Our plane touched down at Artatuk International Airport in Istanbul a few minutes past 1pm amid cold temperatures.
Straight from the airport, we went for lunch to sample Turkish cuisine before heading to the heart of Istanbul to visit historical and cultural sites.
The first stop was at Hagia Sophia, a historical monument where tourists come face-to-face with ancient Turkey.
Huge marble doors and polished floor welcomes you into Hagia Sophia.
Looking at the landmark building indicates that architects had great sense of splendour to ensure the building is treasured by future generations.
Hagia Sophia is one of the most visited sites in the world and the Turks are proud of their rich history.
Hagia Sophia, which means “holy wisdom” in Greek, was built in 360 as an Orthodox basilica. Between 1204 and 1261 it was converted into a Roman Catholic Cathedral.
The church was later converted into a mosque between 1453 and 1931.
The first Turkish President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk turned Hagia Sophia into a museum in 1935 to stem rivalry between Christians and Muslims.
Hagia Sophia is one of the greatest surviving examples of Byzantine architecture.
One marvels at the interior décor, mainly the mosaics, marble pillars and great art are still visible. The mosaics depicted Jesus Christ and his mother Mary, saints, emperors and empresses.
In fact, one of the wonders of Hagia Sophia is that when it was turned into a mosque, the Muslim covered all the mosaics depicting Christianity in line with Islamic teachings that prohibit pictures inside a Mosque.
Turks said the move was a blessing in disguise as it helped preservation of the mosaics for hundreds of years.
In the streets of Istanbul we were mobbed by Turks, all requesting for a photo session with our delegation. I later realised that there were few Africans in Istanbul—the few we saw, were equally surprised to see us there.
Because of language barriers, all they could do was to hug us and pose for photographs.
We began the journey for a second tourist site.
Sultanahmet Mosque, or the “Blue Mosque” as it is known because its walls are decorated in blue tiles, was the next site to visit.
Before entering this mosque, as it is the norm with all mosques, we removed our shoes and were given a plastic paper bag in which we put our shoes to carry them inside the mosque.
When you enter the underground cistern, you hold your breath at how beautiful it looks.
Water filtration system
The cistern provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople and other buildings on the First Hill, and continued to provide water to the Topkapi Palace after the Ottoman conquest in 1453.
Today, the cistern has been turned into a tourist site and there is still water and some fish.
We also saw two heads of Medusa in the cistern, with each used to support a pillar.
Medusa was one of the Greek monsters known as a gorgon, a vicious beast with sharp fangs, hair made up of snakes, whose gaze turned men and women to stone.
She was once a beautiful Athena priestess, until the day that Poseidon (one of the three top gods in Greek mythology) raped her in the Parthenon.
The Parthenon belonged to the goddess named Athena. She was so angry that she punished Medusa by turning her into a Gorgon.
We travelled to the Asian side of Turkey, by a passenger ferry. Though the weather was very harsh, we nonetheless enjoyed the entire trip as we were shown the two castles that were built in four months and 19 days during the Ottoman Empire.
The two castles are exactly opposite each other; one the Asia side and the other on the Europe side. This was very strategic in fighting enemies, where they closed the Black Sea and no enemy was able to pass through.
The Asian side of Istanbul is more of a residential area and the Europe side is for business and office operations.
Istanbul has established itself as one of the biggest business centres both in Europe and Asia. It is no wonder that there are many people visiting in Turkey.
Many East Africans travel to Istanbul for business, especially in textile and accessories business. There are very big shopping malls in Istanbul.
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