Golden Rain Hotel is located in thehistoricalpeninsula of Istanbul. The hotel is closetohistoricalsitessuch as the Blue Mosque, 1.6 km away, andthe Grand Bazaar, 650 metersaway.
Golden Rain Hotel is located in theheart of exoticIstanbul. Just a fewminutes' walkaway; Blue Mosque, HagiaSophia, BasilicaCistern, MosaicMuseum, IslamicandTurkishArtsMuseum, ArcheologyMuseum, TopkapiPalace, SpiceBazaar, Grand Bazaar. Thecruiseship terminal andtrainstation of the Orient Express areminutesaway. Thecharmingandelegantboutique hotel is an ideal destinationforthosewhowanttoexperienceoldIstanbul.
Sultanahmet Squareanditssurroundingsareone of themostimportantpoints of Istanbul in terms of attractinglocalandforeigntourists. Thehistorical Sultanahmet Squareanditssurroundingscontainmanymust-seeswithitsmuseums, square, cistern, obelisk andpalace.
1-Sultanahmet Square
Sultanahmet Square, whosehistorygoesbacktoancienttimes, wasused as a hippodromeduringthe Roman andByzantineEmpireperiods. DuringtheOttomanperiod, circumcisionweddings of theprinceswereheld here. Duringtheoccupation of Istanbul in 1920, Halide Edip held her rally in thissquare. Today, thissquare, wheretherearedozens of importantworksandthemeetingpoint of people, is consideredthemostimportantsquare of Istanbul.
2- HagiaSophiaMosque
One of themostimportantstructures in thelist of placestovisit in thehistorical Sultanahmet Square is theHagiaSophiaMosque. Hagia Sofia (HolyWisdom) wasrenamedHagiaSophiaMosqueaftertheconquest of Istanbul. InordertomakeHagiaSophiamoreostentatious, EmperorJustinian had columnsandmarblesbroughtfromSyria, Egypt, Marmara Island, Eğriboz Island and Afyon.
3- Turkish-IslamicArtsMuseum
Therearemanymuseumstovisit in andaroundthehistorical Sultanahmet Square. Inthismuseum, whererareworksbelongingtotheTurkish-Islamicworldarealsoexhibited; Itexhibitstheworks of statessuch as Ottoman, Abbasid, SeljukandMamluk. One of themostimportantworks is thecarpetcollection, whichincludesSeljukCarpetsfromthe 13th century.
4- Ahmet III Fountain
Located in Topkapı Palace, thiswork is one of theTulip Age structures. Thestructure, whichconsists of publicfountainsandfountains, attractstheattention of historylovers. Located in thesquare in thefirstcourtyard, thisfountain is a structurethatattractsartisticattentionwithitsfivedomesandtiledecorations.
5- Haseki Bath
Theworkbuiltby Mimar Sinan, whichwasopenedtoprovideincomeforthefoundation of Hürrem Sultan, thewife of SuleimantheMagnificent, is oppositetheHagiaSophiaMosque. Thebath, whichwasbuilt in the 16th century, has separateroomsfor men andwomen.
6- Blue Mosque
One of themostpreciousstructurestovisit in thehistorical Sultanahmet Square is the Blue Mosque. The Blue Mosque, alsoknown as the Blue Mosque, gotthis name because of thebluecolorprevailing in it. Themosquedrawsattentionwithitsmajesticappearance. Themosque, locatedrightacrosstheHagiaSophiaMosque, is thefirstmosquewith 6 minaretsbuilt in itsperiod. Since Kaabawastheonlytemplewith 6 minarets at that time, anotherminaretwasbuiltsothat it would not be disrespectful, and it had 7 minarets in total.
7- Hagia Irene Museum
Hagia Irene is thelargestchurch in TopkapiPalaceafterHagiaSophiaChurch. The name of thechurchmeansHagiaEirene, "HolyPeace". Thischurch, whichwasbuilt in 330 duringtheByzantineperiod, is one of themostvisitedstructuresbytourists.
