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Istanbul has hundreds of mosques. We visited the Süleymaniye,
Rustem Pasa, and Blue Mosques. The first two of these were constructed by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan
in the mid 1500's and the Blue Mosque was built shortly after by a student of Sinan.
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There are fewer churches in Istanbul, but the Hagia Sophia was
originally built as a church in 537. After being damaged and repaired several times, it was converted
into a mosque and now it is a museum. The Basilica Cistern was created during the construction of the
Hagia Sophia and for many years it was Istanbul's water reservoir. The Chora Church, which
was also converted to a mosque and then to a museum, contains many fine mosaics and frescoes.
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Two great palaces are located on the Bosphorus in Istanbul. Topkapi,
completed in 1465, contains the Harem where the Sultan's mother, the concubines and wives of the Sultan, and the rest of
his family, including his children and their servants resided. The Dolmabahçe Palace was built in the mid 1850's. The
Grand Bazaar is a palace of another kind: a shopping palace containing over 4000 shops.
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