11. BEYLERBEYI PALACE
The Beylerbeyi meaning, “Lord of Lords” is a Palace, located in the Beylerbeyi neighbourhood of Uskudar district in Istanbul. Its construction period was from 1861 to 1865 and was built as a summer residence for the sultans and an entertainment space for the visiting head of the state. The palace is designed using the second empire style by Sarkis Balyan. The Beylerbeyi Palace was the place of captivity of the Sultan Abdulhamid II from 1912 till his death here in 1918. The site from the bosphorus provides most pleasant view of the palace as its two bathing pavilions, one for women and other for men, known as Harem and Selamik can best be seen. Another attraction spot of the palace is the Reception hall which contains a pool and a fountain in it. Sound and view of running water was considered to be utterly popular among the ottoman houses because of the calm and cool effect it creates in the ambiance.
12. RUSTEM PASHA MOSQUE
One of the most lavishly beautiful mosques, Rustem Pasha Mosque is located in the Fatih district of Istanbul, Turkey. The mosque was built in the memory of, and as a tribute to, the Sultan Rustem Pasha who died at his age of 61 in July, 1561, and the construction of mosque began just after his death from 1561 till 1563. The layout of the building is in the shape of an octagon inscribed in a rectangle and the main dome rests on other four semi domes. The mosque is most known for its large quantities of Iznik Tiles set in a very large variety of floral and geometric designs covering the façade of the porch, mihrab, minbar and the walls. No other mosque in Istanbul showcases such beauty and layout of iznik tiles. The mosque is built on a high terrace over a complex of vaulted shops, rents of which are used for financial funding of the mosque complex just as in Mihrimah Sultan Mosque. Today, in the current scenario, the mosque complex hosts a religious school.
13. BULGARIAN ST. STEPHEN CHURCH
A Bulgarian orthodox church named as Bulgarian St. Stephen Church and Bulgarian Iron Church is located in Balat, Istanbul, Turkey. The speciality of the church is that it is made up of prefabricated cast iron elements in a non-gothic architectural style. The heavily ornamented church is a three domed cross-shaped basilica; the altar faces the golden horn and a 40 meter high belfry rises above the narthex. Initially it was a wooden church but as it suffered from a fire, a larger building was built in its place and in a more cautious ways. Instead of concrete reinforcement, Iron Frame was brought in for construction because of the weak ground conditions that couldn’t withstand the heavy construction. An international competition was held to produce the prefabricated cast iron parts of the church which was won by an Austrian company. Those prefabricated cast iron parts were made in Vienna in 1893, weighing 500 tons, and by 1896 was transported to Istanbul by ship through the Danube and The Black Sea. After the arrival of construction materials from abroad it took one and a half year for the completion of construction of the church, in1898. The main skeleton of the church was steel structure and then it was covered by metal boards. The church possesses a huge influence of Neo-gothic and Neo-baroque style of Architecture. The church went through some renovation under the supervision of Bulgarian-Turkish Cooperation in 2011 and costed more than 15 million.
14. GALATA TOWER
The Galata Tower is the highlight being a medieval stone tower in the galata quarter of Istanbul, Turkey. It is a high, cone shaped cylinder that touches the skyline and offers a panoramicview of the city from its very top end. The tower is of nine storeys with 66.9 meters of height without any ornamentation on the top. The elevation at the ground level is 61 meters above sea level. The external diameter of the tower is 16.45 meters at the base and the inside diameter is of 8.95 meters with the wall thickness of 3.75 meters. Galata Tower was the tallest structure in all of Istanbul in 1348 when it was built with the height of 219.5 ft. The conical part of the tower was modified several times during various restorations that took place during the ottoman period when it was used as an observation spot for spotting fires. Due to fire and storms, the conical top met several destructions and later, by 1960, during final restoration that took place, the wooden interior of the tower was replaced by the concrete structure and was opened to the public. There is a restaurant and café on the upper floors of the tower providing mesmerizing view of Istanbul and Bosphorus. A night club is also located on the upper floor which hosts a Turkish Show. Two elevators are brought in use for carrying visitors from lower level to upper.
15. YEDIKULE FORTRESS.
Yedikule Fortress which means ‘a fortress of seven towers’, is a historic structure located in the Yedikule neighbourhood of Fatih district in Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed in 1458 and was used as a one of the palaces of the Sultan. Each tower of the fortress had its own function from storing precious goods, documents, armoury, coins and gold as well as silver ingots. All of the treasure was later transferred to the treasury in the inner section of the Topkapi Palace in the 16th century and then the fortress was converted into a prison for the prestigious captives. The whole fortress and all the facilities were changed in 1895 to covert it into a museum. An open air theatre has been built recently and is used for cultural uses and to celebrate festivals.