8-Theodosius Obelisk
The obelisk, which is thoughttohavebeenbuiltbythePharaohThutmosis III, datingbacktotheperiod of Ancient Egypt (1500 BC), is one of themostbeautifulworks in Sultanahmet Square. Another name forthe obelisk, which is approximately 25-30 metershigh, is Theodosius Obelisk. Two morecolumns, theSerpentColumnandtheKnittedColumn, areexhibitednexttothe obelisk.
9- TopkapiPalace
Topkapı Palace, which has a view of Sultanahmet Square on onesideand Sarayburnu on theother, wasusedboth as a stateadministrationand an educationcenter. Forthisreason, thepalace, wherethechurch, mosqueandmuseumsarelocated, is defined as "citywithinthecity", which is located on a verylargeland, including Gülhane Park.
10- BasilicaCistern
One of theotherspecialstructuresthat can be seen in andaroundthehistorical Sultanahmet Square is theBasilicaCistern. Thecisternconsists of 336 columnsand 2 MedusaStatue. Visitedbymillions of localandforeigntourists, thecisternwasactuallybuilt as a waterstoragearea. TheBasilicaCistern, one of therarestworksfromtheByzantineperiod, wasdesignedtostore 100 thousandtons of water.
11- Gulhane Park
Gülhane Park, wherethe Tanzimat Edictwasread, is nextto Topkapı Palace. Byzantiumused Gülhane Park as a militarywarehouse. IntheOttomanperiod, it became a park wheresportssuch as javelinandwrestlingwereheldandentertainmentswereorganized. Atatürk'sstatuewasfirsterected here in Turkey. At thesame time, Atatürk wasgiventhetitle of "headteacher" in a ceremony in 1928 in Gülhane Park.
12-Istanbul ArcheologyMuseums
One of theimportantmuseumsthat can be visited in andaroundthehistorical Sultanahmet Square is theIstanbulArcheologyMuseums. It is actuallydescribed as a museumcomplexconsisting of 3 museums. Itwasfirstestablished in 1869 as theMuseum-i Hümayun, that is, theImperialMuseum. Tileandceramicsamplesareexhibited in Tiled Kiosk, one of the 3 museums. IntheMuseum of Ancient Oriental Works, orientalworksfromancienttimesareexhibited. TheArcheologyMuseum, which is alsothe name of themuseumcomplex, is a museumwherevariousstatuesandsarcophagiareexhibited in thebuilding, which is one of thefirstmuseumsbuilt as a museum in theworld. Ifyouwanttoexploreotherarcheologymuseums in Turkey, you can reviewourArcheologyMuseums in Turkeycontent.
13-German Fountain
GermanFountain, Emperor Kaiser II. Itappears as a fountainbuiltby William for Sultan Abdülhamit II. It is claimedthatparts of thefountainweremade in Germany andassembled in Istanbul. AlthoughTurkishfountainarchitecture is not used, thisfountainbuilt in neo-classicalByzantinestyle is located in Sultanahmet Square.
14-Great PalaceMosaicsMuseum
Anotherimportantmuseumtovisit in thehistorical Sultanahmet Square is thismuseumwheremosaicsareexhibited. Therearenoreligiousmosaics in thismuseum, whichconsists of mosaics in whichelementssuch as mythology, daily life andnatureareprocessed. Thesemosaics, whichareconsideredto be of a highlevel of art anddescription, werecreatedby M.S. Itwasbuiltbetween 450-550 BC. Themosaicsarecraftedbymastersandvariousartists. Themosaicsmade of terracottaandlimestonehave 150 humanandanimalfigures.
15- SerpentColumn
One of themostdifferentworksthat can be seen in andaroundthehistorical Sultanahmet Square is theSerpentColumn in thesquare. TheSerpentColumn (Burma Column) is broughttoIstanbulfrom Delphi byEmperorConstantine. Thismonument, whichwaserected in Delphi after 31 GreeksitescametogetheranddefeatedthePersians, maintainsitsexistenceuntiltodayafter it wasbroughttoIstanbul in 324.
