5 Day Istanbul, Ephesus & Pamukkale Tour

Blue Mosque: One of the biggest mosques of Istanbul from 17th century architecture is one of the principal adornments on the skyline of Istanbul. Also famous for its blue tiles and 6 minarest. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasah and a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction. The design of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque is the culmination of two centuries of both Ottoman mosque and Byzantine church development. It incorporates some Byzantine elements of the neighboring Hagia Sophia with traditional Islamic architecture and is considered to be the last great mosque of the classical period. The architect has ably synthesized the ideas of his master Sinan, aiming for overwhelming size, majesty and splendour. It has 6 minarets along with 8 domes and 1 main one.

The Topkapi Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their 624-year reign. As well as a royal residence, the palace was a setting for state occasions and royal entertainments. It is now a major tourist attraction and contains important holy relics of the Muslim world including the Prophet Muhammeds cloak and sword. The Topkapi Palace is among the monuments contained within the "Historic Areas of Istanbul", which became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, and is described in Criterion iv as "the best example[s] of ensembles of palaces of the Ottoman period. Construction began in 1459, ordered by Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople. The palace complex consists of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. At its peak, the palace was home to as many as 4,000 people, and covered a large area with a long shoreline. The complex was expanded over the centuries, with major renovations after the 1509 earthquake and the 1665 fire. The palace contained mosques, a hospital, bakeries, and a mint. The name translates as "Cannon gate Palace" from a nearby gate which has since been destroyed. From the end of the 17th century the Topkapý Palace gradually lost its importance as the Sultans preferred to spend more time in their new palaces along the Bosporus. In 1856, Sultan Abdul Mecid I decided to move the court to the newly built Dolmabahce Palace, the first European-style palace in the city. Some functions, such as the imperial treasury, the library, and the mint were retained in the Topkapi Palace. Lunch: Full Course Deluxe Menu at a charming restaurant.

Continue to Hagia Sophia, Sancta Sophia or Sancta Sapientia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey. From the date of its dedication in 360 until 1453, it served as the Greek Patriarchal cathedral of Constantinople, except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931, when it was secularized. It was opened as a museum on 1 February 1935. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture[5] and is said to have "changed the history of architecture. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until Seville Cathedral was completed in 1520. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by the Greek scientists Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician. The church contained a large collection of holy relics and featured, among other things, a 49-foot (15 m) silver iconostasis. It was the seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople and the religious focal point of the Eastern Orthodox Church for nearly one thousand years.

The Grand Bazaar "Covered Bazaar" in Istanbul is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 3,000 shops which attract between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily. The Grand Bazaar is located inside the walled city of Istanbul, in the district of Fatih and in the neighborhood bearing the same name. It stretches roughly from west to east between the mosques of Beyazit and of Nuruosmaniye. The Bazaar can easily be reached from Sultanahmet and Sirkeci by tram. Transferred to your Hotel. Overnight in Istanbul. ( B, L )

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selcuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era. In the Roman period, Ephesus had a population of more than 250,000 in the 1st century BC, which also made it one of the largest cities in the Mediterranean world. The city was famed for the Temple of Artemis (completed around 550 BC), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Emperor Constantine I rebuilt much of the city and erected new public baths. Following the Edict of Thessalonica from emperor Theodosius I, the temple was destroyed in 401 AD by a mob led by St. John Chrysostom. The town was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 614 AD. The citys importance as a commercial center declined as the harbor was slowly silted up by the Cayster River. Ephesus was one of the seven churches of Asia that are cited in the Book of Revelation. The Gospel of John may have been written here. The city was the site of several 5th century Christian Councils, see Council of Ephesus. It is also the site of a large gladiators graveyard. Todays archaeological site lies 3 kilometers southwest of the town of Selcuk, in the Selcuk district of Ýzmir Province, Turkey. The ruins of Ephesus are a favorite international and local tourist attraction, partly owing to their easy access from Adnan Menderes Airport and via the port of Kusadasý.

