Alternative for Rustem Pasa Kulliyesi
 

Greetings fellow travelers!

I currently am planning to see Topkapi Palace and Suleymaniye mosque (and complex) on a Sunday morning in Istanbul. I had also planned to see Rustem Pasa Kulliyesi while in that area, but am told it is under renovation, so I am considering alternatives to see instead. All seem interesting, so I am having a difficult time deciding. I have plans in another area of town later that afternoon, so I do not want to commit more than 1 - 1 1/2 hours for this timeslot. Which would you suggest?

My narrowed options are:

Kilic Ali Pasha mosque and complex
Karakoy neighborhood with Tophane fountain/pavilion/arsenal
Sehzade Camii

Also open to other suggestions. Thanks!
KC

Have you seen the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia?

Yes, I will be seeing Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque, Hippodrome, and Basilica Cistern the day before.

The Chora church as something other than Ottoman architecture?

I'm seeing Chora church as part of an "off the beaten path" tour the following day. The three I listed are not on any of my other tours.

I skipped the three places you mention. But you have so many options! The Archeology Museum, Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, Eyup Sultan Mosque, boat ride on the Golden Horn, Suleymaniye Mosque, the Yeni (New) Mosque, Spice Market....

If you don't already have a good guidebook, I strongly recommend the Rough Guide.

The Rick Steves book on Istanbul is excellent. I think that it correctly gives preference to the archeology museum over the museum of Islamic art.

I have guidebooks already, and have done a lot of research for this trip - it's been almost 9 years in the making because this is a bucket list item that has been postponed several times. My other days are already planned out with things like Golden Horn, Bosporus cruise, museums, Asian side, grand and spice bazaars, etc. which is why I am asking about these 3 sites in particular.

I think people reading this are under the impression that I'm only there for a day and this is what I'm choosing to do rather than more obvious, popular things. I'm there for 5 days, and am just trying to finalize this particular day's itinerary since one of the sites I had chosen is under renovation - the others are already set. Perhaps I should not have said that I was open to other suggestions, without listing my full itinerary.

Since it is not possible to know exactly what you will see next to some of the sights, I would suggest the sultans' mausoleums on the grounds of the Hagia Sophia.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7622934223233/ and subsequent pictures

or this mosque
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7622934223233/

or this one

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca...7622934223233/

Thanks Michael. The mausoleums look interesting.

I'd agree -- asking for ideas without telling us what else you plan to see wasn't the best idea. ;-)

I would say that seeing everything you list in 5 days seems a tad ambitious to me, and might speak to the pace of the tours you have planned. If you haven't already done so, you might want to leave yourself a bit of time to return to certain places.

Istanbul is fascinating -- enjoy!

kja, yes, I understand your point about my pacing, but as I've mentioned in my other posts and trip reports, I like to "hit the ground running" and fast pacing works for me. But of course there are lots of things that I am not seeing, and perhaps will see on a return trip.

I was specifically asking about feedback for the 3 options I presented - I added the "open to other suggestions" as more of an addendum, rather than a focus of my post. but it seems that nobody reading my post has been to any of 3 options I listed, and therefore cannot offer feedback. Which is fine. I just thought I'd solicit as much information as I could before making a decision.

Feel free to solicit all the information you want! I'm sure you don't <u>intend</u> to suggest that <u>we</u> were at fault for responding to your explicit request ("open to other suggestions") just because we didn't study your previous posts or trip reports. ;-)

Please check if they still have underground tours of the tunnels at the Historic Peninsula?

Other suggestions are Rumeli Hisar and Bosphorus University which was an American College established in 1863, with breakfast or lunch at Bebek Divan Brassery where you can feed the cormorants almost from your table, walking at Cengelkoy and a fish lunch or a good breakfast.

Rustem pasa Mosque is tiny and only a few hundred feet from the Spice Bazaar, so you can see it from the outside.

My favorite spice shop at the Spice Bazaar is Ucuzcular some of whose second generation owners have studied in the United States and know their business well. specially recommended are medium ground, medium hot red pepper, turmeric and fenugreek powders. Their Chip Spice Mix is also excellent.

If you like Turkish Coffee, the oldest and most famous Turkish Coffee shop is on the very busy pedestrian street leading from the
Spice Bazaar to Rustem Pasa Mosque, at the corner across from the market exit. There is usually a fast moving queue to buy the freshly roasted and milled coffee packed and sold by an assembly line of experts in packs of 100 grams or more. (of'course you may need to buy a small decent stainless steel Turkish Coffee pot or a set.)

<i>Rustem pasa Mosque is tiny and only a few hundred feet from the Spice Bazaar, so you can see it from the outside.
</i>

But the jewel is the inside.