Istanbul 2014 - Suleymaniye Mosque

Date: 5th April 2014

The second stop we made after Yeni Camii/Spice Bazaar was at the famous Suleymaniye Mosque located on the Third Hill of Istanbul. We chose to walk instead of taking a public transport as the place look so near, yet so far to reach. With a guided map and directions by the locals, we reached the destination though it was rather a breathless climbs up to the hill. It was seen very near as directed by the locals. The truth was, my feet was bursting with angers due to a lack of stamina and regular exercise. I must take note to be mentally and physically fit for my next trip.

Courtyard of the mosque

View from the main entrance to the mosque

The Suleymaniye Mosque was completed 456 years ago, in use since 1558.It is 1 of the renown Ottoman imperial mosque, being the largest mosque in the city, and one of the best-known sights of Istanbul. It was built on the order of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent, draw by the architectural genius of Mimar Sinan. The construction work began in 1550 and the mosque was finished in 1558.

The city directional sign is at it's best, you will not get lost

However, the hill does not look so friendly though :(

The vast religious complex blended Islamic and Byzantine architectural elements, combines tall, slender minarets with large domed buildings supported by half domes in the style of the Byzantine church Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia was once a mark of the Constantinople city but the mosque was built with an intent to surpass the Hagia Sophia glory.

Posing as soon as we entered through the rear entrance of the mosque

The design of the Suleymaniye displays the Sultan's self-conscious representation of himself as a 2nd Solomon, in references to the Dome of the Rock, which was built on the site of the Temple of Solomon. Emperor Justinian was recorded boast upon the completion of the Hagia Sophia by saying "Solomon, I have surpassed you!" The Suleymaniye, similar in magnificence to the preceding structures, asserts Sultan Suleyman's historical importance. The structure is nevertheless smaller in size than its older archetype, the Hagia Sophia.

Sultan Suleymaniya's mausoleum and member of the courts

In the garden behind the main mosque there are two mausoleums including the tombs of Sultan Suleiman I, his wife Roxelana, his daughter Mihrimah, his mother Dilaşub Saliha and his sister Asiye. The sultans Suleiman II, Ahmed II and Safiye, the daughter of Mustafa II, are also buried here. Just outside the mosque walls, to the north is the tomb of architect Sinan.

Similar case to Yeni Camii, Suleymaniye Complex was also ravaged by a fire in 1660 and was immediately restored by Sultan Mehmed IV. Part of the dome collapsed during 1766 earthquake. Subsequent repairs damaged what was left of the original decoration of Sinan (recent cleaning has shown that the Architect, Sinan had experimented the decor first with blue, before turning red the dominant color of the dome).

3 sisters discussing the world matter...hehe

During the World War I the courtyard was used as a weapons depot, and when some of the ammunition ignited, the mosque suffered another fire. Not until 1956 was it fully restored again.

Like the rest of Ottoman imperial mosques in Istanbul, the mosque itself is preceded by a monumental courtyard on the west side (see below 2 photos). The courtyard at the Suleymaniye is of exceptional grandeur with a colonnaded peristyle with columns of marble, granite and porphyry. At the 4 corners of the courtyard are the 4 minarets, a number only allowable to mosques endowed by a sultan (princes and princesses could construct two minarets; others only one). The minarets have a total of 10 galleries which by tradition indicates that Suleiman I was the 10th Ottoman sultan.

The main dome is 53 meters high and has a diameter of 27.5 meters. At the time it was built, the dome was the highest in the Ottoman Empire, when measured from sea level, but still lower from its base and smaller in diameter than that of Hagia Sophia.

Closer view of the courtyard

Foreign and local tourist having photo together in this magnificent place

The interior of the mosque is almost a square, 59 meters by 58 meters, forming a single vast space as can be seen from below photo. The dome is flanked by semi-domes, and to the north and south arches with tympana-filled windows, supported by enormous porphyry monoliths. The architect, Sinan decided to make a radical architectural innovation to mask the huge north-south buttresses needed to support these central piers. He incorporated the buttresses into the walls of the building, with half projecting inside and half projecting outside, and then hid the projections by building colonnaded galleries. There is a single gallery inside the structure, and a two-story gallery outside.

