Last Full Day in Istanbul

Today we visited the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, both very close to our Group Hotel and only a 10min walk away.
The Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Patriarch of Constantinople of the Western Crusader established Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized.

It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935. The Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmed Mosque) was built between 1609 and 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I.. The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of
both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighbouring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area of Sultanahmet.Read more