At least once a month I set off to explore Istanbul’s lesser known streets and sights. Armed with a vague plan to see at least one specific place, I often come across unexpected delights. The day I headed to Nısancı Mahallesi with my husband and two friends, was no exception. This time I discovered an…
Istanbul is well-known for its many beautiful mosques as well as architectural marvels from the Ottoman Empire. Under their reign, peoples from many different ethnicities and religions flourished in Istanbul. Pockets of this diverse past remain in richly decorated Istanbul churches and other religious buildings still in use today. There are hundreds of Armenian churches…
Although the exact year of his birth is still disputed, the brilliance of Turkish architect Mimar Sinan, which translates as Sinan the architect, is not. Fathered by a stonemason, Mimar Sinan became a military engineer in the Ottoman Empire where he rose through the ranks to become first an officer and finally a commander in…