Taksim Mosque Complex
10th of November 2021
I had been in Turkey for a couple of weeks and the time had finally come to visit Istanbul. In the beginning of November the weather there is relatively warm and there is a smaller number of tourists compared to the peak season. I had found cheap weekend flights, booked an Airbnb and one week later, on a warm Friday morning, I set my foot in Istanbul.
Getting to the city centre was my next challenge. Taxis cost more than I had paid for the flight, so I used a bus, which is cheap and still can get me to the center in a timely matter. After checking in to my apartment I decided to try KFC. Quality of food in KFC varies from country to country and I was curious how Turkey compares to others. Long story short - never go to KFC in Turkey. The meat seemed to be cooked and it was really watery.
Then I walked on Istiklal Caddesi, which is the main shopping street in Istanbul. After walking for a few minutes and passing dozens of pedestrians, ice cream / waffle booths with noisy employees inside them (they try to get you to buy something), I arrived in Taksim Square.
This is where the Taksim Mosque complex is located. I don’t find mosques really interesting, sometimes they can look good in pictures and that’s pretty much it, so I simply took a couple of pictures and went on with my life. The square was bigger than I had anticipated, it’s also pretty busy and other than that, the Republic Monument is located there, you can also drink coffee from Starbucks, check out the heritage trams or go to the M2 metro station.
I still had a few hours of sunlight left and I decided to visit the Galata Tower. Along the way I passed St. Anthony Church. I hadn’t seen a Christian church in Turkey before, so I decided to visit it. Sunday masses are in Turkish, English, Italian and Polish, so if you speak one of these languages, you may want to come on a Sunday. Whether you are Christian or not, I think you should visit this church - even if it’s just for the novelty of being in a church in a Muslim country. It’s pretty inside too.
When I got to the tower, I saw a huge line of tourists trying to buy the tickets and I decided to go inside the tower on the next day. Not knowing what else I could do without the public transportation card (more about it later) and in the limited amount of time I had (I didn’t find many interesting places you can go to after sunset) I walked downhill to see the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus Strait. After arriving there I took a couple of pictures of the Asian side of the city and started heading to my apartment. I also went to a supermarket to buy some snacks for the evening.
In the evening I took a taxi to one of the bridges over the Bosphorus. There was a slight problem though - the bridges are enormous and I got off the taxi literally under the bridge. At first I was disappointed, but then I looked up. The evening was very foggy and the bridge with all the lights looked amazing. I walked for a bit to try to get on top of it, but then I checked the maps app on my phone and changed my mind pretty quickly - I’d have to walk for about three kilometres. I took a taxi back to my apartment, ate a few snacks and went to sleep.
The list of places I wanted to visit on that day was long and I woke up quite late but despite this minor setback, at the end of the day I was still happy with the amount of things I did.
I visited the Galata Tower first. On my way there I realised I didn’t need to buy a ticket because I had Museum Pass card which I had bought in Cappadocia. The card is valid in the entire country, you buy it once and use it to go the majority of museums and sights. This realisation really improved my mood, especially when I passed the queue to the ticket booth and went inside without having to wait.
Inside the tower there is a lift which takes you to the top floor. A neat thing about the lift is that inside, instead of mirrors, there are computer monitors which display the view of Istanbul from the perspective relative to the lift’s position. The view from the tower was wonderful and the city looked beautiful. There was quite a lot of fog which made the view even more charming. There is a legend about a guy who constructed wings which would attach to his body and flew across the Bosphorus. The story kind of resembles the story of Icarus (from the Greek mythology) but it least it has a happy ending. Inside the tower you can find a room with a big screen where you can play an interactive game which consists of you using your body to control his flight.
I spent about 30 minutes in the tower and then I went to the closest metro station where I finally managed to buy the public transportation card. It turns out some of the ticket-selling machines don’t allow you to buy the card and some do, so you basically have to get lucky and don’t get discouraged when the first machine you try only allows you to buy a one pass ticket or top-up your existing card.
