Andante Travels

Introduction

Walk around the statue of Constantine outside York Minster; enjoy a fresh croissant with your morning coffee in France; listen to Mozart’s ravishing opera Il Seraglio; look up at the four bronze horses above the doorway of the Basilica of St Mark in Venice. What links all these very European experiences?

The answer is Constantinople, the new Rome, capital of a Christian Roman Empire, which became Istanbul, capital of the Ottoman Sultans, who ruled from Mecca, Baghdad and Cairo to the Balkans and central Europe.

When the modern republic of Turkey came into being in the 1920s, Istanbul lost its status as imperial city and capital. But it remains one of the world’s largest, busiest, most vibrant metropoli, its present-day streets, watersides, and bazaars both welcoming and mysterious, its people fully modern, yet deeply aware of their city’s dense, rich history. For people in western Europe, Istanbul has long represented ‘the Orient’, and yet its history has always been as a pre-eminent city in Europe. Its fascination has been that it is the city where Asia meets Europe.

Much of this tour can be undertaken on foot, for the historic centre of the city consists of a small triangle of hilly land (new Rome, like the original city, was built upon seven hills), wedged between the waters of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus. The Topkapi Palace of the Ottoman sultans occupied the very tip of the triangle. The imperial mosques built by the Ottoman sultans, like the greatest imperial churches, Aghia Sophia in particular, were sited to dominate the skyline. Many other treasures are harder to find, unassuming among the modern buildings, their doors opening on narrow streets or small alleyways.

A day on the waters of the Bosphorus sailing up towards the Black Sea puts the city in its geographical setting, and a drive to the defensive walls built by the Emperor Theodosius II gives good idea of the scale.

The free day in the middle of your holiday allows time to visit the famous covered bazaar and the associated market areas, or to make your own itinerary for a day.

We travel with Terry Richardson, who lives and works in Turkey and is author of the Rough Guide. His background is in Ancient History and Civilisation, but his more recent work and indeed his life, is closely engaged with the story of Turkey throughout the ages, including the most recent. By travelling at the beginning of November, we avoid the major crowds, and the heat of summer, offering the chance to escape the onset of winter at home.
We have booked a small, unpretentious, but pleasant and perfectly placed hotel in the old quarter of Sultan Ahmet and created an itinerary which gives a detailed introduction to all the major sites, and many smaller favourites. A day on the waters of the Bosphorus sailing up towards the Black Sea puts the city in its geographical setting, a vital strategic factor in its success.  There is always the option to head off alone, start late, leave early, to follow your own interests or just to do some pre-Christmas shopping in the twinkling covered bazaars. All meals are independent, and it is a pleasure to seek out restaurants which you will enjoy. Terry can advise, and will be happy to accompany anyone who would prefer not to dine alone.

Itinerary

day one
Group flights from London to Istanbul or meet coach at Istanbul airport or meet at our hotel.

day two
Byzantine Constantinople: start with the great basilica of Aghia Sophia, the church of the Holy Wisdom of God, built by Justinian in the early sixth century. Justinian’s contemporary, the historian and writer Procopius, who was neither fan of the emperor nor sycophant, wrote of ‘the Great Church’ that it was ‘distinguished by indescribable beauty, excelling both in its size, and in the harmony of its measures, . . . magnificent . . . and elegant, . . . full of light and sunshine.’ Mehmet the Conqueror, on capturing the city, turned the great church into the city’s imperial mosque, but with the inception of the secular republic the building became a museum.
Some of Constantinople’s greatest engineering was concerned with its water supply. The Yerebatan Sarayi, a cavernous and palatial Byzantine underground water cistern, supplied the imperial palaces, until they fell into ruin and it was forgotten. Now, one can walk on wooden walkways above the water, and admire the remarkable architecture.

 

 

After lunch, we stroll in what was the central spina of the Hippodrome. Its soaring seating accommodated tens of thousands of spectators, or, on occasions, angry citizens taking noisy part in political meetings. The modern road around the central park area follows the line of the horse-racing track, and some of the trophies that ornamented the central spina, most famously a granite obelisk from Egypt, have survived through the centuries. We cannot leave this part of the city without visiting the mosque of Sultan Ahmet (the Blue Mosque), with its high dome and semi-domes, multiple minarets, and beautiful interior richly blue with the finest tiles from imperial tile-makers of Iznik.

