Galata Tower’s history stretch right back to the sixth century, when it was built as the Lighthouse Tower by the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius. 

Initially, the tower was built with wood, but when it was taken by the Genoese in the 14th century it was rebuilt with stone and named Christea Turris (the Tower of Christ).

During their occupation, the Genoese were involved in trade with the Byzantines and the tower was used for the surveillance of the Harbor in the Golden Horn. After the conquest of Constantinople by the Sultan Mehmet the conqueror, it served to detect fires in the city.

Hezarfen Ahmet Celebi was the first flying Turk during the Ottoman Empire of the 17th century. He copied bird wings and studied air flows, than jumping from the Galata Tower he overflew the Bosphorus and landed at Uskudar district on the Asian side, around 6 kilometers (4 miles) in distance.

Now, Galata is widely considered to be Istanbul’s modern centre, as there are many interesting things to do and to see near the tower, strolling down bustling Istikal Street and Taksim Square.

The New Mosque (Yeni Camii) in Istanbul is not really that new, as it was built between 1597 and 1663. Located next to the Galata Bridge, Yeni Camii has become one of the most eye catching features of Istanbul’s skyline.

Begun by Valide Safiye, mother of Sultan Mehmet III, in 1597, the mosque was designed by the architect Daoud Aga, a pupil of the great Sinan, who was the chief Ottoman architect and civil engineer for sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II, and Murad III.. The chosen site was then a poor neighborhood; the inhabitants were paid to move out.

Construction initially dragged on for several decades due to water seeping and funding problems, then stopped completely when the sultan died – Safiye was no longer the Queen Mother so she no longer had the revenues or power to support the project.

The mosque was completed by another queen mother, Valide Sultan Turhan Hattice, mother of Mehmet IV (1642-93).

The New Mosque overlooks the harbor next to the Galata Bridge on the Golden Horn. The beautiful exterior consists of a great courtyard, two slender minarets, and a cascade of domes tumbling down from a central dome. Hundreds of pigeons make their nests among the architecture.

Like all of Istanbul’s imperial mosques, the Yeni Cami was the center of a külliye, or complex of other buildings, including a hospital, Turkish bath, school, library, astronomer’s office, public fountains and a market—the Egyptian (Spice) Bazaar.

Most of these buildings are gone, but the market remains, as does the tomb (türbe) of the mosque’s founder, Turhan Hatice Hanım, which also contains the remains of her son Sultan Mehmet IV, as well as the later sultans Mustafa II, Ahmet III, Mahmut I, Osman III and Murat V.

A Frenchman visiting Constantinople in the 1500s heard strange stories of locals drawing up fresh water and even fishing from holes in their cellars. Intrigued by these stories and the legends of great underground temples, he decided to explore.

Upon further investigation, he rediscovered a subterranean marvel, the largest of the long-forgotten palatial cisterns of the Byzantine Empire. Fish swam in an artificial freshwater lake the size of two football fields and the vaulted brick ceilings were held up by 336 thirty-foot pillars many of which were salvaged from ruined temples and feature fine carved capitals. Its symmetry and sheer grandeur of conception are quite breathtaking, and its cavernous depths make a great retreat on summer days.

Amazingly preserved despite centuries of conflict and siege, the cistern was built in 532 AD by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I to store fresh water for the palace and nearby buildings. Nicknamed Yearbatan Sarayi, or “The Sunken Palace” in Turkish, it is known in English as the “Basilica Cistern” because of its location on the site of an ancient basilica.

Remember the scene in the old James Bond movie From Russia With Love when Bond is rowing in a small boat through a forest of marble columns? That scene was filmed in Yerebatan.

Sultanahmet square at night is fabulous! As the dark falls and the light around the buildings turns on, you can spend hours and hours just gazing at the beauty of the square.

When 19th-century travelers spoke of Constantinople(Istanbul) as the Paris of the East, they were thinking of the Grande Rue de Péra (İstiklal Caddesi) and its half-European, half-Asian culture. İstiklal Caddesi (Independence Avenue) is the heart of Beyoğlu, the more modern district of Istanbul built during the 19th century (map).

The city’s most popular strolling, shopping and snacking street, now reserved for pedestrians, is lined with boutiques,cafes, consulates, restaurants, galleries, cinemas and banks, with residential apartments above.

Nostalgic İstiklal Caddesi tramway cars rattle and clank along İstiklal Caddesi from Taksim Square to Tünel Squarejust as they did in the 19th-century heyday of this Europeanized corner of the Ottoman sultan’s domains.

Halfway along the avenue toward the southwest is Galatasaray Square, easily recognizable by the grand gates to Galatasaray Lisesi, the first European-style lycée (high school) erected by the Ottoman government.

Named after the 18th-century stone taksim (water storage unit) on its western side, this square is the symbolic heart of modern İstanbul. 

The Independence Monument (İstiklal Anıtı) in the circle at the southern end of the square commemorates the Turkish Republic’s founder, Kemal Atatürk, in both his roles, as military commander-in-chief and as statesman.

Taksim square was also the scene of some of the main events during the failed coup attempt of the 15th July 2016.

The Grand Bazaar, one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world housing over 3000 shops, is more than just a sightseeing spot. Ever since the 15th century, it has been bustling with activity. Every day locals and visitors are haggling to get the best bang for their buck. Here are some valuable bargaining tips for the Grand Bazaar and other shops around Istanbul.

ltan II. Mahmut Türbesi

The remains of the great Sultan Abdulhamid II are buried here along with many other sultans and state noblemen.

The Military Museum (Askeri Müzesi) at Harbiye, 1 km north of Taksim Square, chronicles mostly the Ottoman period when the Sultan’s troops conquered eastern Europe, the entire Middle East, and North Africa.

Don’t ignore this museum just because you’re no military buff. It holds striking historical treasures such as the chain which the Byzantines stretched across the mouth of the Golden Horn to keep out the Sultan’s navy in 1453.

The Sultan’s sumptuous sayeban or “pavilion,” encrusted with a fortune in jewels, is an open-sided “tent” in which he sat to receive foreign emissaries.

The Military Museum is also where you can hear the Mehter, the world’s oldest military band, play each afternoon (the 20-minute concerts begin at 3 and at 4 pm).