February 20th, 2010 by admin
Besiktas is one of the oldest neighborhoods in İstanbul. It’s located in the Rumeli side of the Bosporus, between Ortaköy and Tophane. It’s neighbor to Sisli in the West, Beyoglu in the south, and Sarıyer in the north.
According to the written sources about past, its original name is “Beştaş”. This name is coming from five-stone columns Barbaros Hayreddin Pahsa set up to connect the ships to the coast. “Beştaş” name has evolved to Besiktas over in time.
Besiktas district, consists of 23 neighborhoods which are Abbasağa, Akatlar, Arnavutköy, Balmumcu, Bebek, Cihannüma, Obelisk, Etiler, Gayrettepe, Mansions, Kuruçeşme, Kültür, Levazim, Levent, Mecidiye, Ortaköy, Muradiye, Nispetiye, Sinanpaşa, Türkali, Ulus, Yıldız and Vişnezade. (more…)
February 20th, 2010 by admin
Istanbul cuisine offers a taste of the most delicious traditional Turkish cuisine to the people as the kitchen of palace. The kitchen containing the properties of Eastern and Western cultures and habits emerged in İstanbul.
Meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and all kinds of spices are used in Istanbul kitchen. Many of seafood, veal, lamb, goat, chicken, geese, ducks, foods made from rabbits and some birds, meat and vegetables cooked together in the pot meal, made from vegetables and olive oil eaten cold, “dolma”, salads, sherbet made with many fruits and compote, milky desserts and sweets made from dough are just some of them that Istanbul cuisine may offer you. (more…)
March 31st, 2008 by admin
Hagia Sophia (known as Sancta Sophia in Latin and Ayasofya in Turkish) is one of the oldest historical structures in the world standing for nearly 1500 years. In its long history it has been damaged and rebuilt for several times up to now. Howover, it is still standing as a great sample of architecture today.
It was built as a church when the time of Constantinopole. In 1453 Sultan Mehmet conquered Constantinopole and decided to convert the church into mosque. The Hagia Sophia served as a mosque for about 500 years. And In 1934 it was converted to the Ayasofya Museum. Today many people come to visit there.
You can take an online tour here and see the whole Hagia Sophia structure (your browser may need plugins).
March 30th, 2008 by admin
If you are interested in shopping, you will find very interestings things in Istanbul. Turkey is famous for jewellery, leather and especially carpets. The Grand Bazaar and The Egyptian Spice Bazaar are good places to buy Turkish carpets, souvenirs, leather bags, spices and more. You must see that places and feel the authentic atmosphere even if you don’t think to buy anything.
istanbul shopping tips
There’re a few things you should know before shopping. The first thing is that you should know how to bargain in bazaars and markets. (more…)
March 29th, 2008 by admin
Istanbul‘s a crowded and complex city. Because of that, traffic is one of the biggest problems. For a longer stay you should purchase Akbil, a debit card that can be used for most kinds of public transportation within the city. There’re different kinds of public transportation in Istanbul.
Bus
Private and public buses are very common. According to the traffic time tables can change. So you may wait 10,15 or 20 minutes for a bus. There’re three kinds of buses: (more…)
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