 

 

 

day three
Ottoman Istanbul: The Topkapi Palace was the rambling palace complex of the Ottoman sultans until they moved in the nineteenth century to a French-style palace on the Bosphorus water-front. The Topkapi Palace is now a museum, and is a veritable treasure-house of architecture and applied arts, a palace like none that you will have ever seen. Later there is an opportunity to visit the archaeological museums, built by the sultans in the late nineteenth century after the style of European monarchs to house their collection of antiquities from across the Ottoman empire.

Optional evening visit to a traditional Turkish bath. This bath-house was built by a sultan in the middle of the eighteenth century. (Brave past guests have said they wouldn’t have missed the experience for the world!).

 

day four
Free day in Istanbul - Professor Watkins will have lots of suggestions.

day five
The Bosphorus: we travel on our private boat up the majestic waterway that separates Europe from Asia, and links the Black Sea ports of Russia and Ukraine to the Mediterranean. There is much to see on either side of the waterway as we make our way to the Sadberk Hanim Museum, a major private collection of archaeology and Turkish works of art and costumes. Before we head back to the heart of the old city, we should do what Istanbulis love to do, and eat lunch in a fish restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus.

day six
We spend the morning close to the great walls of the city built by Theodosius II at the end of the 5th century. Just inside the walls is the ruined Palace of the Porphyrogenitus, where some of the last Byzantine emperors preferred to live. Close by is Kariye Camii, formerly the church of St Saviour in Chora. The church’s 14th century Byzantine mosaics, gleaming with gold, and its remarkable frescos, were restored by British specialists with American funding, and the building is now a museum.

Those who wish will be dropped at the great mosque complex, Sulemaniye Camii, built for Suleyman the Magnificent by the greatest of Ottoman architects, Sinan. We can lunch close to the mosque, and then visit parts of the complex before walking home past the tomb of the architect Sinan, and through some of the most bustling and atmospheric parts of Istanbul.

day seven
Private coach to Istanbul airport for group flights to London, or to wait for your independent flight (or continue your holiday).

Included

WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Flights scheduled flights London/Istanbul or arrange your own flights
• Transfers Transfers private coach provided to coincide with group flights - join this or make your own way between hotel & airport
• Local Travel to all sites in programme either by private coach or on foot or private boat (Day 5)
• Guide Lecturer (and local guide) Not to be confused with "guest lecturers"!  The guide lecturer will be with you from breakfast to supper, and probably even a drink in the bar afterwards.  There is the occasional site where they may not be allowed to guide because of local regulations (we normally manage to circumnavigate these) but otherwise the guides are just that.  They will have been chosen because of specialist knowledge and their ability to communicate and interest you.  After 22 years of making tours worldwide, we are highly appreciative of the attributes of a good guide, and intensely critical of people who do not possess them.  If you would like to know more about Terry Richardson, please click his name.
• Local Guide
• Fieldnotes written for the tour
• Entry Entry to all sites in programme
• We tip the driver and the local guide on your behalf

You Arrange

• Flights if you prefer
• Meals (except breakfast) - Istanbul is full of delicious and interesting restaurants, snack bars and food markets
• Turkish Bath (if you wish!)

Flights & Visa

Airline: details to be confirmed

Visa and Passport Requirements (for British passport holders only)*

Note:  Passport must be valid for 6 months on entry into Turkey. Visas can be purchased at the airport on arrival on production of a valid passport and a £10.00 note (Scottish currency is not accepted)

Hotels

 

 

6 nights Bed & Breakfast in a comfortable hotel in an quiet part of the historic centre of Istanbul, with lots of shops and restaurants nearby.

 

 

Map

JavaScript must be enabled in order for you to use Google Maps.
However, it seems JavaScript is either disabled or not supported by your browser.
To view Google Maps, enable JavaScript by changing your browser options, and then try again.

Comments

What Did You Enjoy Most About This Tour?

It was good to have time on our own as well as with the group. It was interesting to visit places off the beaten track which we wouldn't otherwise have seen. The use of head sets to listen to the guide was a particularly good feature of the trip.

The tour as advertised was excellent but the extras thrown in such as the SS Serquis and Bacchus and the Sokollu Mehmet Pasa and the Pantocrator were worthwhile. I enjoyed walking everywhere and particularly in the areas away from the principal sites. The city was clean and welcoming and the people delightful.

