Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City

by Hilary Sumner-Boyd, John Freely

Overview

'The best travel guide to Istanbul' - The Times

Practical and informative, readable and vividly described, this is the definitive guide to and story of Istanbul, by those who know it best.

This is the 2009 revised and updated edition of the classic guide to Istanbul, originally published thirty-seven years previously, which continues to inform and enchant visitors.

Taking the reader on foot through this captivating city - European City of Culture 2010 - the authors describe the historic monuments and sites of what was once Constantinople and the capital in turn of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, in the context of the great living city.

Woven throughout are vivid anecdotes, secret histories, hidden gems and every major place of interest the traveller will want to see.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781838600020
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	06/18/2019
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	512
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Hilary Sumner-Boyd was professor of humanities at Robert College, Bosphorus University.

John Freely (1926-2017) was born in New York and joined the US Navy at the age of seventeen, serving with a commando unit in Burma and China during the last years of World War II. He has lived in New York, Boston, London, Athens and Istanbul and has written over thirty travel books and guides, most of them about Greece and Turkey.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Plans

List of Plates

Notes on Turkish Words and Spelling

Turkish Spelling

Acknowledgements

Preface to the Revised Edition

Preface to the First Edition

1. The View from the Bridge

2. From the Galata Bridge to Haghia Sophia

3. Haghia Sophia

4. Topkapi Sarayi

5. Through the Outer Gardens of the Saray

6. Around the Blue Mosque

7. From Haghia Sophia to Beyazit Square

8. Through the Markets and Bazaars

9. Around Beyazit and Sehzadebasi

10. The Süleymaniye

11. From the Galata Bridge to Sehzadebasi

12. Around the Mosque of the Conqueror

13. The Fifth and Sixth Hills

14. Kariye Camii

15. Along the Golden Horn

16. The Seventh Hill

17. Along the Land Walls

18. Up the Golden Horn to Eyüp

19. Üsküdar and the Princes' Islands

20. Pera and Galata

21. The Lower Bosphorus' European Shore

22. The Bosphorus

23. A Last Stroll

Appendices

Byzantine Emperors

Ottoman Sultans

Notes on Byzantine Architectural Forms

Glossary of Turkish Architectural Terms

Sinan's Extant Works in Istanbul

Indexes

Editorial Reviews

The best travel guide to Istanbul” —The Times

“A guide book that reads like a novel” —The New York Times

From the Publisher

"As a guide to the city, John was peerless; it is doubtful whether any westerner in the late 20th century had a better understanding of it than he.
... What makes Strolling Through Istanbul so unusual is its combination of erudition and first-hand observation."

Derek Johns