Points of interest
Travel to Istanbul with Heritage Tours Private Travel
"I shall never forget my first impression of Constantinople. It has been my good fortune since then, to see it again and again, at every time of year, and under every possible aspect… The glory of the scene was beyond description, and, in its way, surpasses anything I have witnessed in any part of the world."— Marion Crawford, 1895
The bustling streets and sprawling bazaars of Istanbul are punctuated only by the calm of the colonnaded courtyards and flowing fountains of the stone mosques. It is a city of contrasts straddling two continents and many worlds. A city of great vistas as well as intimate lanes and private courtyards. A city built on seven hills. A city whose great glory lies in its past, yet thrives on a vibrancy and energy very much rooted in the present.
Istanbul was founded 2700 years ago by the Greeks as Byzantium. Emperor Constantine of Rome moved his capital from Rome to Byzantium, proclaiming it to be "Nova Roma" or New Rome, although it quickly became better-known as Constantinople. Constantine proclaimed Christianity the new state religion and Constantinople the new Holy City. Yet this Empire was too big to rule from Constantinople and soon split into two halves: the western (Latin-speaking) half reestablished its capital in Rome; the eastern (Greek-speaking) portion maintained its capital in Constantinople. This split presaged the division of the Church into two halves: the Roman Catholic (Latin) Church and the Eastern (Orthodox) Church, which survived its days under Ottoman rule and whose Patriarch still rules from Istanbul.
The monuments of Istanbul are too numerous to list: the Hagia Sophia—whose enormous domes were considered among the wonders of the ancient world—is reason alone to come. As are the Byzantine mosaics, 16th century Turkish baths, vast underground cisterns with their forests of stone columns and the world’s largest covered bazaar. And then there are the famed mosques of Suleyman, outstanding restaurants, Santa Choriye, the legendary Topkapi Palace, the Sultan’s harem, the wooden districts, the outstanding Museum of Islamic arts, the Alexander Sarcophagus, breakfast on a terrace overlooking the Blue Mosque, dinner cruises on the Bosphorus. The list goes on…. There are countless aspects of this city—justly considered one of the greatest in the world—that Heritage Tours is waiting to bring to you.
"The Great Bazaar… is not an edifice, but a labyrinth of arcaded streets flanked by sculptured columns and pilasters; a real city, with its mosques, fountains, crossways and squares… You may linger a whole day in one bazaar, unconscious of the flight of time; for example the bazaar of stuffs, and clothing. It is an emporium of beauty and riches enough to ruin your eyes, your brains and your pocket; and you must be on your guard for a caprice might bring upon you the consequence of sending for help by telegraph. You walk in the midst of towering heaps of brocades from Baghdad, carpets form Caramania, silks from Bursa, linens from Hindustan, muslins from Bengal, shawls from Madras, cashmeres from India and Persia, many tinted tissues from Cairo; cushions arabesqued in gold, silken veils woven with silver stripes, scarfs of gauze in blue and crimson… table covers of all sizes embroidered all over with arabesques, flowers, verses from the Koran and imperial ciphers, worthy of being admired for hours, like the walls of the Alhambra. — Edmondo de Amicis, 1878
Bursa
With Mount Uludag towering over it, Bursa is known for three things: the first is its role as the first capital of the Ottoman Empire (which has endowed the city with a legacy of grand architecture); the second is its famous thermal baths; the third is its delicious local dish: the iskendar kebab. Any of the three merit a stop in Bursa.
Iznik
Iznik, once called Nicea, has been famous for centuries as producing some of the most outstanding ceramic tiles in the world. The brilliantly patterned and colored tiles which adorn mosques and palaces all over Turkey come from Iznik. In fact, Iznik tile adorns the palaces of kings and nobility all over Europe and Asia.
