Book Description

This entertaining and informative guide takes you on a journey back to the era of the Grand Tour, when Istanbul was a favourite destination for enterprising travellers. Learn how to gain access to the heavily guarded Topkapı Sarayı and find out the truth behind all those rumours of the charms of the concubines in the sultans harem, and the eunuchs who guard them. Discover how to haggle with the expert salesmen in the bustling bazaars, learn what excitements await you in a Turkish bath and attend the strange rituals of the whirling dervishes. Or watch the sultan, dressed in all his finery, taking to the Bosphorus in his splendid barge. Witty and fact-filled, The Sultans Istanbul on Five Kurush a Day will appeal to travellers, museum-goers and anyone who wonders what it would really have been like to visit the hub of the Ottoman Empire.