Spice, Stone & Sultans

A half-day walk through Istanbul's bazaars, food streets and Ottoman legacy

Istanbul · 33 stops · 6.9 km · ~2.0 h · Generated

  1. 1. Sultanahmet Hippodrome (At Meydanı)

    Sultan Ahmet Meydanı, Sultanahmet

    You are standing on one of the most extraordinary pieces of ground in the world. Beneath your feet... about two meters down... lies the original racing surface of the Hippodrome of Constantinople. This was not just a stadium. It was the sporting and social center of the entire Eastern Roman Empire.

    The Roman emperor Septimius Severus first built a hippodrome here around the year two hundred and three. But it was Constantine the Great who, in preparation for making this city his new capital, commissioned an expansion and linked it to an imperial palace, making the hippodrome central to every ceremony. When finished, the track was about four hundred and fifty meters long, one hundred and thirty meters wide, and could hold forty to fifty Thousand screaming spectators.

    Now look at that tall pink granite column. That is the Obelisk of Theodosius... and it is staggeringly old. Pharaoh Thutmose the Third first erected it around fourteen seventy nine B.C. at the great temple of Karnak in Egypt. It was built to commemorate a successful military campaign in Syria. Emperor Constantius the Second had already removed it from Egypt and left it abandoned on the banks of the Nile. It lay there for decades... until Theodosius the First finally had it shipped to Constantinople and raised on this very spot in three ninety A.D. And here is a detail most people miss. Look closely at the marble base. The name Pro-culus on the Latin inscription was once chiseled off... because the man fell out of favor and was Executed. But four years later his reputation was restored, and his name was re-carved back into the stone!

    Now, that twisted bronze stump nearby? That is the Serpent Column. It was originally built to celebrate the Greek victory over the Persian Empire at the Battle of Plataea in four seventy nine B.C. Constantine himself had it brought from Delphi in three twenty four. Imagine... three intertwined bronze serpents, with three open-jawed heads supporting a golden tripod! The Byzantines believed it was a talisman. The Ottoman writer Evliya ÇeleBi described it as protecting the city from snakes, scorpions, and other vermin. Then, on the night of October twentieth, seventeen hundred... the heads vanished. A French traveler reported that the Polish ambassador's entourage, lodged in the nearby Palace of Ibrahim Pasha, included a drunken nobleman who may have hacked them off. But an Ottoman source claims all three heads simply fell to the ground on their own, with a noise like a powerful man chopping down trees. The truth? Nobody knows for certain.

    And This ground witnessed the deadliest sports riot in history. In January five thirty two, the Blues and the Greens... rival chariot racing factions that were really political Gangs... united under a single chant: Nika! Victory! That word, once shouted to urge on charioteers, was now directed against Emperor Justinian himself. For five days, Constantinople burned. Justinian prepared to flee... until he ordered his general Belisarius to attack the rioters, resulting in the slaughter of around thirty thousand people... right here, in this very arena. Because the city was so extensively damaged by fire, Justinian was able to rebuild, giving us Hagia Sofia as it stands today.

    So pause for a moment. You are surrounded by three thousand five hundred years of layered history. An Egyptian obelisk. A Greek war trophy. A Roman arena. A Byzantine massacre. And Ottoman legends. All in one square.

  2. 2. Ibrahim Pasha Palace (Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum)

    Türk ve İslam Eserleri Müzesi, Atmeydanı Sokak 46, Sultanahmet

  3. 3. Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii)

    Sultan Ahmet Camii, Sultanahmet

  4. 4. Great Palace Mosaic Museum

    Büyük Saray Mozaikleri Müzesi, Sultanahmet Meydanı, Sultanahmet

  5. 5. Arasta Bazaar

    Arasta Çarşısı, Mimar Mehmet Ağa Caddesi, Sultanahmet

  6. 6. Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı)

    Yerebatan Sarnıcı, Yerebatan Caddesi 1/3, Sultanahmet

  7. 7. Firuz Ağa Mosque

    Firuz Ağa Camii, Divan Yolu Caddesi, Sultanahmet

  8. 8. Çemberlitaş Hamamı

    Çemberlitaş Hamamı, Vezirhanı Caddesi 8, Çemberlitaş

  9. 9. Atik Ali Pasha Mosque

    Atik Ali Paşa Camii, Yeniçeriler Caddesi, Çemberlitaş

  10. 10. Çemberlitaş — Column of Constantine

    Çemberlitaş Sütunu, Divan Yolu Caddesi, Çemberlitaş

  11. 11. Nuruosmaniye Gate of the Grand Bazaar

    Kapalıçarşı Nuruosmaniye Kapısı, Nuruosmaniye Caddesi, Fatih

  12. 12. Nuruosmaniye Mosque

    Nuruosmaniye Camii, Nuruosmaniye Caddesi, Çemberlitaş

  13. 13. Dönerci Şahin Usta

    Dönerci Şahin Usta, Nuruosmaniye Kılıççılar Sokak 7, Çemberlitaş

  14. 14. Sandal Bedesten

    Sandal Bedesteni, Kapalıçarşı, Fatih

  15. 15. Büyük Yeni Han

    Büyük Yeni Han, Çakmakçılar Yokuşu, Fatih

  16. 16. Kürkçü Hanı

    Kürkçü Hanı, Mahmutpaşa Yokuşu, Fatih

  17. 17. Büyük Valide Han

    Büyük Valide Han, Çakmakçılar Yokuşu, Fatih

  18. 18. Mahmutpaşa Yokuşu — Wholesale Bazaar Street

    Mahmutpaşa Yokuşu, Fatih

  19. 19. Tahtakale — The Wholesale Spice Quarter

    Tahtakale, Fincancılar Yokuşu, Fatih

  20. 20. Süleymaniye Camii — Sinan's Masterpiece

    Süleymaniye Camii, Süleymaniye, Fatih

  21. 21. Süleymaniye Türbesi — Tomb of Suleiman the Magnificent

    Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Türbesi, Süleymaniye Camii Külliyesi, Fatih

  22. 22. Süleymaniye Market Street (Tiryaki Çarşısı)

    Tiryaki Çarşısı, Süleymaniye Caddesi, Fatih

  23. 23. Rüstem Pasha Mosque

    Rüstem Paşa Camii, Hasırcılar Caddesi, Fatih

  24. 24. Ic Bedesten (Old Bazaar)

    İç Bedesten, Kapalıçarşı, Fatih

  25. 25. Rüstem Pasha Han (Büyük Çukur Han)

    Büyük Çukur Han, Eminönü, Fatih

  26. 26. Hasırcılar Caddesi — Street of the Mat-Makers

    Hasırcılar Caddesi, Eminönü, Fatih

  27. 27. Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi

    Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi, Tahmis Caddesi 66, Eminönü

  28. 28. Mısır Çarşısı — Spice Bazaar

    Mısır Çarşısı, Eminönü, Fatih

  29. 29. Hatice Turhan Valide Sultan Türbesi

    Hatice Turhan Valide Sultan Türbesi, Yeni Cami Külliyesi, Eminönü

  30. 30. Yeni Cami — The New Mosque

    Yeni Cami, Eminönü Meydanı, Fatih

  31. 31. Eminönü Meydanı — The Golden Horn Square

    Eminönü Meydanı, Eminönü, Fatih

  32. 32. Balık Ekmek Boats

    Balık Ekmek İskelesi, Eminönü Sahili, Fatih

  33. 33. Galata Bridge — Lower Deck Fish Restaurants

    Galata Köprüsü, Eminönü