Explore the metropolis in all its glory with area-by-area commentary on Istanbul's palaces and pavilions, mosques and markets, shops and shrines, waterways and watering holes, plus feature articles on the city past and present by leading historians, journalists and writers.
Photographs by Jürgen Frank
You might also enjoy Cornucopia 4, The Absolute Guide to Istanbul
Who took part?
Andrew Finkel David Barchard Heath W Lowry Robert Ousterhout Owen Matthews Elizabeth Meath Baker Maureen Freely
Sultanahmet: Walking the Golden Mile Introduction by Andrew Finkel
This is the starting point for any visitor, the very heart of two great empires. Andrew Finkel explores a world of beauty and grandeur dusting itself down for a third millennium.
The Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I - known as the Blue Mosque to the rest of the world -was completed in 1616 and shares pride of place with the other monumental dome on the Istanbul skyline, the Byzantine cathedral basilica of Ayasofya. The district in the shadow of these two buildings, separated not by great distance but by over a thousand years of history, is the obvious starting point on most visitors’ agendas.
What t o see: Ayasofya - Hippodrome - Topkapi Palace - Archaeological Museum - Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Mosque - Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art
Where to shop: At the Arasta Bazaar
The Bazaars Silver, safron and melting pots
Istanbul’s bazaars are vast cities in themselves.Cornucopia brings you three of the best: the Grand Bazaar of Mehmet the Conqueror, the aromatic Spice Bazaar and the gritty metalworkers’ market across the Golden Horn
The Grand Bazaar: This labyrinthine landmark is a world of eccentric experts and raffish raconteurs. Elizabeth Meath Baker guides you round. Contributions by Andrew Finkel and Isabel Finkel
The Egyptian Spice Bazaar is a real treat for the senses. Use this handy shopping list to find the essential buys
Persembe Pazari: In Istanbul, a city filled with objects of desire, none of the bazaars comes as close to being a paradise of male shopping as the Persembe Pazari. By Owen Matthews
Once it was the hub of commercial life, its shores lined with bustling quays and the biggest concentration of mosques, churches and synagogues in the city. Now the tide has turned on this famous Bosphorus inlet, and it has become a backwater. Owen Matthews wanders around the Golden Horn’s heady past with John Freely, the man who made strolling through the city a fine art
What to see: Robert Ousterhout et al on Christian and Muslim monuments
Beyoglu is Istanbul’s Latin Quarter. Built by European bankers, diplomats and merchants in the nineteenth century, it has now been recolonised by a new tribe dedicated to urban pleasures. Its imposing embassies and crumbling palazzos make it the ideal setting for the arts, and for a club-and-café scene that never sleeps. Beyoglu’s labyrinthine streets spill down the hill to Çukurcuma, where bargain hunters stalk antiques. At one end of Beyoglu is the medieval Galata Tower; at the other is Taksim Square and the monument to the new Republic which marks the start of modern Istanbul. Beyond is Nisantasi, the super-smart district for fashion, design and expense-account lunches
Beyoglu: Bohemia at its best
As an impressionable child in the Sixties, Maureen Freely encountered a cast of colourful characters who enriched Istanbul’s Left Bank Cornucopia 25
Photograph: Tünel Square, by Jürgen Frank
Cukurcuma
Collectors' corner
Elizabeth Meath Baker introduces a round-up of the best places to forage in Beyoglu’s antiques district
Nisantasi
For seekers of chic
This is unquestionably the smartest part of town, where beautiful people browse for designer clothes - and hungry shoppers can lunch in style
Photograph: Hakan Yildirim, fashion designer, by Jürgen Frank
The Bosphorus
Along the waterfront
The strait that divides Istanbul is a cool antidote to the hustle and bustle of the city. It is also a potent channel of myth and history -and a destructive force as well as a lifeline, says Patricia Daunt
Photograph: The Bosphorus at Istinye, by Jürgen Frank
Fish from the Bosphorus see Cookery below
Palaces of the last sultans
Istanbul boasts no fewer than four of Europe’s finest nineteenth-century palaces. Philip Mansel provides a who’s who of the colourful sultans who commissioned them.
Photograph: Beylerbeyi Palace, by Jürgen Frank
The Princes' Islands
Owen Matthews succumbs to the romance of the Princes' Isles, where cars are banned and you can relax in a genteel nineteenth-century time warp.
Bounty of the Bosphorus Text and photographs by Berrin Torolsan
Surrounded by four seas and generously endowed with rivers and lakes, Turkey has a huge abundance of fish. But for the Istanbullu nothing can compare with the fish of the Bosphorus
Cookery features and recipes in every issue of Cornucopia.
