Istanbul Through Time: Stories of Byzantines and Ottomans in the Old Town

(57 reviews)

Istanbul audio tour: Istanbul Through Time: Stories of Byzantines and Ottomans in the Old Town

This is a 1.2mi walking tour

It takes an average of 90 mins to complete.

Istanbul

Turkey

$9.99

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About the Tour

Istanbul is unique, straddling two continents and two seas. Throughout its long history, it has served as the natural bridge between Asia and Europe. On this walking tour, you’ll explore this remarkable city shaped by centuries of economic trade routes, social exchanges, and cultural traditions.

The tour starts at Sultan Ahmet Park, in the heart of Istanbul’s old city. After diving into the city’s dramatic history, you’ll explore, one by one, the remarkable structures scattered throughout the old town that have survived different eras. Along the way, you’ll see the Roman Hippodrome with its original columns. You’ll also hear about the Blue Mosque and the sultan who built it, and find out why Istanbul has a German Fountain and who the Byzantines were.

You’ll visit the Haseki Hürrem Baths, a historical Turkish bath still in operation today, and learn the fascinating story of the world-famous Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque. The tour ends close to where we started, by the Million Stone, which marked the zero point of Constantinople from which all distances in the Byzantine Empire were measured.

On this Istanbul tour, you’ll have a chance to :

Marvel at the 3,500-year-old Egyptian Obelisk, brought to Constantinople by Roman emperors, standing perfectly preserved despite centuries of earthquakes and conquests
Learn the meaning of Turkish terms like minaret and grand vizier
See the house of Grand Vizier İbrahim Paşa, who served during the Ottoman Golden Age before meeting a tragic end
Find out how Sultan Ahmed’s bold vision for the Blue Mosque sparked controversy that changed the skyline of Islam’s holiest site in Mecca
Wander through charming Soğukçeşme Street with its preserved wooden Ottoman houses and discover the peaceful courtyard of a 500-year-old Ottoman medrese

By the end of this 90-minute journey, you’ll have a better understanding of Istanbul’s history and have a greater appreciation for this elegant city.

So get ready and come along on this fascinating tour of Istanbul with a local!

Tour Producer

Yasemin Gurer

1 tour

Hello, I'm Yasemin, I was born and bred in İstanbul. I'm a professional tourist guide; I have been doing tours in all Turkey with people coming from all around the world.

I’ve studied Business Administration in İstanbul and after the graduation I’ve started to work in one of the big banks of the country. Although I have a promising career and a pretty good salary for my young age, very soon I’ve realized that I hated the job. I quit, I started it all over and finally got my guiding license from the Ministry of Tourism in 2008 and since then I have been doing my dream job.

I also took a master’s degree in History, in İstanbul University. Reading more about this land during my thesis research period, only made me love this country and my job even more than before. I also came to the realization that Turkey is a great country that offers everything that a tourist can ask for but on the other hand it's a very difficult place for a first time visitor with all the different aspects, religions and ethnicities come together in the everyday life. As a tourist, it’s almost impossible to understand and appreciate all these colours at once without the help of a local.

I also know that the pleasure of travelling is not only about visiting museums and talking about history but also talking about people and traditions, politics and everyday life. This is what I want to try to do with Voicemap tours: I want to show the way to people to see the country and its people through an insider’s eyes.

When I don't do guiding I do like to travel but İstanbul is still my favourite city because no other city on earth has surprised me as much as she did, yet. As you can guess I still live in İstanbul, with my husband and my grumpy cat.

Preview Location

Location 5

Hippodrome

This open space in front of you was, once upon a time, the heart of Constantinopolis.

So let's stop here while I give you a much-needed history lesson.

If you wish you can sit on one of the benches around or find a shade of a tree nearby while you're listening to me.
... This open space in front of you was, once upon a time, the heart of Constantinopolis.

So let's stop here while I give you a much-needed history lesson.

If you wish you can sit on one of the benches around or find a shade of a tree nearby while you're listening to me.

This used to be the exact place of the ancient Hippodrome. The Hippodrome was the place where they had horse chariot races, the most popular event in the Roman era. It was also a kind of civil center, a gathering place for the people. They came to the hippodrome not only to watch the games but also to enjoy the festivals and celebrations, to watch the executions, or—maybe the most common one—to join violent riots. For good or bad, this was the main meeting point of the people of Constantinople. But who were these people exactly? To answer that question, we need to get a bit deeper into the history and I can't imagine a better spot than this for it.

I had mentioned that the first proper city founded here was a Greek city called Byzantion. In 660 BC some people coming from the city of Megara in Greece chose this highly strategic location to establish their city and named it Byzantion because their leader’s name was Byzas. It became quite wealthy because of its great location at the entrance of the Bosphorus and with its natural harbor called Golden Horn, it was the perfect stop for all the trade ships of antiquity moving between the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Byzantion was rich, but to be honest, it was not really that important for the rest of the world.

