| HAGIA SOPHIA The Basilica of Hagia Sophia was constructed by Roman Emperor Justinian in 537 AD. This was the largest church in the Christian world for a thousand years. Its immense dome rises nearly 200 feet above the ground and its diameter spans more than 100 feet. The mosaics covering the walls are among the most important works of art that have survived to this day of the Byzantine era. |  | |
| Large round buildings had been successfully covered by domes before, but Hagia Sophia had a rectangular floor plan, and covering a large rectangular structure by a huge central dome was being tried for the first time in history. The dome collapsed and repaired many times. The Ottomans converted the basilica to a mosque in the 15th century after the conquest of Istanbul. Recognizing its historic and universal importance, the Turkish Government turned it into a museum in 1935. | ||
 | SULTANAHMET MOSQUE Sultanahmet Mosque is the most famous monument in both the Turkish and the Islamic worlds. It was built in the classic Turkish architectural style between 1609-1616 by the architect Mehmet. The building is more familiarly known as the Blue Mosque because of its magnificent interior paneling of more than 20,000 blue and white Iznik | |
| tiles. The inside is a single immense space into which the light pours from 260 windows. The dome 141 feet high, is supported by four enormous circular pillars 16 feet in diameter and are known as elephant feet. As it is located across Hagia Sophia, the mosque was designed to be as large and as magnificent as this Byzantine structure. | ||
| TOPKAPI PALACE Topkapi Palace is certainly the most important historical site to be visited in Istanbul. It is one of the most frequently visited museums of Europe and is the most visited one in Turkey. The Palace served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire for nearly 400 years between the 15th and 19th centuries. Its principal parts were finished in 1478, then altered and |  | |
| enlarged by new additions in the reign of each succeeding sultan. The Palace was abandoned in 1855 when Sultan Abdulmecit I, 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, moved to the new Palace of Dolmabahce. In 1924, it was turned into a museum upon the orders of Atat�rk. Palace is a complex of buildings spread out over one of the seven hills of Istanbul. It consists of courtyards serving different purposes which are separated from each other by monumental gates. Pavilions, each used for different purpose, surround these courtyards. The total area of the Palace is twice the area of Vatican and half of Monaco in size. | ||
| SAFRANBOLU Safranbolu is a small town in the Western Black Sea Region. Some of the most beautiful traditional old homes, unique in Turkey for their outstanding design and construction are found here. Some of them have been restored and are now used as hotels. |  | |
 | MT. NEMRUT Antiochos I, ruler of the Commagene Kingdom in the first century BC, built himself this funeral monument on top of Mount Nemrut in eastern Turkey. It consists of a tumulus and a dozen gigantic statues representing Antiochus I, eagles, lions and ancient gods. Lion and eagle statues were used as the guardians. The tumulus is 50 m high | |
| and 150 m. in diameter. Although the inscriptions at the back of the thrones on east and west terraces record that Antiochos I had chosen the hierothesion as his sacred last resting place or a place where his body will sleep for endless eternity, seismic research did not show any grave chamber or large cavity in the tumulus. The average height of the statues is 26-33 feet. These are made of stone, too heavy and large to be carried to the museum and remain where they were originally erected. Time has inflicted heavy damage on the sculptures- their bodies sit with their beautifully carved heads at their feet. | ||
| SANLI URFA- HALIL RAHMAN MOSQUE This province in southeast Turkey is known as the �city of Prophets�, because the Prophets Job, Abraham and Suayb, whose names are mentioned in the holy books and who lived before the emergence of the three monotheistic religions- Judaism, Christianity and Islam � resided here. According to Muslim tradition, Prophet Abraham was born in a cave on the northern side of Sanli |  | |
| Urfa castle. Today the cave is a pilgrimage site. There is a fish lake in the center of Sanli Urfa filled with sacred fish and surrounded by Halil Rahman Mosque. According to legends, Abraham believed in a single god and tried to spread this belief. For his refusal to follow the worship of idols, Abraham was condemned to be burned. The cruel King Nimrod had Abraham launched from a catapult from the city�s citadel to fall into a pile of burning wood. God intervened and turned the fire into water and the wood into fish, which make up water and fish in the pool. ISTANBUL, SAFRANBOLU, MT. NEMRUT, TROY, PAMUKKALE AND CAPPADOCIA ARE REGISTERED ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST TO HELP PRESERVE THEM FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. | ||
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