, an amazing array of precious kilims, rugs & carpets at the Ibrahim Pasha Museum including the oldest carpet in the world... it's all in Istanbul.