The interior decoration is subtle, with very restrained use of Iznik tiles. The white marble mihrab and mimbar are also simple in design, and woodwork is restrained, with simple designs in ivory and mother of pearl.

As with other imperial mosques in Istanbul, the Süleymaniye Mosque was designed as a külliye, or complex with adjacent structures to service both religious and cultural needs. The original complex consisted of the mosque itself, a hospital (darüşşifa), primary school, public baths (hamam), a Caravanserai, four Qur'an schools (medrese), a specialized school for the learning of hadith, a medical college, and a public kitchen (imaret) which served food to the poor. Many of these structures are still in existence, and the former imaret is now a noted restaurant. The former hospital is now a printing factory owned by the Turkish Army.

Kulliyah complex

Shops complex

We end our visit with a good lunch

The place is 1 of the most attractions visited by many foreign and local tourist. It provides many of the things that you would want to fulfill depending on your wish list. We were there for tulips festival and we were so lucky as the main yard was planted with beautiful tulips in bright and pastel color. Beside, it has a small cozy shopping areas selling local souvenirs (see above photo) and a place to eat. We had lunch at 1 of the restaurant up there before adjourned to our next destination, Fatih Mosque. I'm sharing some of the  lovely shots of the tulips garden at the time of our visit at a weather of 19 Celsius to end this entry. Enjoy the view...

Notes: research from Wikipedia

Istanbul 2014 - New Mosque (Yeni Cami) & Spice Bazaar

Date of visit: 5th April 2014

As promised, I'm writing here places that we visited in accordance to our daily activities, 4 days in Instanbul following the itinerary. Yeni Cami and Spice Bazaar were the 2 places, 5 minutes walking distance from Yazar Hotel that we visited on our day 2.

Yeni Cami @ New Mosque - the courtyard

The Spice Bazaar @ famously called as Egyptian Market by the locals

The New Mosque is an English translation of the mosque name, Yeni Cami in turkish local language. It is one of the famous mosque in Istanbul seated in the Eminonu quarter of Istanbul, just opposite of the Spice Bazaar near the Galata Bridge. Yeni Cami is a symbol of local culture and religious beliefs, stand tall and proud next to Bosphorus straits.

Yeni Camni is seen as Istanbul skyline is as popular among foreign tourist as it is with the locals. The Arrchitect, Daud Aga assigned by Sultan Mehmet III mother's has designed the mosque way before its construction in 1597. The mosque idea and construction was commissioned by the mother queen, Valide Safiye. It was stopped for several years due to several obstacles but it was finally completed by another queen mother in a later stage, 1663.

The 351 years old mosque has its beautiful exterior architecture defined by its 66 domes and semi domes cascading like a pyramid which dropping down from the central dome. The mosque grand courtyard has an ornamental fountain in the centre, 2 minarets and the main dome at the centre measures 18 metres in diameter. In overall, the mosque architecture majestic and its boldness design as seen as a rare and unique as it comes.

Hundreds of pigeons perched on the domes adds natural beauty to its architecture. Inside, the mosque was finished with a square decorated Iznik tiles of gold, blue and marble. Akin to other Ottomon imperial mosques, Yeni Cami has 4 beautiful pillars on the corners and is held to the ceiling where the main dome stays. Calligraphic plates are fixed there with the names of the first 4 caliph @ Muslim rulers, Abu Bakar, Umar, Uthman and Ali.

Photo shared from istanbulpress.wordpress.com (kindly visit for more beautiful photos by the blogger)

Photo shared from www.8thingstodo.com

The mosque has it's own complex consists of a hospital, primary school, ham am, library and a market, the concept similar to the Prophet Muhammad's teaching, example of the prophet 1st mosque in Madina. The large market exists till today as an Egyptian market, famously known as "Spice Bazaar". Like any other royal mosques in Istanbul, there is a mausoleum which holds the tombs of the sultanates and many members of the courts.

After we have done taking photos with a beautiful garden between the Yeni Cami and the Spize Bazaar, we went inside to have a little shopping. Spice Bazaar is the second largest bazaar in Istanbul after the Grand Bazaar. Avoid going there during the weekend as there's crowds heading towards the market.

