The Maiden’s Tower is located 150-200 meters off the shore of the Salacak district in Üsküdar. Although it is not definite as to when the Maiden’s Tower was built, the tower’s architectural style is said by some sources to be from around 340 BCE.
Previous names of the Maiden’s Tower were Damalis and Leandros. Damalis is the name of the wife of the king of Athens,Kharis. When Damalis died, she was buried on the shore, and the name Damalis was given to the Tower. It was also known during Byzantine times as “arcla” which means “a little castle.”
After the conquest of Istanbul by the Ottoman Turks, the tower was pulled down and a wooden tower was constructed in its place. The wooden tower was destroyed by a fire in 1719. It was rebuilt from stone once again by the head architect of the city, Nevşehirli Damat İbrahim Paşa. The cone-capped part of the tower was taken away and a kiosk fitted with glass replaced it. A lead-covered dome was later added to the kiosk. Rakım Efendi, a famous calligrapher, added an inscription with Sultan Mahmut II’s  signature on marble and placed it above tower’s door. A lantern was added to the tower in 1857, and in 1920, the tower’s light was a converted into an automatic lighting system.

Also known as the First Bosphorus Bridge, the Bosphorus Bridge is just one of the 2 bridges inIstanbul, Turkey. It spans the Bosphorus Strait and bridges the gap between Asia and Europe.The other bridge across the Bosphorus Straight is the Second Bosphorus Bridge, more formallyknown as the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge. The European end of the bridge is located in Ortaköy and the Asian end is in Beylerbeyi.The distance between the bridges two main spans is over a thousand meters and the height of each tower over the road over a hundred meters. The bridge’s clearance from sea level is 64 meters.The distance between the bridges two main spans is over a thousand meters and the height of each tower over the road over a hundred meters. The bridge’s clearance from sea level is 64 meters.Since the Bosphorus Bridge is a bridge that collects a toll, a thirteen booth toll plaza is located on the Asian side close to the bridge. A passing from the European side to the Asian side has a toll but not the other way around.Since the Bosphorus Bridge is a bridge that collects a toll, a thirteen booth toll plaza is located on the Asian side close to the bridge. A passing from the European side to the Asian side has a toll but not the other way around.A suspension bridge which employs steel pylons and sloaping hangers, the Bosphorus Bridge has a deck which is aerodynamic and hangs on zigzag cables of steel. It is over one thousand five hundred meters long and its deck has a width of almost forty meters. When it was first finished in 1973, the Bosphorus Bridge ranked as the world’s fourth longest suspension bridge, and outside the United States, it was the longest. Today, it is the world’s sixteenth longest suspension bridge.

The Haydarpaşa Terminal or Haydarpaşa Terminus is a major intercity terminal and transportation hub in Kadıköy, İstanbul. It is the busiest rail terminal in Turkey and one of the busiest in Eastern Europe. The terminal also has connections to bus and ferry services. The Moda Tramway is a few blocks south of the terminal. The terminal has a main building (opened in 1908) that houses the headquarters of District 1.

Haydarpaşa Terminal is the western terminus of the Istanbul-Ankara Main Line and was the western terminus of the former Baghdad Railway (İstanbul-Konya-Adana-Aleppo-Baghdad) and the Hejaz Railway (İstanbul-Konya-Adana-Aleppo-Damascus-Amman-Medina).The tracks do not cross the Bosphorus, but there is a train ferry which carries rail cars from the Haydarpaşa Terminal on the Asian side to the Sirkeci Terminal on the European side.

Preparation for the conquest of Istanbul started only one year ahead. Huge canons that were necessary for the siege were molded. In 1452, Rumeli Castle on the European side was constructed to control the Bosphorus. A mighty fleet of 16 galleys was formed. The number of soldiers were doubled. The supply routes to Byzantine were taken under control. An agreement was made with Genoese to keep Galata impartial during the war. In April 1453, the first Ottoman frontier forces were seen in front of Istanbul. The siege was starting. The important points of the conquest are chronologically listed below:

Chronology
6 April 1453
Sultan Mehmed pitched his imperial tent by the door of St. Romanus in Topkapi. The same day the city was besieged from the Golden Horn to the Marmara Sea from the land.

6-7 April 1453
First cannons fired. Some of the fortresses in Edirnekapi were destroyed.

9 April 1453
Baltaoglu Suleyman Bey launched the first attack to enter the Golden Horn gulf.

9-10 April 1453
Some of the fortresses on Bosphorus were taken. Baltaoglu Süleyman Bey seized the Marmara Islands.

11 April 1453
The big fortresses were bombarded by cannon fires. Holes and cracks were opened here and there. Serious destruction inflicted by ceaseless bombardment.

