Sunday, March 01, 2009

Lonely Planet - ICONIC ISTANBUL




Blue Mosque





...no blue paint/colour from the outside, but the interior was decorated with blue tiles, that's the name came from..







Hagia Sofia Basilica (Church)






Galata Tower

...this view from the harbour...

...from the Tokapi Palace...




Suleiman Mosque

...from Tokapi...the mosque was closed for restoration works, only small section opened for people to perform their praying...

...another rival masterpiece from the prodigy of Blue Mosque's architect...

...view from a cafe across the road...the mosque was built on top of a hill, two kilometres away from the Blue Mosque...masjectically can be seen across the straits...



Tokapi Palace


...once the official palace for the ottoman sultanate but now as a museum, so no pics for the displays...


12 comments:

famil said...

hmmm... before this I always thought blue mosque and haiga sofia were the same.. :p

thanks for pointing this out.

[danial][ma] said...

hej! famil...yup, both are different...hagia sofia was originally built a church during roman empire, and turned into mosque during ottoman, then into museum in modern turkey...hagia sofia and blue mosque are barely 100 metre facing to each other...;-)

丽 娜 said...

it's said that during ottoman empire, they will light up thousands of gasoline lamps in the evening and the view was breathtaking. Istanbul is totally a must see place kn?

[danial][ma] said...

hej! lynawan...and now i think much more breathtaking view during the night with powerful electric lights! yeah, it is a must city to visit, a fascinating city by day and night...;-)

CAHAYA said...

Wow. Nice. I will visit Istanbul one fine day. :)

Ms B said...

hi danial,

thanks for putting these pics! the places i love most are blue mosque, hagia sophia, topkapi palace and the view of bosphorus from the top.

Always mesmerised by istanbul.

[danial][ma] said...

hej! CAHAYA...yeah, one of great cities to visit...;-)

[danial][ma] said...

hej! Ms B...you are welcomed...those places were great...;-)

yazrie said...

OMG...It really breathtaking pictures indeed!

[danial][ma] said...

hej! yazrie...yes, really breathtaking views...

mazddaud said...

credit to the photographer...very nice pictures!!

[danial][ma] said...

hej! mazddaud...yeah, and next is your turn to snap tulips in kuekenhof...;-)

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