TurkTravelRadar Blog
Articles to explore Turkey
Travel ideas, local food and things to know before your trip.
497 articles
History & Culture · 5 min read
Karagümrük and Hırka-i Şerif: The Neighbourhood That Keeps Its Stories Close
Walk from Edirnekapı into Karagümrük, where a small square, surviving wooden houses and a mosque built to shelter a treasured relic reveal a quieter side of Fatih.
Burak Çınar
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General · 6 min read
Kariye and Edirnekapı: The Stories Left on the Walls
From Tekfur Palace, walk toward Kariye’s mosaics and frescoes, then climb to Mihrimah Sultan Mosque beside Edirnekapı’s city walls.
Burak Çınar
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History & Culture · 5 min read
Ayvansaray and Blachernae: Searching for the Palace That Vanished
Follow the Golden Horn from Balat to Ayvansaray, where old walls, a holy spring and Tekfur Palace hold fragments of Constantinople’s lost imperial quarter.
Burak Çınar
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History & Culture · 5 min read
Fener: The Red School Above the Golden Horn
Descend from Fatih’s hill into Fener, where a red school rises above the roofs and the Ecumenical Patriarchate stands in the streets below.
Burak Çınar
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History & Culture · 5 min read
Fatih and Çarşamba: The Sultan’s Name, the Neighbourhood’s Life
Walk from Zeyrek to Fatih Mosque and Çarşamba. Follow the story of a Byzantine hill, an Ottoman sultan, a rebuilt mosque and the market streets that still belong to the neighbourhood.
Burak Çınar
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History & Culture · 6 min read
Vefa and Zeyrek: The Streets That Remember Two Empires
Walk from Süleymaniye through Vefa to Zeyrek, where boza, old houses and a former Byzantine monastery reveal the lives behind Istanbul’s skyline.
Burak Çınar
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History & Culture · 5 min read
Süleymaniye: The Hill That Holds Istanbul Together
Leave Beyazıt’s crowded streets behind and climb toward Süleymaniye. In Sinan’s great mosque, its surrounding streets and the view over the Golden Horn, discover a quieter way to understand Istanbul.
Burak Çınar
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History & Culture · 5 min read
Grand Bazaar and Beyazıt: Where Istanbul’s Trade Spilled Into the Streets
Follow the trading streets inland from Eminönü, enter the Grand Bazaar, and emerge into Beyazıt Square to discover a city shaped by commerce far beyond the market’s walls.
Burak Çınar
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History & Culture · 6 min read
Sirkeci and Eminönü: Istanbul’s Gateway to the World
A railway station, a crowded waterfront, a mosque and a market tell the story of how people and goods have moved through Istanbul.
Burak Çınar
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