The metro took me to the Old City (Fatih/Eminönü district). There I quickly got a coffee from Starbucks and ate at Burger King. With my belly full and happy, I went to the Hagia Sophia mosque. On the way I passed the Column of Constantine and the Hippodrome. It was really difficult to move around because the next day there would be a marathon so there were quite a few additional barriers and fences put up.
Hagia Sophia is one of the places in Istanbul where 007: From Russia with Love was filmed. I managed to find a few exact spots that matched 1:1 with the scenes in the movie. For some unknown reason I find it really interesting, especially that the movie is almost 60 years old. The mosque has intriguing history as in the past it used to be a Christian cathedral, a museum and now it serves as a mosque. Inside you can still find Christian symbols, however they are covered with white sheet every time there is a Muslim prayer.
Having spent way too much time in the mosque I headed to Basilica Cistern which turned out to be closed for renovation until further notice. Quite disappointed, I went to Gülhane Park.
The park surprised me with its size and calmness. The weather was perfect for a walk and I enjoyed every minute of it. Myriad colours, leaves falling from the trees, flowers scattered everywhere and the smell of fresh air left me completely astonished and wanting to stay there for the rest of the day. At the other side of the park I found the Column of the Goths which as far as I know is the oldest monument from the Roman era surviving intact until this day.
One thing I didn’t mention before is that the park is located next to the Topkapı Palace. However there was a small problem - by the time I finished visiting the park, the palace had already been closed. At least I got the opportunity to walk through the park again and also it gave me time to go to the coast and take a selfie with Asia, the continent.
The day was coming to the end, dusk was near, so I went to the Yıldız Park which is famous for the enormous number of flowers in Spring and Summer. I didn’t get to see its complete beauty because it was dark when I arrived and you can’t expect dozens of flowers in November. Which doesn’t mean I did not enjoy my visit there. It was calm, I only met 3 people during the time I spent there and the park itself is located on a hill so if you go to the right place, you can see one of the bridges spanning over Bosphorus.
I traversed through the park and got on a bus which took me to a bus stop near the Ortaköy Mosque. It is built in baroque style and as far as I know it’s quite uncommon to find mosques in this style. It looked rather nice, especially with a lit up bridge in the background.
My whole body and especially my legs were really tired after whole day of walking which forced me to get a taxi home. When I got home and checked my phone it turned out I had taken 36 thousand steps that day. Similarly to the previous evening I ate some snacks and went to sleep.
My personal itinerary for the third day wasn’t well prepared. I still had to see the Blue Mosque and the Topkapı Palace
and this was exactly what I did.
The Blue Mosque had an ongoing renovation so I only got to see the small part of it. When it comes to the palace, I
really enjoyed it, there is a lot of things to see inside and it may be especially interesting for people who are into
history. Other than that, the palace is rather picturesque and calm. If you have the Museum Pass card you don’t need to
buy the ticket. I spent about an hour in the palace and after leaving I took a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul. I
was lucky enough to be on the ferry which passed next to the Maiden Tower. Because of the pandemic you cannot go to the
island but at least I got to see if from the side.
In the Asian part of the city I walked for a bit and didn’t find anything interesting there. Since I didn’t have much
time left anymore, I went back to my Airbnb to take my luggage and walked to Taksim Square - next to it you can find
buses to the airport.
And this concludes my trip to Istanbul.
The city is huge, the population is about 15 million. Don’t get overwhelmed when you first arrive. Take your time, don’t get stressed out and it will be fine. Under no circumstances should you drive a car around the city. You will spend half of your trip in traffic jams and the local drivers drive like if there were no rules whatsoever. Out of all places I had been to, it’s Istanbul where I witnessed the craziest driving. Buy the public transportation card (it’s called Istanbul Kart) as soon as possible and try to take advantage of the buses, trams and metro as much as you can. This is the easiest way to save time.
If you have any questions or need advice, please drop me an email at contact@mtthw.net