My flight from New York City arrived in Istanbul on Friday March 23 at 10:00 am. I had found a super cheap fare with Turkish Airlines that enabled me to stop over on my way back to Jordan for a few days without any added charge. The only other time I had been in Istanbul was for a few days as a 14-year old in 1971, so I took advantage of the opportunity to fill what had been a gap in my travels, given how interested I am in Byzantine studies.
I stayed in a hotel in the Sultan Ahmet neighborhood, very close to the Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace, in an area where virtually every building is a hotel, restaurant or travel agent. The first afternoon I walked around along a main street west for a couple kilometers and walked through the Grand Bazaar on the way back.
The next day, Saturday March 24, I did a lot of sight-seeing. I got a three-day museum pass and started off with the Topkapi Palace for a couple of hours.
I then went to the Turkish and Islamic Museum, where I saw the Umayyad milestone of ‘Abd al-Malik from near Jerusalem and the Fatimid inscription that prohibits non-Muslims from entering the mosque built in the east end of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
In the afternoon I went to the Hagia Sophia. I was interested to see in a side area a sarcophagus decorated with crosses that had been cut away.
I then went to the nearby underground water reservoir and then in the evening I took a tram heading west to the end of the line and back.
I stayed in a hotel in the Sultan Ahmet neighborhood, very close to the Hagia Sophia and Topkapi palace, in an area where virtually every building is a hotel, restaurant or travel agent. The first afternoon I walked around along a main street west for a couple kilometers and walked through the Grand Bazaar on the way back.
The next day, Saturday March 24, I did a lot of sight-seeing. I got a three-day museum pass and started off with the Topkapi Palace for a couple of hours.
A room in the Topkapi Palace
I then went to the Turkish and Islamic Museum, where I saw the Umayyad milestone of ‘Abd al-Malik from near Jerusalem and the Fatimid inscription that prohibits non-Muslims from entering the mosque built in the east end of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem.
The Arabic inscriptions in the Turkish and Islamic Museum.
‘Abd al-Malik’s milestone is on the left and the Fatimid
inscription from the mosque in the east end of the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre is to its right.
inscription from the mosque in the east end of the Church
of the Holy Sepulchre is to its right.
In the afternoon I went to the Hagia Sophia. I was interested to see in a side area a sarcophagus decorated with crosses that had been cut away.
The cut-away crosses
A crew filming a documentary in the Hagia Sophia
I then went to the nearby underground water reservoir and then in the evening I took a tram heading west to the end of the line and back.
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