Istanbul Blog

Reciprocity law in Turkey Passed in Parliament!

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 00:30:31 +0000

Expected Reciprocity law in Turkey has already been approved by Turkish Parliament and been sent to President Gul for last approval. This law will fuel many foreign investors to own property in Turkey without any additional process as before.

Turkey has been expecting over 25 billion dollars investment from foreign investors who are seeking opportunities in different real estate fields.

The Blue Mosque, Istanbul

admin — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:52:45 +0000

The Blue Mosque was built by Master Architect Sedefkar Mehmet Aga on behalf of Sultan I. Ahmed between the years 1609-1616 on the historical peninsula in Istanbul. It is called ” Blue Mosque ” by Europeans because it was decored with blue, green and white Iznik tiles.

Blue Mosque is the first mosque in Turkey with six minarets. According to a legend that the Sultan I. Ahmed wanted to make the six minarets covered by gold but it exceeded the budget of Sultan.

There is a very interesting fact about this great monument ; There is a heavy iron cord on the west entrance of the courtyard.

The sultans required to bend under this cord not to hit their heads while they were entering into the courtyard with his horse’s. This was to give a symbolic action to show the purpose of when entering a mosque, even the sultans should rearrange themselves. This gives us a sense of ” No Matter Who you are , Everyone is equal on eye of Allah ”

Hagia Sophia, The Second Building to Be Seen in Istanbul

admin — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 20:36:28 +0000

The Hagia Sophia Museum in Istanbul ranked 2th in the list of ” Top 20 World’s Building” that Tourists are advised to see. Taj Mahal in India ranked first and Australia Sydney Opera House took the third place.

Among the most visited museums, the Hagia Sophia is one of the world’s most prominent monuments in terms of art and architectural history and it is shown as the world’s 8th wonder.

The Emperor Justinian (527 565) made this structure built by two important Architects of that period; Isidore from Tralles (Aydin) with Anthemios from Miletos (Balat).

In records , it states there were 100 worker in each architect’s team consisting 100 architechs in total under control of 2 chief architect.

The construction was started on 23rd February 532 and completed in as little as 5 years, 10 months time. It’s opened for worship on 27th December 537 with a big ceremony.

Kept as church for 916 years, The Higha Sophia converted into a mosque in 1453 at the conquest of Istanbul by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror. Then it’s used as a mosque for 482 years.

With the orders of Atatürk and Decision of the Council of Ministers, The Hagia Sophia has opened its doors to visitors as a museum in 1935.

History Of Istanbul

admin — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 14:28:30 +0000

Istanbul dates back to 300 thousand years ago. Excavations in the cave at the edge of Lake Kucukcekmece Yarimburgaz were found first traces of human culture. This is thought to have been inhabited in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic around the lake.

During the excavations carried out at various times, there were found specific tools belonging ‘’ the Lower Paleolithic era’’ near Dudullu area, ‘’ the Middle Paleolithic Age’’ and ‘’the Upper Paleolithic era’’ near Agacli area. But the foundations of today’s Istanbul have been BC 7. Century. After 4^th.Century , Emperor Constantine rebuilt and made capital.

After Constantine, the title of the capital continued nearly 16 centuries of the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods.