Sunday, 26 October 2025

On Board ms Encore

Tonight is our first night aboard this Seabourn ship and LFLatSea has not yet finished with Istanbul. So while we are smoothly sailing from the Sea of Marmara through the Dardanelles Strait (check your maps), I will first return to Saturday, our one free day in the city.

Saturday, 25 October 2025

Istanbul

We have a bit of a late sleep-in this morning, since we are no longer meeting our wonderful personal guide, who is taking other tourists to the same spots we visited over the past two days. Will decides to take the day off after the rather strenuous days we have just endured. But like the Ever Ready Bunny, I just keep hopping on.   

I take the same tram as yesterday from very close to our hotel, but to a stop more central than yesterday's end of the line--the city section called Eminonu, the location of several important tourist sights.

The "New Mosque" (Yeni Cami) is new only in relative terms, having been constructed from 1660-65. The exterior of the mosque boasts 66 domes and semi domes in a pyramidal arrangement, as well as two minarets. The interior is square, 41 m/135 ft on each side. The dome is 17.5 m/57 ft in diameter and has a height of 36 m/118 feet. Like many other Ottoman imperial mosques, on the four corners where the dome meets the pillars are calligraphic plates with the names of the first four khalifs. The interior is decorated with blue, green and white İznik tiles.

The Spice Market (Mısır Çarşıs), more correctly known as the "Egyptian Bazaar" (1597-1664), is a colorful indoor bazaar, with lots of shops offering a variety of spices, flavored teas, Turkish delight, nuts, and small souvenirs. Unfortunately the local halvah I am looking for is no longer available. but comes in manufactured packages. But it is still fun to wander through this busy market. 

From the Spice Market I wander through narrow streets full of Saturday shoppers looking for bargains. This part of Istanbul is a warren of lanes and alleyways made for getting lost. But my trusty iPhone (even without wifi service) always pinpoints my position on Goggle maps.

Hidden within the maze of shopping is the small but beautiful Rustum Pasa Mosque (1563), known for its remarkable collection of colorful Iznik tiles.

One more mosque finishes off my day before heading back to Will. Suleymaniye Mosque (1550-57; restored 2007-10), is the largest in Istanbul. Four minarets occupy the four corners of the courtyard. The balconies are supported by carved consoles and they have balustrades carved and pierced with geometric patterns.

The interior of the mosque is almost a square, forming a single vast space dominated by its central dome. This central dome is flanked by semi-domes both in front and behind; between these smaller domes and the main dome are large tympanis filled with windows.

Visitors enter the mosque grounds through a landscaped burial ground, with monuments to virtuous citizens.

And even the ubiquitous street cats of Istanbul--see the many videos on YouTube--are warmly welcomed in the sacred precincts of mosques:

Outside the mosque the visitor enjoys spectacular views over the Golden Horn to the more modern European side of Istanbul:

From this hilltop mosque it is an easy walk down through the large campus of Istanbul Beyazit University, in a brief downpour, to the hotel and dinner in its small restaurant.