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The Sultanahmet Square, located in the ‘Old City’ looks magical by this time of year, with the tram it’s very easy to get around Istanbul, all the luxury hotels are located around the Sultanahmet Square, next to the famous attractions, such as ‘Topkapi Palace’, ‘Hagia Sofia Church’ or the ‘Dolmabahçe Palace’, there are definitely some things that will bring you in the Christmas spirit while being in Istanbul, for example;  

Istanbul’s Historical Peninsula, adorned with a vast number of museums and historical monuments, is the first destination for thousands of foreign and local tourists.

A holiday in Istanbul, visiting Mosque’s.

What to do in Istanbul? Very close to Hagia Sophia, located in the center of Sultanahmet, close to luxery hotels, close to all the museums is this 17th century mosque, is famous for its beautiful blue tile work ornamenting its interior walls. Its surrounding six slim minarets distinguish it from other tels in mosques which normally have two or four minarets. The mosque was built in seven years between 1609-1616 by the architect Mehmet Aga with the order of Sultan Ahmed I and became the most important mosque of the city, right in the Sultanahmet square. The beautiful ‘Blue Mosque’

Suleymaniye (the Magnificent) This outstanding piece of architecture was built in the 16th century by the famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinanfor Sultan Süleyman the Magnificient. Standing on a hilltop of the ancient city over the Golden Horn, it contributes gracefully to the city’s skyline. The tombs of the Sultan, his wife Hürrem and Mimar Sinan are found within its compounds. It is the largest mosque of Istanbul with four minarets.

The Suleymaniye mosque was closed for restorations since 2008, and it’s re-opened to public in November 2010.

Victory Day in Turkey

Victory Day (Zafer Bayramı) is a national holiday in Turkey, always celebrated on 30 August. It may also be known as Armed Forces Day. Victory Day commemorates the victory in the Battle of Dumlupınar which was the decisive battle in the Turkish War of Independence in 1922.

It also honours the founder of modern Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.

Following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the end of World War I, Turkey was occupied by allied forces.This led to start of the Turkish War of Independence in 1919, with the Turkish forces led by General Mustafa Kemal.

The battle of Dumlupınar took place in Kütahya province in western Turkey. Although foreign forces didn’t leave Turkish soil until the autumn of 1922, 30 August is accepted as the date of the Turkish army’s victory.

The Turkish Republic was proclaimed on 29 October 1923, in the new capital of Ankara. Atatürk was elected as the first President.

Victory Day was first celebrated on 30 August 1923, becoming a national holiday in 1935.

Victory Day is celebrated across Turkey and on northern part of Cyprus and is a celebration of the Turkish military and the Turkish republic.. The main celebration is held at Atatürk’s Mausoleum in Ankara.

A ceremony is also held at the War Academy in Istanbul, with all military promotions made on this day, while marches are held in major cities across the country.

All about the ‘The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art’

The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art (Türk İslam Eserleri Müzesi), a delightful museum on the ancient hippodrome, housed in Ibrahim Paşa Palace, was built in 1524 by İbrahim Paşa (Grant Vizier of Süleyman the Magnificent, married to Süleyman’s sister as the Sultan ascended the throne, thus occupying a very important place in the palace hierarchy) as his residence. It was the greatest private residence ever built in the Ottoman Empire.

Ibrahim Paşa was strangled on the order of Hürrem Sultan (the preferred wife of Süleyman the Magnificent), and the government confiscated his properties. The palace was later used as military quarters for new recruits. After being restored and repaired, it was re-opened as a museum for Turkish and Islamic arts.

This museum contains one of the most important collections of Turkish and Islamic art in the world. First established in 1914 at the Daruzziyafe of the Süleymaniye Complex, it was moved in 1938 to its present location on the site of the Byzantine Hippodrome, in the palace of İbrahim Paşa. This palace, built in 1524 by one of the most powerful Ottoman Grand Viziers, is the grandest Ottoman private residence.

The collection spans the periods of the Ummayids, Abbasids, Mamluks, Seljuks, Beyliks and Ottomans, and contains rare objects and works, including stonework, ceramics, metalwork, silver, brass, and wood objects and ornaments, as well as manuscripts, calligraphy, carpets and kilims.Specific items on display here are funeral belts, bejeweled objects such as candlesticks decorated with valuable gems, pearl reading desks, carved cooper cups, royal crests, clothing belonging to Sultan Yıldırım Beyazıt and Sultan Selim II, carpets from the Caucasus, and intricately carved doors. In addition, there are exquisite manuscripts of the Quran, Ottoman miniatures, as well as various edicts of the Ottoman Sultans, not to mention keys to the Kaba.

A seaside village part of Old Istanbul: Kanlıca, famous for it’s yoghurt

Istanbul’s unspoiled neighborhood: Kuzguncuk

A neighborhood where a church, a mosque and a synagogue stand side by side along the shore of the Bosphorus, Kuzguncuk is the home of 19th century Istanbul cosmopolitanism and more importantly, incredibly rare amicableness.

Because of the hardships of traveling at the time, Kuzguncuk was deemed the first resting stop in Asia for Jews unable to travel to sacred grounds, which is why many wanted to live or be buried there.

