Istanbul: Where East meets West

A perfect timing to go to Istanbul. Spring has just started there; the weather was sunny and warm and the tulips have started to bloom. Never thought that I'd see so many tulips in Istanbul as in Netherlands but I guess the city does full of surprises.

Originally named as Byzantium when it was first founded in 6 BC by a Megarian colonist named Byzas, refounded in 330 AD as Constantinople and conquered in 1453 by the Ottomans, Istanbul remains as Turkey's largest and busiest city until today. Istanbul is divided from north to south by the Bosphorus strait into European and Asian sides; granting Istanbul the credit of being the only city in the world that is located in two continents. The city itself preserved both its European and Asian inheritance, the best example can be seen from the grand Aya Sofya; a building resembles histories and culture from both sides.

Photos Explanations:

1. Aya Sofya - Church of the Holy Wisdom
   The grand Aya Sofya was built in 532 AD by Emperor Justinian and was the largest place of worship in Christiandom before St.Peter's in Rome. When the Ottoman Army under Mehmet the Conqueror conquered Constantinople in 1453, it was turned into a mosque and later converted into a museum until today.
2. Interiors of Aya Sofya
   The remains of Justinian's mosaics on the walls and the ceilings of Aya Sofya
3. The Blue Mosque - Sultanahmet Camii
   The name is taken from the beautiful blue Iznik tiles in shape of floral pattern that decorate the inside of the mosque. The building was completed in 1617 by Sultan Ahmet as his answer to Aya Sofya's.
4. Interiors of The Blue Mosque
   Notice the huge suspended chandeliers that hold tiny votive candles?
5. Yerebatan Sarnici - the Palace Cistern
   An underground water storage tank that was built during the reign of Emperor Justinianus in the 6 AD. Due to its nice atmospher and great acoustics, it is still used to host many classical music concert.
6. Fishing in the Bosphorus
   Many of the locals are fishing on the bridge that connects Europe and Asia
7. Topkapi Sarayi
   Residencial palace of the Sultans for almost 3 centuries before they moved to an-European-Style-Palace Dolmabahce Sarayi.
8. Dolmabahce Sarayi
   The new palace built on the Bosphorus, designed to deny the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
9. Kapali Carsi - Covered Bazaar
   It was built in 1464 by order of Mehmed II and it is the biggest covered market in the entire world with literally thousands of shops selling everything from fake brand t-shirt to expensive jewelries. Being an Indonesian, I had to say that it is like shopping in Mangga Dua with the locals trying to drag the tourists into buying goods from their shops.
10. Kiz Kulesi - Maiden's Tower
    The tower appeared in the James Bond movie 'The World is not Enough'
11. a 400,000 TRY Toilet
    Eventhough the Turks have introduced a new Turkish Lira, a lot of them are still using the old currency. Cost of going to the toilet in Sultanahmet is 400,000 Old Turkish Lira; a bit of a shock for a Euro-currency-person as you might have automatically thought 400,000 Euro!!!
12. The busy Sultanahmet area of Istanbul