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We spent the morning on a boat cruising up the Bosphorus, taking in the sites from a different angle. We went north as far Rumeli Hisari (Castle), which Mehmed II built in 1452 to control of the traffic on the Bosphorus and prepare his army to lay siege to Constantinople the following year. Rumeli Hisari … Continue reading “Byzantine Travel Journal: Day 5 (Istanbul)”

Today, we only toured in the morning, but it was an inspiring and interesting day. We began with a short stop at the back side of the far end of the Hippodrome, which is the only part of the structure remaining. We hadn’t seen this Sunday, because it’s hidden from view by the buildings that … Continue reading “Byzantine Travel Journal: Day 4 (Istanbul)”

Our day began at the Hippodrome, or what used to be the Hippodrome.  After Constantine the Great’s renovation in the 4th century, the Hippodrome could hold as many as 100,000 horse race enthusiasts. It was Churchill Downs on steroids. Today, as you can see from my picture, there is little left of the Hippodrome, except … Continue reading “Byzantine Travel Journal: Day 2 (Istanbul)”

Thanks to the genius of modern of travel, we boarded a plane in the USA and after 18 hours of travel, including two stops to change planes we were arriving halfway around the world in Istanbul, Turkey f/k/a Constantinople f/k/a Byzantium. And as amazing at it would have been to Constantine, Theodosius or Justinian to … Continue reading “Byzantine Travel Journal: Day 1 (Istanbul)”