Go from the main street, Icadiye Street, to the neighborhood, and right on your left you will see the Bath Ya’akov Synagogue along with the Ayios Yeorgios Eastern Church. A little bit further on your right stands the Ayios Panteleimon Church. The Armenian community gave up pieces of their land for the Kuzguncuk Mosque, which is next to the Armenian Church Surp Krikor Lusaroviç along the Bosphorus road. Today both places of worship have domes of the same height.

As you head for Beylerbeyi, you will encounter an extraordinary wooden mansion. The building that was built for Abdülhamid II’s minister of justice, Mahmud Cemil, in 1885 by the Italian architect Alberti combines Eastern and Western architecture. The mosque used to function as a center of the arts and became the host of poetry and music nights. The mansion also housed the first telephone, private cinema and photography studio of the Ottoman Empire.

While traveling from Kuzguncuk to Üsküdar you will see one of the best the Bosphorus has to offer: the Fethi Ahmet Paşa Mansion. Situated behind the mansion is a grove with the same name and the city hall of this grove has a splendid view. For a while the famous writer and poet Nazım Hikmet lived there. In the past there lived a Greek doctor, who gave his name to the idiom “Tell your troubles to Marko Paşa,” which is used commonly by Kuzguncuk residents, and the famous writer Can Yücel.

Famous food writer Refika’s kitchen is located in the Simotas building from 1923 on the street of the post office. On the building designed by a Greek architect in a Muslim country for a Jewish family, there are three different calendars: the Gregorian calendar, the Hebrew calendar and the Hijri calendar.

In the past there were many summer cinemas in the neighborhood, however now dropping by the Ilya’nın Bostanı park is a must. Greek-origin citizen Ilya would sell what she could grow in the yard until the 1990s. 86 little gardens in the park were recently rented through lottery.

Tiled Pavilion part of the Istanbul’s Archaeological Museum

The third building in the museum complex is the graceful Tiled Pavilion (Cinili Kösk) which is one of the oldest surviving Ottoman buildings in Istanbul. Built in 1472, there is a clear Persian influence to its architecture. It was originally built for Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror as a rather grand spot for the sultan to watch games and sports.

The building’s gorgeous ceramic work (mainly 16th century İznik tiles) and 12th to 19th century faience decoration have been marvellously well-preserved.

Anzac Days 2015

The largest Anzac Day commemoration outside of Australia, is held at Gallipoli.

Each year Australia and New Zealand conduct three commemorative services at Gallipoli: a joint Dawn Service at the Anzac Commemorative Site, followed by an Australian Memorial Service at Lone Pine, and a New Zealand Memorial Service at Chunuk Bair.

Anzac Day goes beyond the anniversary of the landing on Gallipoli in 1915. It is the day on which we remember Australians who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations. The spirit of Anzac, with its human qualities of courage, mateship, and sacrifice, continues to have meaning and relevance for our sense of national identity.

ANZAC Day is probably Australia’s most important national occasion. It marks the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War.

When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 13 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world. In 1915 Australian and New Zealand soldiers formed part of the allied expedition that set out to capture the Gallipoli peninsula in order to open the Dardanelles to the allied navies. The ultimate objective was to capture Constantinople (now Istanbul in Turkey), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, an ally of Germany.

The Australian and New Zealand forces landed on Gallipoli on 25 April, meeting fierce resistance from the Ottoman Turkish defenders. What had been planned as a bold stroke to knock Turkey out of the war quickly became a stalemate, and the campaign dragged on for eight months. At the end of 1915 the allied forces were evacuated, after both sides had suffered heavy casualties and endured great hardships. Over 8,000 Australian soldiers had been killed. News of the landing on Gallipoli had made a profound impact on Australians at home, and 25 April soon became the day on which Australians remembered the sacrifice of those who had died in the war.

Although the Gallipoli campaign failed in its military objectives, the Australian and New Zealand actions during the campaign left us all a powerful legacy. The creation of what became known as the “Anzac legend” became an important part of the identity of both nations, shaping the ways they viewed both their past and their future.

The Story of the Suleyman Mosque

Mimar Sinan was the acknowledged master of Ottoman architecture. Originally an officer and engineer in the Ottoman army, Sinan had caught the emperor’s eye with his talent for building temporary bridges for an army on the march. Under Suleyman’s patronage, he moved from bridges to buildings when he became Chief Architect of the Ottoman court in 1537. By 1550, Sinan was famous for his treatment of foundations and domes.

Together, Sultan Suleyman and Mimar Sinan built a mosque that was an Ottoman answer to Hagia Sophia. When the Ottomans conquered Istanbul in 1453, Mehmet the Conqueror physically appropriated the Byzantine cathedral for use as the imperial mosque. Sinan’s act of appropriation was more subtle.

Built 1,000 years before the Suleymaniye Mosque, Hagia Sophia is an architectural masterpiece. Its massive elliptical dome seems to float above the nave of the church because it rests on a ring of windows that separate it from the structure. Glittering mosaics dissolve the interior space of the building into shadowy mystery.

Mimar Sinan used the same structural scheme as the Hagia Sophia to create a totally different effect in the Suleymaniye Mosque. In a sixteenth century version of form follows function, the structure that holds the dome in place is clearly visible. Instead of disguising the tension between the curves of the dome and the straight horizontal lines of the building below, Sinan accentuates it. The result? The dome of heaven soars above the human world of prayer.