• Istanbul map
• Bosphorus map
• Faith and Beyoglu map

What impressed us most about the museums was the quality and quantity of ancient artifacts on display, with buildings, floors and glass cases packed with statuary, orthostats and cuneiform tablets from Asia Minor, Mesopotamia and Syria, representing long lost civilizations – Assyrian, Hittite and Sumerian.

• Website: Istanbul Archaeology Museums

• Museum pic: 8th century BCE Hittite limestone rock relief of Warpala, king of Tyana, praying to Tarhunzu, the plant and storm god
• Museum pic: 8th century BCE Hittite basalt orthostat of Aramaean musicians

The Hittite Treaty of Kadesh | c. 1259 BCE

As a university lecturer of Asian Studies in anthropology, it was certainly a pleasure to see, and photograph, the original c.1259 BCE Treaty of Kadesh -- a.k.a. the Egyptian/Hittite Peace Treaty -- generally considered to be the world’s oldest peace treaty. One of the most important documents in Near Eastern history, the treaty was made following the infamous 1274 BCE Battle of Kadesh between the Hittites of Asia Minor and the Egyptians led by Ramses II. The battle took place near the current day Lebanon-Syria border.

Constructed by Mehmed II (a.k.a. Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror) beginning 1459 after his infamous siege of Constantinople, the palace became the administrative headquarters of the Ottoman sultans until 1923 when the Ministry of Culture and Tourism transformed the property into a national museum.

Among the most elaborate areas of the palace complex is the Imperial Harem, a labyrinth of 400 private rooms and courtyards designed for the sultan’s mother, wives, concubines and children.

Through the ages, the Hagia Sophia evolved into an Ottoman imperial mosque, complete with four minarets, until 1935 when the Turkish government secularized the site and opened it to the public as the Ayasofya Museum.

We found the mosque an eclectic mingling of Christian and Islamic art history, from enormous round symbols of Islamic calligraphy hung high overhead, to the restored mosaics of Holy Roman emperors as contemporaries of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary.

• Museum pic: Mosaic of John Komnenos and Hungarian Empress Irene paying tribute to the Virgin Mary

The monument has been an important location for political protests and represents the founding of the Republic of Turkey after the Turkish War of Independence.

During our walks, highlights included traditional lokanta restaurants serving hot pre-cooked Turkish food, the sound of the historic hand-rung bell of the red and white Taksim Tunel  tramway, the touristic draw of the Koska shops selling Turkish sweets, and the historical and archaeological English language sections of bookstores.