The big fame for this city came several centuries later with the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great. When he became the only ruler of the big Roman Empire, Constantine realized that the Empire was vast and Rome was not the best place to control this big land. So he looked for a new capital and he chose the small city of Byzantion. What was the reason, you think? Because of the great location, of course. He started a huge construction project, enlarged the city, built some temples, new palaces, invited all the senators, and finally, he announced his new city as Nova Roma, meaning New Rome. But people didn't like this name, and they called the city “Constantinopolis,” which means the city of Constantine. The date was 330 AD, and we may say that after that date, this city was always famous and important in world history.

Some decades later, in 395, the Roman Empire was split into two: Eastern Roman Empire and Western Roman Empire. The capital of the Western side was Rome, and Constantinopolis was the capital of the Eastern side. The Western Roman Empire couldn’t stay too long; Rome was invaded and destroyed by the Goths. But the Eastern Roman Empire managed to live till the Middle Ages; Constantinopolis survived till 1453 as a Christian city. Today, it’s very common to call the Eastern Roman Empire the Byzantine Empire, but I should tell you that the “Byzantine Empire” is a new term created by the 19th-century historians because of some political reasons, referring to the city’s early Greek name. But the Eastern Romans called themselves “Romai,” meaning Romans, because they were the continuation of the Roman Empire.

Now please look around you.

Unfortunately, not much is left of the original Hippodrome, but today’s park still has the same plan. Therefore, while I try to describe it, you may use your imagination. There's a photo on your screen that can help you imagine it. We know that the Hippodrome was a huge, U-shaped structure, and the entrance gate of the Hippodrome was at the place where we have the German fountain today. The arms of the U went along the sides of the park, but remember that the Hippodrome was way bigger, wider, and longer than today's park. There were two stories of marble seats all around it. In the middle, along the axis of the U, there was a short wall called Spina—the spine. On the Spina wall, there were beautiful statues and columns coming from different parts of the Empire. We have just three of those still standing in their original places today, but there were many others.

Now let's get going again.

We're going to continue walking in the direction of the Egyptian Obelisk.

I'll catch up with you further along. Read More

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Major Landmarks

Sultan Ahmet Park
German Fountain
Sultanahmet Square
Obelisk of Theodosius
Serpent Column
Örme Dikilitaş
Ibrahim Pasha Palace
Hagia Sophia History and Experience Museum
Sultan Ahmet Tomb
Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque
Fountain of Sultan Ahmed III
Soğuk Çeşme Sokak
Cafer Ağa Madrasa
The Stone of Million
Cisterna Scufunadată Acces

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Getting There

Route Overview

VoiceMap tours follow a route from a set starting point. It’s how we give turn-by-turn directions and tell a story greater than the sum of its parts.

Start location
Cankurtaran, At Meydanı Cd No:5, 34122 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye
Total distance

2km
Final location
Alemdar, Divan Yolu Cd. No:2, 34110 Fatih/İstanbul, Türkiye
Distance back to start location

72.48m

Directions to Starting Point

The tour begins by the big pool in the middle of Sultanahmet Park, between Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque and Blue Mosque.

If you're staying in the old city centre you can easily walk to this point.

From other parts of the ciy, you need to reach to tram line T1. Take the tram line T1 and get off at the "Sultanahmet- Blue Mosque" station. From the traim stop it takes 5 minutes walk to our starting point.

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Tips

Places to stop along the way

If you want to eat, there are some restaurants that serve local food at a very close point where we end the tour.

Lale Restaurant - Pudding Shop: Big variety of local food, serves alcohol.

Sultanahmet Köftecisi : It's a favourite of local people, serves only Turkish meatballs, şiş kebap, lentil soup and rice pilav. No alcohol, cash only.

Hafız Mustafa : A big variety of fresh Turkish deserts including Turkish delight and baklava. A good place to try Turkish coffe.

Along the main street there are options like Mc Donalds, Burger King and Starbucks.

Best time of day

You can do the tour any time during the day but beware that Blue Mosque is open between 8.30 am - 18.00 pm. In between this hours still during the praying times it will be closed for tourists or about an hour.

Also in summer Istanbul can get very hot. On Summer months; June, July and August consider having the tour between before 11 am and after 15 pm.

Precautions

For this tour, bring good shoes, a bottle of water and a hat in summer.

Although Istanbul is a quiet safe city, still beware of pickpockets.

Ladies require a headscarf to enter the mosque. The Blue Mosque is closed for visits at times of prayers.

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