June 14, 2002 - Istanbul

(part 1)

There was just so much to see in Istanbul that I couldn't stop taking pictures...hence the breaking up of the first day into two parts.  I made it to the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofia, the Basilican Cistern, the Archeological Museum, and the Topkapi Palace.  Another evening with tired feet but well worth it.

The Blue Mosque

The Aya Sofia as seen from the Sultanahmet Park

Getting closer to the Blue Mosque

A fountain in the middle of one of the courtyards

Decorative arabic script over one of the archways

The interior of the Blue Mosque. The hundreds of small vertical lines are wires holding up lights that hang very close to the floor. I really hated those wires.

One of the massive pillars holding up the Blue Mosque...and those annoying lights

One of the domes in the Blue Mosque

A larger view of the interior of the Blue Mosque

Stained glass windows in the Blue Mosque

A pillar with decorative Arabic script inside the Aya Sofia

The central dome of the Aya Sofia, the largest dome in the world at the time it was built

Marble columns in the Aya Sofia

A decorative balcony inside the Aya Sofia

An interesting staircase

More of the elaborate decoration inside the Aya Sofia. You can also see the massive scaffolding occupying a large portion of the Aya Sofia in the picture as well.

Intricate detail went into everything they did in the Aya Sofia

A parting shot of the interior of the Aya Sofia

The hallway leading out of the Aya Sofia

A small fountain on the grounds outside of the Aya Sofia

Closer view of the exterior of the Aya Sofia

Unearthed tombs immediately adjacent to the Aya Sofia

The exterior of the Basilican Cistern

Entering the Basilican Cistern

Many columns supported the roof of the Basilican Cistern. Water flowed down from the hills in the north and was stored here as the city's water supply nearly 2000 years ago.

More of the interior of the Basilican Cistern

And more columns

You can just make out some Latin writing on the side of the column

One of the "Medusa head" columns. Nobody knows why they're placed in the orientations that they were.

The other "Medusa head" column

A tomb with Christian markings on it outside the Archeological Musuem, probably from a fallen crusader

The shady path leading to the Archeological Museum

The statue that greets you as you enter the museum

Engraving depicting mounted soldiers

For you Gladiator fans out there, this is a sculpture of Commodus

And again for you Gladiator fans, a sculpture of Marcus Aurelius

Sculpture of knights fighting demons

A sarcophagus unearthed in the nearby Necropolis. This one among the many here looked more Egyptian than Roman

Different view of the sarcophagi

One of the crypts unearthed at the Necropolis

A closer view showing the detailed craftmanship that went into making this crypt

The Tile Musuem, immediately across from the Archeological Museum

A very strange column inbetween the two museums

Decorative tile, which is hundreds of years old, in the Tile Museum

Me posing in front of a 500 year old slab of tile

Windows and tile work inside the Tile Museum

Ornate fireplace with elaborate tile work

Tombs outside of the Archeological Museum