As of today, Spice Bazaar has a total of 85 shops selling spices, jewellery, souvenir, dried fruits nuts and sweets. The market is open from 9am till 7pm during weekdays, 10am till 6pm on weekends but closed during any religious ceremony/celebration and on public holidays.

There are several documents suggesting the name of the bazaar was first "New Bazaar". The building was endowed to the foundation of the adjacent New Mosque. Its name "Egyptian Bazaar" was because it was built with revenues from the Egypt Ottomon in 1660. The bazaar was (and still is) the center for spice trade in Istanbul, but in the last years more and more shops of other type are replacing the spice shops.

The building itself is part of the kulliyah's complex of the New Mosque. The revenues obtained from the rented shops inside the bazaar building were used for the upkeeping of the mosque. The structure was designed by the court architect Koca Kasim Aga, but the construction works began under the supervision of another court architect, Mustafa Aga, in the last months of 1660; following the Great Fire of Istanbul (1660) that began on 24 July 1660. The great fire lasted about 49 hours destroyed many parts of it's neighborhoods in the city. 

A major rebuilding and redevelopment effort started immediately in the city following the fire, which included the resumption of the New Mosque's construction works in 1660 as mentioned above. The construction of the mosque was ultimately completed between 1660 and 1665 and the beginning of the Spice Bazaar's construction in the same year (all buildings in the New Mosque Kulliyah complex, including the Spice Bazaar. It were all  commissioned by Sultana Hatice, the queen mother of Sultan Mehmed IV. 

Our group of 4 had spent quite some times looking for souvenirs, spices and tea for our loves one. We were invited to 1 of the shop for taste numerous kinds of tea in his shops. We ended having to carry those luggage through out the day exploration, which are quite heavy after a long walk and places to visit. Using public transportation card "Istanbul Card" that we purchased from the airport a day before, we managed to explore the whole city quite easily.

Special notes to all: kindly purchase an Istanbul Card from the machine which you can top-up depending on your usage. The card can be shared with so many people, hence, it is not necessary to buy each card for each person. 

Remarks: Due to misinformation about Yeni Camii, our group did not entered the mosque complex, hence, I have downloaded 2 photos from  istanbulpress.wordpress.com & www.8thingstodo.com, to share some inside views of the beautiful mosque. I hope both website bloggers would gave away their permission if they saw I'm sharing this for the knowledge of all.

Istanbul 2014 - Transit & Arrival, Day 1

Date: 4th April 2014

After 8 hours flying, we arrived in Doha Airport  at an early hours, saddened to see the new airport is still not open resulting a long queue at the transit hall. Upon clearance, we went straight to freshened up and hang out at the airport as our flight was supposed to leave soon. I captured the Doha airport illegally in below photo for my insta-weather. The Doha airport is no way near Emirates airport in Dubai but mostly Qatar Airline has purchased both Boeing and Airbus aircraft, which is good to balance the needs. Honestly, I felt much safer when I saw Airbus flight that we took to Istanbul. MH370 mystery has left doubts on Boeing safety to me personally. Less than an hour later we were boarded for the next plane to Istanbul. The journey was nearly 4 hours. We were served snacks and lunch on board.

We arrived in Istanbul feeling accomplished though it was a long queues in front of immigration lines to receives us. The long queue shows how popular Istanbul is among the tourist. It was nearly an hour before our turned were cleared. 

Selfie at the long queue of immigration lines

As soon as you stepped out from the immigration, you may see a beautiful cactus garden which are my sister's Rosnani favorite plant at her home. Seeing my 2 sisters look fabulously happy being in Istanbul, I recorded their happiness in below photo, near the Cactus Garden.

Cactus garden after the immigration check point

However, a surprised waited us at the baggage lines when we could not found any of our luggage. The airport "Lost & Found" officer was there waiting with a list in her hand. When we approached her for assistance, she asked if we could look again at the baggage belt if our luggage happened to be there. In the piece of paper that she was holding was list of luggage which were not could transferred into the Qatar Airways flight to Istanbul due to a mishandling of luggage in Doha Airport. All passengers luggage (Malaysian mostly) were nowhere to be seen. Hence, we had to fill-up the lost & found form and was promised that we shall get our baggage the next day when the next flight from Doha arrived.