Fountains of Trajan Along the Curetes Street, in a wonderful succession of ancient ruins, sculpted pillars decorated with sculptural figurations, we can see reconstruction on a reduced scale ( the original reached a height of 12 meters) of one of the most remarkable Ephesian monuments. The fountain was erected between 102 and 104 A.D. and as the attached inscription reads, was consecrated to the Emperor Trajan. The tympanum which dominates the upper line is supported by Corinthian columns, in the central niche was one located an enormous statue of Trajan, of which only the base with the feet and the globe remain. The many sculptured figurations which once populated this fountain (members of the Imperial Family, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Satry) have been carried to the Museum.

The Temple of Hadrian is a temple to the deified Hadrian on the Campus Martius in Rome, Italy, built by his adoptive son and successor Antoninus Pius in 145 and now incorporated into a later building in the Piazza di Pietra. It was once erroneously known as the Temple of Neptune. Drawing of the Temple by Giuseppe Vasi, c. 1750. Alo Giovannolis 1615 drawing of the Temple. One wall of the cella survives, together with 11 of the 15-metre high Corinthian columns from the external colonnade, on a 4 m high peperino base. The fixing holes for its original marble covering can still be seen. This facade, along with the architrave (reconstructed after antiquity), was incorporated into a 17th century papal palace by Carlo Fontana, now occupied by the Borsa bank. The building was octostyle and had 15 columns on each long side (4 have been lost from the surviving side). Inside the bank the remains of the non-apsidal naos can be seen, once covered by a barrel vault supported on columns between which were battle-trophies. The base of the columns had reliefs of personifications of the provinces of the empire (some of which are now in the National Roman Museum and Capitoline Museums demonstrating Hadrians less warlike policy than his predecessor Trajan. The temple had a large square arcade surrounded by columns in giallo antico and which opened onto the Via Lata (now the Via del Corso) through a triumphal arch. This arch has been identified as the one called the "arch of Antoninus" in later sources, but has also been called the "arch of Claudius" and the "arch of the Tosetti", from the name of the family that inhabited Piazza Sciarra (now disappeared due to road-widening of the Via del Corso). Despite having fallen into ruin and been demolished, the arch still gave its name in the 18th century to the Via dellArchetto.

The library of Celsus is an ancient Roman building in Ephesus, Anatolia, now part of Selcuk, Turkey. It was built in honor of the Roman Senator Tiberius Julius Celsus Polemaeanus (completed in 135 AD) by Celsus’ son, Gaius Julius Aquila (consul, 110 AD). Celsus had been consul in 92 AD, governor of Asia in 115 AD, and a wealthy and popular local citizen. He was a native of nearby Sardis and amongst the earliest men of purely Greek origin to become a consul in the Roman Empire and is honored both as a Greek and a Roman on the library itself. Celsus paid for the construction of the library with his own personal wealth. The library was built to store 12,000 scrolls and to serve as a monumental tomb for Celsus. Celsus is buried in a sarcophagus beneath the library, in the main entrance[6] which is both a crypt containing his sarcophagus and a sepulchral monument to him.[7] It was unusual to be buried within a library or even within city limits, so this was a special honor for Celsus

The House of the Virgin Mary (Turkish: Meryem ana or Meryem Ana Evi, "Mother Marys House") is a Roman Catholic and Muslim shrine located on Mt. Koressos (Turkish: Bülbüldaðý, "Mount Nightingale") in the vicinity of Ephesus, 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from Selçuk in Turkey. The house was discovered in the 19th century by following the descriptions in the reported visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774–1824), a Roman Catholic nun and visionary, which were published as a book by Clemens Brentano after her death. The Roman Catholic Church has never pronounced on the authenticity of the house, for lack of acceptable evidence. It has, however, from the blessing of the first pilgrimage by Pope Leo XIII in 1896, taken a positive attitude towards the site and towards Emmerichs visions. Anne Catherine Emmerich was Beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 3, 2004. Catholic pilgrims visit the house based on the belief that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was taken to this stone house by Saint John and lived there until her Assumption.

The Ephesus Archaeological Museum is an archaeological museum in Selcuk near Ýzmir, Turkey. It houses finds from the nearby Ephesus excavation site. Its best-known exhibit is the statue of Artemis retrieved from the temple of the goddess in Ephesus. The other museum with a great number of Ephesus artifacts is the Ephesos Museum in Vienna. After the tour, you will be transferred to your hotel at around 18:00. Overnight in Kusadasi. ( B, L, D )