harmony of blue-gray “Uskudar, Kiz Kulesi”

İstanbul-Üsküdar, Kız Kulesi, Maidens Tower, Türkiye , pentax k10d, photos by ozgur ozkok

streets of Uskudar “Yeni Valide Camii”

Yeni Valide Camii, Yeni Valide Mosque, Üsküdar-İstanbul, pentax k10d, by ozgur ozkok

Uskudar, Mihrimah Sultan Mosque

Mihrimah Sultan Camii, Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Üsküdar-İstanbul, pentax kx, by ozgur ozkok

Uskudar, Cinili Camii

Çinili Camii, Üsküdar, Tiled Mosque, pentax kx, Istanbul, by ozgur ozkok

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Çinili Camii, Üsküdar, Tiled Mosque, pentax kx, Istanbul, by ozgur ozkok

Uskudar, Ahmediye Mosque

Üsküdar, Ahmediye Camii, Ahmediye Mosque, pentax kx, by ozgur ozkok

First impression and quick return to Istanbul

Some of my friends have asked me to tell stories about Istanbul. Having heard that I have visited Istanbul several times, they wonder if Istanbul really would be an interesting holiday destination. A considerable amount of Estonians annually visit well-known Turkish holiday resorts, but few have discovered Istanbul. For me Istanbul is a real treasure box. Every time I open this box, I’ll find something unexpected, thrilling. Honestly, it is difficult to tell one story about Istanbul.  Whether to focus on the Old Town, Bosphorus, fantastic mosques, tasty food, people? Where to begin?! Now I have time and space for my stories about this city. Thanks to Özgür, he offered me this opportunity.

Blue Mosque, Istanbul, by Eleka Rugam-Rebane

My first rendezvous with Istanbul was rather confusing. It was one fine sunny day in April. I arrived from rather cool Tallinn (Estonia) after some hours flight and landed in the middle of a most vibrant city I´d ever seen. People, people, people everywhere. Nonstop flow. Random. Curiosity. Lot of police on the streets. Smells. Traffic. Music.

Mihrimah Sultan Camii, Uskudar

Mihrimah Sultan Camii, Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, Üsküdar, Istanbul-Turkiye, pentax kx, by ozgur ozkok

Tiled Mosque, Uskudar

Çinili Camii, Tiled Mosque, Üsküdar-İstanbul, pentax k10d, by ozgur ozkok

Uskudar, Valide-i Atik Camii

Atik Valide Camii, Eski Valide Camii, Valide Atik Mosque, Üsküdar-İstanbul, pentax k10d, by ozgur ozkok

The Atik Valide Mosque (Turkish: Atik Valide Camii, Eski Valide Camii) is an Ottoman mosque located on the hill above a large and densely populated district of Üsküdar, in Istanbul, Turkey.
The Atik Valide Mosque (name translation:Old Mosque of the Sultan’s Mother) was one of the most extensive mosque complexes in Istanbul area. The mosque was built for Sultana Nur-Banu, the Venetian-born wife of Selim II and the mother of Murat III. She was the first of all sultan’s mothers that ruled over the Ottoman Empire from the harem.
Mimar Sinan completed the mosque in 1583, and it was his last major work. It has a wide shallow dome which rest on five semidomes, with a flat arch over the entrance portal. The interior is surrounded on three sides by galleries

Atik Valide Camii, Eski Valide Camii, Valide Atik Mosque, Üsküdar-İstanbul, pentax k10d, by ozgur ozkok

Üsküdar, Yeni Valide Camii

Yeni Valide Camii, Yeni Valide Mosque, Üsküdar-Istanbul, pentax kx, by ozgur ozkok

The Yeni Valide Mosque (Turkish: Yeni Valide Camii) is an Ottoman mosque in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul, Turkey. It was built between the 1708 and 1710 on the iskele (dock) road by Emetullah Râbi’a Gülnûş Sultan, mother of Sultan Ahmed III. The main part of the building is square in shape and covered with a flattened main dome and four half domes. The mosque has two minarets with two balconies each. Calligraphy inside the mosque is the work of Hezarfen Mehmet Efendi.

Yeni Valide Camii, Yeni Valide Mosque, Üsküdar-Istanbul, pentax k10d, by ozgur ozkok