“Arsenal” Named after the Arsenal that is one of its most striking monuments, Tophane is one of those places that was until recently…
“Süleyman’s Place” Of all Sinan’s great designs for Constantinople the one that is usually thought of as his masterpiece is the Süleymaniye complex…
Population: 8,500 Old names: Nike, Hosa, Hafsa Market day: Friday Havsa is a sleepy small Thracian town south-east of Edirne worth visiting only to…
Sinan in Thrace Population: 125,500 Old name: Arcadiopolis (Roman) Heading from İstanbul to Edirne you might…
City of the Princes Population: 385,500 Old name: Magnesia ad…
Working for the Lonely Planet Turkey guidebook for ten years gave me a fantastic opportunity to travel all over the country. The trouble…
So here I am in Kayseri on a lovely autumn day and I’m running round town like a blue-arsed fly trying to find…
In the cool of early evening I thought I’d take a turn around the back streets of Eminönü. It always surprises me how…
If ever there was a man who stamped his mark on İstanbul it has to have been Koca Mimar Sinan (c.1490-1588), the great…
Population: 30,000 Once a famous beauty spot drawn by the likes of the 19th-century British artist William Bartlett, Belen, on the summit of…