In November I flew from Singapore to Cairo on Turkish Airlines, with a layover in Istanbul. I booked a later flight so I could tour the city. A perk of flying with Turkish Airlines is they offer half-day and full-day tours for their transiting passengers with layovers between six and twenty-four hours.
Leaving on the 11:35 PM red-eye flight, I landed the next day before 6 AM in Istanbul. My flight to Cairo wasn’t until almost 6 PM that night so I signed up for the morning half-day tour. This included both breakfast and lunch and a tour of Hagia Sophia and the Blue Church. The airline arranged everything for us, including the tickets. 100% complimentary.
Even though I slept well on the plane, I was still groggy when I landed. With my luggage checked all the way through to Cairo, I only had my hand luggage with me. It was not immediately obvious where to go or what to do. I was not alone. Soon, more and more people gathered for our 8:30 AM meetup.
Constantinople
In school, we were taught ancient history, which included the rise and fall of empires. Constantinople was the capital of the Ottoman Empire and its history has been fascinating, even the version we’ve been taught.
Is Constantinople Istanbul?
Istanbul dates back to the 7th century BCE as Byzantium. The Roman Emperor, Constantine the Great, first renamed Nova Roma (New Rome) in 330 CE as the new imperial capital before Constantinople (after himself). For nearly 1,600 years, it remained the capital through four empires (330 – 1922). Aside from its role in religion, history, and culture, Constantinople was also important as part of the Silk Road. The name Istanbul, which means “going to the city” in ancient Greek, has been used since the 11th century and became the official name in 1930, Turkey’s capital already moved to Ankara in 1923.
While the names were used interchangeably in the Ottoman times, I read that they are not the same and that Istanbul included Constantinople.
Sultanahmet Square
Sultanahmet Square is the centre of Istanbul and once the location of Hippodrome of Constantinople was located. They held sporting events such as horse racing here. A u-shaped arena already existed when Istanbul was known as Byzantium.
The square was our first stop after breakfast. It was a sunny morning and it felt great to stretch my legs and watch the kids running around.
Obelisk of Theodosius
Ancient Egyptian obelisk of PharaohThutmose III (1479–1425 BC), first erected during the 18th dynasty of Egypt. It
The obelisk was first erected during the 18th dynasty by Pharaoh Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC) to the south of the seventh pylon of the great temple of Karnak. The Roman emperor Constantius II(337–361 AD) had it and another obelisk transported along the river Nile to Alexandria to commemorate his ventennalia or 20 years on the throne in 357. The other obelisk was erected on the spina of the Circus Maximus in Rome in the autumn of that year, and is now known as the Lateran Obelisk. The obelisk that would become the obelisk of Theodosius remained in Alexandria until 390; when Theodosius I (379–395 AD) had it transported to Constantinople and put up on the spina of the Hippodrome there.[1]
Originally a church, later a mosque, the 6th-century Hagia Sophia (532–537) by Byzantine emperor Justinian I was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Seville Cathedral (1507) in Spain.
Blue Mosque
The vision for the Blue Mosque was grand, one to outshine the Hagia Sophia nearby. Its construction took eight years, finishing in 1617. The Sultanahmet Mosque became the first mosque to have six minarets, a controversy at the time as Mecca had six, to which Sultan Ahmet commissioned and added a seventh.
It becomes clear why it’s called the Blue Mosque when we enter inside, which is illuminated by the light coming through 200 stained glass windows and the massive chandeliers. The interiors are decorated by blue ceramic tiles that come from Turkey’s Iznik region.
