I went into the cafe next to the hotel for breakfast of apple tea only to be given a small plate of chips as well. Then it was off wandering round Istanbul again to the Tomb of Sultan II Mohamed, which was in a pleasant setting with the tombs of many of his family as well. The Firuz Aga Mosque on the main street was impressive as well. These paled into insignificance when I visited the Hagia Sophia Mosque, now a museum. The building is actually the third on the site, the original being built in 440AD, then burnt down and rebuilt as a church in 513AD before being converted to a mosque in 1452 and converted to a museum in 1935. There was a lot of rebuilding work being carried out and it looked as though this would continue for many years. Kaiser Wilhelm's Fountain stood out all by itself and further on were two obelisks, one of rough stone which had been covered with a gold coppered sheath, this being ripped off by soldiers of the 4th Crusade who thought it was solid gold. The other obelisk, the Obelisk of Theodosius, had been removed from the temple of Amon-Ra at Karnak, Egypt.
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Tomb of Sultan II Mohamed Cannot remember which mosque Cannot remember which mosque 
Firuz Aga Mosque Basilica Cistern Basilica Cistern Column Basilica Cistern
Hagia Sophia Museum Pictures
Various mosaics
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| Door |
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| Column head |
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| The museum dome looking towards the Blue Mosque |
The Kaiser Wilhelm's Fountain stood out all by itself and further on were two obelisks, one of rough stone which had been covered with a gold coppered sheath, this being ripped off by soldiers of the 4th Crusade who thought it was solid gold. The other obelisk, the Obelisk of Theodosius, had been removed from the temple of Amon-Ra at Karnak, Egypt.
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| Kaiser Wilhelm's Fountain |
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The Obelisk of Theodosius
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