The historical peninsula of Istanbul, especially the Sultanahmet area, is full of sites with a lot of ancient history.
It’s the area that saw the rise of some of the most powerful empires of the time
that left their marks throughout the centuries.
In this video discover with us some places that will take you back in time
and which are little known by travelers
but that definitely worth a visit to get out of the typical itinerary in the area.
During the construction of the Hippodrome of Constantinople, this part of the field had a quite sloping terrain,
and in order to equalize and raise the floor to keep a flat surface
this large infrastructure consisting of 25 cells covered with vaults
was used to fix the land and received the name of “Sphendon”.
Today the entrance to the place is forbidden but it is known that there’s a corridor that leads to the inner rooms.
This is another interesting place that we can visit near the Sultanahmet square, its name is "Little Hagia Sophia"
or "Küçük Ayasofya" in Turkish.
This was also built during the same time as the Hagia Sophia that most of you already know
It was also built under the orders of Emperor Justinian and his wife Theodora
Just as in any other mosque, we must follow the etiquette rules during our visit, and is free to enter.
Dedicated to St. Bacchus and St. Sergius,
it’s one of the most beautiful and important of the surviving Byzantine churches in the city.
It continued to serve as a church for nearly a thousand years after its founding,
but then it was converted into a mosque by Sultan Bayezid II after the Ottoman conquest.
This place is just two minutes away from Sultanhamet square.
Besides the wonderful carpets and rugs that we can find here,
it also has a splendid and magical place hidden underneath the store,
a beautifully well preserved cistern.
Here in the historical peninsula of Istanbul, we can still find many cisterns
hidden below many restaurants or stores,
and one example of this is precisely this one, this one is located in one carpet shop
very close to the Blue Mosque and we will be showing you more details about this beautiful place.
The Nakilbent cistern was built during the Byzantine empire in the 6th century by Justinian.
During the construction of Nakkaş store,
the orientation and design of the originally planned building were modified
and followed the recommendations of archeological experts in order to reduce the impact on the cistern.
It has 18 marble columns supporting the arches, seven of which were reinforced during the Ottoman Empire
and now are covered by brick and stone piers.
Most of what we see today has been preserved in its original conditions.
Nowadays, we can find exhibitions on different topics, the current one is about the Hippodrome.
In the past, they have also sponsored classical music concerts thanks to the incredible acoustic this cistern offers.
If you want to visit it, Nakkas store is ready to receive you,
is free to enter but if you visit in big groups, make sure to contact them in advance.
After visiting the cistern you can take a look into the wonderful and exquisite products they have,
from the famous ıznık tiles, rugs, and carpets.
I couldn’t resist myself and I wanted to know more about the carpets and rugs’ history,
therefore, they invited us to a personalized demonstration and showed us the many designs and materials we can find in rugs.
It was incredibly interesting to know that some of these designs and patterns date back to 3,000 years ago.
Depending on the size and weaving technique, some carpets even take a year to be completed,
that’s one of the reasons why the prices on these products differ a lot from one another,
including the materials they are made from.
If you want to acquire one of these unique rugs, this place is a great option!
After we finish our visit through Nakkaş and the cistern they invited us to the antique store and I’m so glad we checked it out!
This is a delightful antique venue hosting a collection of fine antiques including a vast variety of Ottoman-era textiles,
ceramics, silver works, oriental paintings, books, engravings, and maps collected both in Turkey and abroad.
If you are an antique and vintage lover, this is the place for you!
Here I was able to wear this fabulous 19th-century kaftan which is used in the famous Henna nights,
a women’s party right before the wedding.
This is one of the most beautiful of the smaller mosques of Mimar Sinan.
It was built in 1572 for Ismihan Sultan, daughter of Sultan Selim II
and wife of the Grand Vizier Sokullu Mehmet Paşa, after whom the mosque is called.
The decoration of this mosque’s interior is absolutely outstanding and unique.
The predominant color is a cool turquoise.
Here we can find fragments of the “black stone” from the Holy Kaaba in Mecca which is considered a relic by Muslims.
Unfortunately, taking photos and video inside is forbidden.
This is a mosque that is so underrated but it totally worth a visit to admire its marvelous interior.
This is another of the city’s ancient underground cisterns known in Turkish as Binbirdirek or “Thousand-and-one columns”.
The entrance fee is 30 TL.
This is the second largest cistern after the Basilica Cistern and was built during the time of Constantine in the 4th century.
There are 224 double columns in 16 rows of 14.
212 of those reached the present.
Before our next stop, we decided to grab something quick to eat while walking.
I choose a döner durum.
You might think that our next stop is the Grand Bazaar,
but actually, we'd love to show you another place that for sure you haven't seen yet.
Inside the Grand Bazaar, there are many hidden spots that sometimes are difficult to find,
but if you start to look a little deeper and aren’t afraid of getting lost in the chaotic streets of the bazaar,
you might find a super cool and photogenic place like this one.
This is the Zincirli Han, a caravanserai used by traveling merchants to rest and do business.
This han probably dealt in chains centuries ago just as its referred by its name in Turkish.
As you were able to see there are many other places that you can see and visit here in Sultanahmet area
not only the most emblematic ones but if you want to keep discovering more about this area
and its wonderful history, then we definitely recommend you to come and explore these amazing places.
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