TOUR CODE : IST - 01 PORT : ISTANBUL TOUR DESTINATION : THE MOSQUES, ST.SOPHIA, HIPPODROME TRANSPORTATION : BY A/C CAR OR MINIBUS DURATION OF TOUR : APPROXIMATELY 4 HOURS MEAL : NOT INCLUDED

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE TOUR

Following a 30 minutes drive over the Galata Bridge and along the Golden Horn, you arrive at Süleymaniye, the second largest but the finest and most magnificent one of the imperial mosques in the city. It is a fitting monument to its founder, Süleyman the Magnificent, and a masterwork of the great Ottoman architect Sinan. Next you drive to the Byzantine Hippodrome which was an immense structure begun in 203 AD by the Emperor Septimius Severus, later extended and remodelled by Constantine the Great in the IVth Century. It could seat, according to The central line or "spina" was marked by obelisks and columns, three of which are still the outstanding monuments of the Hippodrome: the Egyptian Obelisk, the Serpent Column and the Theodosius' Column. After a short walk you arrive at the Blue Mosque, constructed at the beginning of the 17th century, renowned for the beautiful Iznik tiles of the best period used in the decoration of its interior, especially the lower parts of the walls and the galleries. Your last stop in this tour is one of the great buildings of the world: St.Sophia, completed in 537 during the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian, restored several times during the Byzantine and Ottoman periods. The great dome, the semidomes, the north and south tympana and the vaults of the narthex, aisles and gallery were all covered with gold mosaics, a great deal of which still survives. Your tour ends back to the pier, after a drive of 20 minutes through the old city.