Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazar & Spice Market Private Tour – Shore Excursion

In the Old City, you will visit the Byzantine Hippodrome. It had a capacity for 100,000 spectators, while the horse racing and chariot racing here offered an opulent spectacle. You will admire the Kaiser’s German fountain, the bronze Serpent Column of Delphi, the Egyptian Obelisk, and the Walled Obelisk of Constantine VII.

The next monument is the Mosque of Sultan Ahmed or “Blue Mosque”. It is the most beautiful mosque in Istanbul, built upon the order of 20-year-old Sultan Ahmed I, whose grave lies inside the mosque. The Church of the Holy Wisdom of God is your next magnificent destination. Hagia Sophia is a symbol of the city and a very important monument that is a pole of attraction not only for those seeking religious tourism. Continue with Grand Bazaar. Turkey's largest covered market with 4000 shops offering excellent shopping as beautiful tiles, copper and brassware, apparel made of leather, cotton, and wool, meerschaum pipes, and all sorts of other things.

The next and last stop will be at the Spice Market also called Egyptian Bazaar. It is an exotic market built in 1660, this bazaar is the second-largest historical market in Istanbul after the Grand Bazaar with an extraordinary array of spices, sweets, dried fruits, nuts, teas, and coffees, as well as towels, slippers, baskets, and some jewelry. The bazaar was called the Egyptian Bazaar because most of the imported spices came from Egypt during the Ottoman period, and was originally built to provide financial support to Yeni Camii (New Mosque) nearby. The market itself is now overrun with stalls selling primarily Turkish Delights and other traditional Turkish sweets and spices.

Return to port.

Others

Hagia Sophia Museum is closed on Mondays and it will be replaced with Topkapi Palace.