The scale of Ayia Sophia, the mosques there and St Simeans in Chora. The Turkish bath recommended by Seyhun, where myself and one or two others had a memorable experience and were very pleased that we went- and the differences between a Turkish and Tunisian bath. The great Cistern was amazing, and not to be missed, both for the fact that it has survived and for its engineering.

Reading List

This list is no more than a guide to some books that you may find useful to read in advance of the tour. Talks given on the tour will attempt to fill in the background to what we are seeing, so no prior knowledge or pre-tour cramming is expected or needed

Both Byzantine and Ottoman history tend to be absorbing in detail but so kaleidoscopic that it is hard to get an overview. It may be that the history books in the following list are something to follow up after you have enjoyed visiting the imperial city. I have tried to include at least a few titles that can be found in (or with the help of) a bookshop, as well as some of the great books that will be found only in a really good library.

History:

Jason Goodwin (1999) Lords of the Horizons: A History of the Ottoman Empire. Vintage Paperback, London. This is an elegant and literate history of the Ottoman Empire, and it is in print.

Godfrey Goodwin (1977) Ottoman Turkey. Scorpion Publications, London.

H. Inalcik (1973) The Ottoman Empire, London.  A social, economic and cultural life of Ottoman Turkey

R. J. H. Jenkins (1953) The Byzantine Empire on the Eve of the Crusades, London, Published for the Historical Association by G. Philip.

R. Loverance (1988) Byzantium, British Museum Publications

Cyril Mango (editor) (2002) The Oxford History of Byzantium. Oxford University Press. This new book has chapters by the authorities on the world of Byzantium. Concerned with the political history of the Byzantine state as well as the evolution of Byzantine culture.

J. J. Norwich (1988) Byzantium: the Early Centuries, Viking & Penguin (1990)

J. J. Norwich (1991) Byzantium: the Apogee, Viking

Art and architecture:

J. A. Hamilton (1956) Byzantine Architecture and Decoration, London, Batsford.

R. Krautheimer (1965) Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture, Pelican History of Art, Penguin Books. Reprinted, and still in print, both from Penguin Books (hardcover, 1987) and Yale University Press (1992).

George Mitchell (editor), (1995) Architecture of the Islamic World. Thames & Hudson, London. Beautifully illustrated, and helps to put Ottoman architecture into its Islamic context.

J.M. Rogers and R.M. Ward (1988) Süleyman the Magnificent. British Museum Publications. Published in parallel with a major exhibition in London. Recommended as a beautifully illustrated introduction to the arts and crafts of the Ottoman court at its peak.

Godfrey Goodwin, (1971) A History of Ottoman Architecture. Thames and Hudson, London. A big book with a detailed account of its subject, well illustrated with plans and many black and white photographs. There was a revised edition in the early 1990s.

Guide Books:

H. Sumner-Boyd and J. Freely (1987) Strolling through Istanbul, Routledge & Kegan Paul.

J. Freely (2000) Blue Guide City Guides: Istanbul, A. & C. Black, London.

DK Travel Guides: Istanbul (1998) Dorling Kindersley, London.

Other books:

Irfan Orga (1988) Portrait of a Turkish Family.  One of the excellent classics reproduced by the admirable Eland Books.  It is the saga of an Ottoman family through the First World War, the end of the Ottoman Empire and the early years of the Turkish Republic.

Colin Thubron Emperor, Penguin.  An historical novel set in the time of Constantine. Out of print, and I've lost the date of publication.

Orhan Pamuk (1991) The White Castle, Faber.  An historical novel by a contemporary Turkish author, set in the high epoch of Ottoman Istanbul.

John Freely (1998) Istanbul: the Imperial City. Penguin Books. The story of the city from its foundation to the present day, which excellently captures the flavour of daily life as well as unravelling the extraordinary history of the city.

Noel Barber (1973) Lords of the Golden Horn, Macmillan, London.

Evelyn Waugh, Helena. The life of the Empress Helena coincided with the recognition of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire. Helena made the historic pilgrimage to Palestine, found pieces of wood from the true cross, and built churches at Bethlehem and Olivet. Still in print with Penguin Books.

Robert Graves, Count Belisarius. Set in Late Roman or early Byzantine times, a fine historical novel. Still in print with Penguin Books.

Book Now

Price and confirmed details for this tour will appear in our full 2010 brochure due out in October 2009.  You can reserve a place on this tour before October on payment of a deposit.  If you then change your mind, we will refund your deposit in full.