New Istanbul Airport City Tour

If you are not in a hurry, connecting flights with long layovers are an advantage. First of all, you can fly to your destination much more cheaply than a direct flight. You also get a chance to see the city you are transferring to. Istanbul is the best of these options. You can visit some of the important points of this fascinating city in a few hours of waiting. For example:

Hagia Sophia is a structure that was built three times on the same site. Today's Hagia Sophia is known as the "Third Hagia Sophia". The first construction of Hagia Sophia was started during the reign of Constantine I, who accepted Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. This structure, which was built as a wooden-roofed basilica on the first of the seven hills of Istanbul and was called the "Great Church" at that time, was opened in 360 during the reign of Constantine II.

Sultan Ahmet Mosque or Sultanahmet Mosque was built by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I between 1609-1617 on the historical peninsula in Istanbul by the architect Sedefkar Mehmed Ağa. The mosque; It is called the "Blue Mosque" by Europeans because it is decorated with blue, green and white İznik tiles and because the interior of its half domes and large dome are decorated with mostly blue hand-drawn works. With the conversion of Hagia Sophia from a mosque to a museum in 1935, it became the main mosque of Istanbul.

Topkapı Palace was built by Fatih Sultan Mehmed between 1460-1478 after the conquest of Istanbul and took its current form with additional structures built by the following sultans. The construction, which started with garden arrangements and pavilions in Sarayburnu, known as Zeytinlik, continued with the walls called Sûr-ı Sultânî (Kal‘a-i Sultânî). For many years, the palace was called Saray-ı Cedîd-i Âmire because of the old palace in Beyazıt, and then the name Top Kapısı Palace began to be used because of the name of the pavilion called Toplu Kapı. The palace, to which additions were made over time, continued to be a center of life and administration until the mid-19th century.

The Basilica Cistern Museum is one of the most important cultural assets where we can trace the glorious history of Istanbul. This large underground cistern, built by the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinianus I (527-565), was popularly known as the "Basilica Palace" due to the seemingly countless marble columns rising from the water. Since the Stoa Basilica was previously located on the site of the structure called "Cisterna Basilica" in Latin, it is also known as the "Basilica Cistern" by some.

The Galata Tower was built by the Genoese as part of the Galata walls in the mid-fourteenth century, when the Galata district was a Genoese colony during the Byzantine Empire. After being used as a prison for a while during the Ottoman period, it was converted into a fire watchtower. The tower, which was occasionally destroyed by earthquakes and fires, was renovated several times during the Ottoman period. In the 1960s, the tower, which was in a rather dilapidated state, was restored by the Istanbul Municipality and opened to visitors. Galata Tower was restored again by the General Directorate of Foundations in 2020, the reinforced concrete elements and the cafeteria that were added later were removed, and it reopened its doors to visitors as a museum.

The Galata Bridge is a bridge built over the Golden Horn in Istanbul, connecting Karaköy and Eminönü. Completed and put into service in December 1994, the Galata Bridge, which is currently in service, is a bascule bridge that is 490 meters long and 80 meters of which can be opened. It is one of the few bascule bridges in the world that has a tram passing over it.
The first bridge connecting the Golden Horn, known as the "Galata Bridge", was built in 1845. This bridge was renovated in 1863, 1875 and 1912; The bridge, built in 1912 in the style of the First National Architecture Movement, has become one of the symbols of the city. The Galata Bridge, the symbol of the city, burned in 1992 and became the "Historical Galata Bridge".

The Grand Bazaar is spread over an area of ​​110,868 m2, has a closed area of ​​45,000 m2, 3,600 shops and 14 inns on 65 streets. Although most of them have changed today, it is possible to understand what was done and sold there in the past from the names of the streets and inns of the Grand Bazaar.

These are just some of the countless historical structures in Istanbul... Which ones you can see depends on the time you spend in Istanbul. We can offer you an excellent service with our new Istanbul Airport and Sultanahmet offices. We have been organizing Istanbul Airport transfers and Daily Istanbul tours for many years with our experienced staff and wide vehicle fleet. Please contact us. Let us plan a beautiful Istanbul day for you.

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