Metravel city quest

Istanbul Quest: The City of Three Empires

City Istanbul: free walking route “Quest: The City of Three Empires” along the sights. 10 points. Approximately 2 h 30 min. Quests and legends - straight from

Some cities changed their names like clothes. This one changed its name along with entire civilisations. First came Greek Byzantium — a little trading town by the strait. In 330, Emperor Constantine turned it into the new capital of the Roman Empire: Constantinople, “New Rome”. For more than a thousand years it was the richest city in the Christian world, until Sultan Mehmed II entered it in 1453 — and the city became the heart of the Ottoman Empire. Rome, Byzantium, the Ottomans — three empires, all fitted onto a single hill.

This hill is called Sultanahmet, and today you will explore it like an archaeologist, layer by layer. You will see an Egyptian obelisk older than the city itself, a Greek column cast from the shields of the Persian army, Byzantium’s zero kilometre, the greatest dome of the Middle Ages and a fountain around which the “Tulip Era” swirled. Almost everything is free and out in the open, with a leisurely twenty-minute walk from one end to the other.

What to do: 1) Read the story and task at each stop. 2) Find the place on the map and walk up to it. 3) Look around and answer the question.

This is a walking route of about two and a half kilometres. We begin at the northern end of the ancient Hippodrome, by the ornate columned pavilion known here as the German Fountain. Let’s go!

What is on the route

The route points in order — what these places are and why they are interesting. Tasks and answers stay inside the quest.

  1. The German Fountain — The Youngest Layer — German Fountain (Alman Çeşmesi), Sultanahmet Square

    Oddly enough, we will start with the freshest layer of our cake. This pavilion on eight marble columns was a gift from the German Kaiser Wilhelm II to commemorate his visit to Sultan Abdülhamid II in 1898.

  2. The Egyptian Obelisk — A Visitor Older Than the City — Obelisk of Theodosius (Dikilitaş), Hippodrome Square

    Walk from the fountain along the long, narrow square. You are crossing the arena of the Hippodrome of Constantinople: chariots once raced here, stands packed with tens of thousands of spectators roared, and emperors appeared before the people.

  3. The Serpent Column — A Trophy from Delphi — Serpent Column (Yılanlı Sütun), Hippodrome Square

    Walk a few dozen paces farther along the Hippodrome’s former spina, towards the dark, twisted column behind a railing. Do not let it fool you: this unassuming pillar is one of the oldest surviving monuments of the Greek world, almost two and a half thousand years old.

  4. The Obelisk of Constantine — A Plundered Giant — Obelisk of Constantine (Örme Dikilitaş), southern end of the Hippodrome

    A little farther on stands the Hippodrome’s third guardian, a stone tower at the far end of the square. While the Egyptian obelisk is a single granite monolith, this one is built of stone blocks, which is why the Turks call it Örme Dikilitaş — the “masonry obelisk”.

  5. The Blue Mosque — The Ottomans’ Answer — Sultan Ahmed Mosque (Blue Mosque)

    Now turn towards the great mass of domes and minarets rising east of the Hippodrome and walk over to it. This is the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, known around the world as the Blue Mosque because of the blue İznik tiles lining its interior.

  6. The Milion — Byzantium’s Zero Kilometre — Milion Stone (Milyon Taşı), corner of Divan Yolu

    From the mosque, walk through the park towards Hagia Sophia, then bear left towards the beginning of Divan Yolu, where a solitary stone pillar stands beside the tram tracks. Thousands of people pass it every day, and almost none realise that this is the centre of the world.

  7. The Basilica Cistern — Optional — Basilica Cistern (Yerebatan Sarnıcı), Yerebatan Caddesi, 1/3

    This stop is optional — there is an admission charge, but an underground palace lies right beneath your feet, with its entrance thirty paces from the Milion, across the street. The Basilica Cistern is a vast reservoir built under Emperor Justinian in 532: a city that had survived more than one siege knew the value of stored water.

  8. Hagia Sophia — All Three Empires in One Building — Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya), Hagia Sophia Square

    Cross the square — and there it is, the most important building on this hill, and for a long time in the entire Christian world. If our whole quest is about three empires, Hagia Sophia is all three at once, within the same walls.

  9. The Fountain of Ahmed III — The Empire’s Sweet Life — Fountain of Ahmed III, in front of the Topkapı gate (Bab-ı Hümayun)

    Go around the left side of Hagia Sophia to its far, eastern corner, where an ornate pavilion with a wide roof, like a carved jewellery box, stands opposite a tall fortified gate. This is the Fountain of Ahmed III, a monument to the most carefree chapter in Ottoman history.

  10. Gülhane — The Sultans’ Garden for Everyone — Gülhane Park (Gülhane Parkı), main avenue

    From the fountain, head downhill alongside the palace wall — the street will lead you to the gates of Gülhane Park. Come in: the route’s final stop is a garden rather than a monument.

Where to go next

This route is part of Metravel city quests. Below are the other quests in this city and cities with quests nearby.

All city quests