On Sunday March 25, I did more sight-seeing in Istanbul. Unfortunately the mosaics museum was closed for renovations. I saw the Archaeology Museum in the morning. On display there is a gallery about Palestine, including the inscription from the Siloam tunnel in Jerusalem.
I then walked around the crowded Taksim area. Along the way I bought a shoulder bag for transporting back to Amman all of the books that I had bought at the various museums. In the evening I took a train from the Sirkeci train station to the end of the line and back for a couple of hours; that was not so worth-while because it soon got dark and there was standing room only for most of the trip out.
The next day, Monday March 26, was imperial mosque day. I went to the Blue Mosque of Sultan Ahmet first thing in the morning.
I then took a tram out to the Topkapi Gate and walked along the city wall to the north to the Mihrimah Mosque and a cemetery where Hafir and ‘Abd al-Sadiq ibn Amir, two Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, are buried and then the Chora Monastery.
I then walked back, stopping at the sequence of imperial mosques along the way: the Mehmet Fatih Mosque; it was noon prayer time so I did not go inside; then the Sehzadeh Mosque; the Kalendar Mosque; the Sulemaniye Mosque;and the Beyazit Mosque, where it was afternoon prayer time, so I did not go in.
Finally, I walked around the Istanbul University campus, before returning to the hotel for a shuttle bus to the airport for my 7:50 pm flight to Amman.
The Siloam tunnel inscription
In the afternoon I saw the Dolmabahce Palace.
The Dolmabahce Palace
I then walked around the crowded Taksim area. Along the way I bought a shoulder bag for transporting back to Amman all of the books that I had bought at the various museums. In the evening I took a train from the Sirkeci train station to the end of the line and back for a couple of hours; that was not so worth-while because it soon got dark and there was standing room only for most of the trip out.
The next day, Monday March 26, was imperial mosque day. I went to the Blue Mosque of Sultan Ahmet first thing in the morning.
The dome of the Blue Mosque
I then took a tram out to the Topkapi Gate and walked along the city wall to the north to the Mihrimah Mosque and a cemetery where Hafir and ‘Abd al-Sadiq ibn Amir, two Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, are buried and then the Chora Monastery.
The dome of the Mihrimah Mosque
The grave of ‘Abd al-Sadiq ibn Amir
The dome of the Chora monastery
I then walked back, stopping at the sequence of imperial mosques along the way: the Mehmet Fatih Mosque; it was noon prayer time so I did not go inside; then the Sehzadeh Mosque; the Kalendar Mosque; the Sulemaniye Mosque;and the Beyazit Mosque, where it was afternoon prayer time, so I did not go in.
The dome in the mausoleum of Mehmet Fatih
The dome of the Sehzadeh Mosque
The dome of the Kalendar Mosque
The dome of the Suleymaniye Mosque
Finally, I walked around the Istanbul University campus, before returning to the hotel for a shuttle bus to the airport for my 7:50 pm flight to Amman.
The bookstall area behind the Beyazit Mosque at Istanbul
University, with the bust of Ibrahim Müteferrika,
who introduced the first printing press in the
Ottoman state in 1729.
University, with the bust of Ibrahim Müteferrika,
who introduced the first printing press in the
Ottoman state in 1729.
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