I took these photos on two separate trips to Turkey between 1990 and 1992, while I was living in Naples, Italy.
Hagia Sophia Mosque
Hagia Sophia Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey. This is a former Greek Orthodox patriarchal basilica (church), later an imperial mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its construction in 537 until 1453, it served as an Eastern Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.
Blue Mosque Interior Detail
Blue Mosque Interior Detail, Istanbul, Turkey. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Turkish: Sultan Ahmet Camii) is a historic mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is still popularly used as a mosque.
Ferry Landing on the Bosporus
Ferry Landing on the Bosporus, Istanbul, Turkey
Marina on the Bosporus
Marina on the Bosporus, In the town of Tarabya, a ways up the Bosporus from Istanbul, Turkey
Column Detail, Istanbul Cistern
Column Detail, Istanbul Cistern. The Basilica Cistern (Turkish: Yerebatan Sarayı - "Sunken Palace", or Yerebatan Sarnıcı - "Sunken Cistern"), is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The cistern, located 500 feet (150 m) southwest of the Hagia Sophia on the historical peninsula of Sarayburnu, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian. Istanbul, Turkey
Neighborhood Cemetery
Neighborhood Cemetery, Istanbul, Turkey
Fishing on the Bosporus
Fishing on the Bosporus, Along the Bosporus, at the far end of the straits from Istanbul, Turkey
Grand Bazar Brass Shop
Grand Bazar Brass Shop, Itanbul, Turkey. The Grand Bazar is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.
Entrance to the Grand Bazar
Entrance to the Grand Bazar, Istanbul, Turkey
Inside Hagia Sophia Mosque
Inside Hagia Sophia Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey. A detail of the Christian heritage of the Hagia Sophia, revealed through the more modern Muslim artwork
Inside the Blue Mosque
Inside the Blue Mosque, Istanbul, Turkey. At its lower levels and at every pier, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles, made at Iznik (the ancient Nicaea) in more than fifty different tulip designs. The tiles at lower levels are traditional in design, while at gallery level their design becomes flamboyant with representations of flowers, fruit and cypresses.
Inside the Grand Bazar
Inside the Grand Bazar, Istanbul, Turkey. At the beginning of the 17th century the enormous extent of the Ottoman Empire in three continents, and the total control of road communication between Asia and Europe, rendered the Bazaar and the surrounding hans or caravanserais, the hub of the Mediterranean trade. According to several European travelers, at that time, and until the first half of the 19th century, the market was unrivaled in Europe with regards to the abundance, variety and quality of the goods on sale.
Fountain in the Grand Bazar
Fountain in the Grand Bazar, Istanbul, Turkey. In 1738 the Kizlar Aĝasi Beşir Ağa endowed the Fountain (still existing) near Mercan Kapi.
Mosque Cemetery
Mosque Cemetery, Istanbul, Turkey
Street outside Grand Bazar
Istanbul
Yildiz Park Rose Garden Pavillion
In the lovely Yildiz city park.
Yildiz Park Pool Garden
This park (Turkish: Yıldız Parkı) is a historical, urban park in Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. The park is located in Yıldız quarter between the palaces of Yıldız and Çırağan.
Roman Aqueduct
An ancient Roman-built aqueduct
Royal Barge
Istanbul Naval Museum
Inside Topkipei Palace
The Topkapı Palace (Turkish: Topkapı Sarayı) is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their 624-year reign.As well as a royal residence, the palace was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments. It is now a major tourist attraction and contains important holy relics of the Muslim world, including Muhammed's cloak and sword. The Topkapı Palace is among the monuments contained within the "Historic Areas of Istanbul", which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and is described under UNESCO's criterion iv as "the best example[s] of ensembles of palaces [...] of the Ottoman period."
Note: All images were taken with a Nikon 8008 35mm camera. The negatives were later digitally scanned.
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