With nothing to carry, we straightaway headed to look for Istanbul Metro line, which was easy to locate using the airport's directional sign. It was located on the left side, lower level of the arrival hall. A local Turks had assisted us how to purchase an Istanbul Card which we need to purchase 1 for all 4 of us. Kindly take note that you do not to purchase for all as it can be shared within the group. The card has it's credit that you can top-up at any available machine, placed in Istanbul city. It was the most convenience and cheaper way to travel in the city. 

The card and the top-up machine are different, the above was to buy an Istanbul card

After we have successfully purchased the card, we went to look for directional line map which were made available at most if not all the tram and metro lines. The 3 sisters were locating ways how to go to Yazar Hotel from the airport in below photo. We had to stop at Aksaray station and took another line until we reach, Sirkeci. The hotel was booked via our favorite hotel website, Booking.com. We made a right choice in terms of location, budget and convenience as Yazar Hotel had offered everything that we look for. Their hotel rates included breakfast. 

It was about an hour past noon when we were done with the card and the direction. There's 5 Metro lines in operation at the point of visit and we took Metro Line 1, M1 to Aksaray. From Aksaray, we use tram (fare paid using the same Istanbul Card) to Sirkeci line. Below photo was how the M1 line from and to airport looks like.

Happy faces in a good condition train

It was amazing to view the city from the metro, a view differs from our Kuala Lumpur city. The weather was reasonably cold but the walks made us forget about the cold weather. We walk in the Aksaray area  feeling excited when we saw tulips being planted in most of the area. It was tulips festival in Istanbul. I snapped below photo of my sister and local paintings at the passageway from Aksaray Tunnel point.

Istanbul is a city where the history building are visible at every corner you turn, all preserved and mostly in use till present date. In my opinion, the design looks quite similar. It's old architectural building is a resemblance to a proud of Ottomon Empire. A monument that can be seen in below photo is in Aksaray.

Beautiful weather in Aksaray

In front of the tram station, we found a small cozy restaurant that we decided to stop for lunch. While waiting for lunch, we went to change more Euros to local currencies, Lira as Euro 20 changed at the airport not suffice for all of us. The money changer is called as "Change Office" in Istanbul and available in most of the areas. It is so convenient for the tourist to get their money changed. 

Local cuisine as our first lunch in Istanbul City

The tram we took stopped right in front of "Marmaray Sirkeci Istasyonu". I was glad as I wanted to purchase our ticket to Bucharest as soon as we arrived in Istanbul. Thereafter, we were looking for direction to Yazar Hotel. After getting lost here and then, we finally found and glad that we chose a place which is nearby to attraction places. After a quick rest and prayer, we went out to look for clothes and other basic necessities as our belonging were all inside the luggage that was stuck in Doha Airport.

Purchased expressed train ticket to Bucharest at the Sirkeci Train Station

We stayed for 4 nights in Yazar Hotel and it was really great. The hotel is situated near the main city attractions, merely 5 minutes walking distance to Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque and 5 minutes to Yeni Cami/Spice Bazaar and another 10 minutes to Galata Tower. It's address is in Sultanahmet/Fatih area. The hotel staff are all very friendly and helpful. We basically were directed by them to a shopping area not far from the hotel and Eminonu, within a walking distance. We found what we need in the clothing shop and groceries shop, hoping that the Airport Lost & Found will send our luggage the following day.  

After we have done with shopping, we went to take our diner adjacent to Hafiz Mustafa baklava shop. My sisters brought back some Turkish Halva and pudding from Hafiz Mustafa shop, I had rice pilaf and beef for my diner as the whole day I was not taking any rice.

Cold night, late dinner and tiring day

Later that night, we had small discussion since we have skipped 2 place of interest (POI) scheduled on the first day, i.e. to Grand Bazaar and to Taksim Square. Our day 2 itinerary has been shifted to day 3 and we had to squeeze in whatever times left to include the 2 places that we supposed to visit. My next entry would be by details of places that we visited.

Stay with me for some tips and information of our choice for POI.