Best Istanbul 1

The Hippodrome of Constantinople was a circus that was the sporting and social center of Constantinople, capital of the Byzantine Empire. Today it is a square named Sultanahmet Meydanı (Sultan Ahmet Square) in the Turkish city of Istanbul, with a few fragments of the original structure surviving. It is sometimes also called Atmeydanı (Horse Square) in Turkish.
The Hippodrome was built by the Romans in about 200 AD. It was originally used for chariot racing and other public events, and the stadium surrounding the track held over 100,000 people. The Hippodrome was the center of life in Byzantine Constantinople for over 1,000 years and of Ottoman life in Istanbul for over 400 years. It was also the center of numerous political and civil battles, some brutal. Emperor Constantine once lined the Hippodrome with large columns, but only three survive in the park. Some of the rest were taken by the Crusaders, and can be found in European locations outside of Istanbul such as Venice.
Visitors to Istanbul enter the courtyard of Sultan Ahmet Camii, or the Blue Mosque.
The Blue Mosque of Istanbul with its six minarets towering over the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus is one of the first things a cruise ship passenger will see when sailing into Istanbul from the Mediterranean Sea. The Blue Mosque is perched on a hill overlooking the Marmara, and the magnificent exterior domes and minarets greeting incoming visitors to Istanbul will make you even more eager to explore the city. The Blue Mosque was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I in the early 1600's, and it has a classic Ottoman design. The inside of the Blue Mosque is flooded with light due to the over 250 windows that were formerly filled with 17th century Venetian stained glass. The Venetian stained glass is gone, but the effect is still quite light and airy.

The Grand Bazaar in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.

Duration:4 hrs.

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Appropriate age for child ticket from 0 to 2 years