12 April 1453
The Ottoman fleet attacked the ships protecting the Golden Horn. The victory of the Christian ships decreased the morale of the Ottoman army. At the order of Sultan Mehmed, the Byzantine ships were pounded by mortar fire, and one galley was sunk.

18 April 1453, Night
The Sultan gave his first crucial order. The attack lasted four hours but it was scattered.

20 April 1453
A naval skirmish took place close to Yenikapi between the Ottoman fleet and four Byzantine warships with three supply ships full of food and weapons sent by the Papacy. The Sultan came to the shore himself and ordered Baltaoglu Süleyman Pasha to sink those ships by any means possible. The Ottoman fleet could not stop enemy’s ships which were bigger. With this failure the Ottoman army lost its morale and showed the signs of defeat. Ottoman soldiers started defecting from the army. Soon, the Byzantine Emperor wanted to take advantage of this situation and offered peace.

The offer, supported by famous Vizier Candarli Halil Pasha, was rejected by Sultan Mehmed. The siege and bombardment of the fortresses with cannons continued.

During this chaos and widespread feeling of defeat, a letter from the Sultan’s spiritual teacher Aksemseddin promised good news about the conquest. Encouraged by this spiritual support, Fatih Sultan Mehmed, escalated the attack, and decided to add an element of surprise: the Ottoman fleet anchored in Dolmabahce would be moved to the Golden Horn gulf by land.

22 April 1453
In early hours of the morning, Byzantine Christians were dumbfounded and horrified when they saw Ottoman galleys moving down on the hills ol the bay. Seventy ships carried by cows and balanced by hundreds of soldiers via ropes were slid over slipways. By afternoon the ships were inside the well protected bay.

The surprise appearance of the Ottoman fleet in the bay created panic among Byzantine residents of IStanbul. The fortresses on the shore of Golden Horn became a vulnerable spot and some of the Byzantine forces were moved there. This weakened the defense of the land fortresses.

28 April 1453
The attempt to burn the Ottoman ships in the bay was prevented by heavy cannon fire. A bridge was constructed between Ayvansaray and Sutluce to attack the fortresses located on the shore of the bay.

An offer of unconditional surrender was delivered to the Emperor through the Genoese. If he surrendered he could have gone wherever he wanted and the life and property of his people would have been spared. The Emperor rejected this offer.

7 May 1453
A three hour long attack was launched on the stream of Bayrampasa with a 30,000 strong force; but it was failed.

12 May 1453
A thunderous attack made towards the point between Tekfursaray and Edirnekapi was defeated by the Byzantine defence.

16 May 1453
When the underground tunnel dug in the direction of Egrikapi intersected the Byzantinian underground tunnel, an underground skirmish erupted.

The same day, an attempt to cut the sturdy chain blocking the entrance of the bay failed. The following day the attack was repeated, but again ended with failure.

18 May 1453
Ottoman forces launched another attack from the direction of Topkapi by using a wooden mobile tower. The Byzantine burned the tower at night and emptied the trenches that were filled by Ottomans.

Over the following days, bombarding of the land fortresses was continued.

25 May 1453
Fatih Sultan Mehmed, sent Isfendiyar Beyoglu Ismail Bey as an ambassador offering him to surrender for the last time. According to this offer, the Emperor and his followers could take their wealth and go anywhere they wished. The people who decided to stay could keep their belongings and estates. This offer too was rejected.

26 May 1453
According to rumors European countries and especially Hungarians were planning to mobilize their troops to help the Byzantines unless the siege was ended. Upon hearing these rumors Sultan Mehmed gathered his war council. In the meeting Candarli Halil Pasha and his party defended their previous position, that is, of putting an end to the siege. Sultan Mehmed with his tutor Zaganos Pasha, his teachers Aksemseddin, Molla Gurani and Molla Hüsrev opposed the idea of quitting.

They decided to continue the war and Zaganos Pasha was commissioned for preparations.

27 May 1453
The general attack was announced to the Ottoman army.

28 May 1453
The army spent the day by resting and preparing for the next day’s attack. There was a complete silence among soldiers. Sultan Mehmed inspected the army and encouraged them for the great attack.

On the other side, a religious ceremony was held in Hagia Sophia Church. The Emperor urged people to participate in the defense. This would be the last Byzantine ceremony.

29 May 1453
Platoons positioned for the assault. Sultan Mehmed gave the order to attack at midnight. Inside Istanbul, while the soldiers positioned for war, people filled the churches.

The Ottoman army launched its final assault accompanied by commemoration of God and beats of drums. The first assault was performed by infantry and it was followed by Anatolian soldiers. When 300 Anatolian soldiers were martyred, the Janissaries started their attack. With the presence of Sultan Mehmed, the Ottoman army was motivated and chest to chest fights started. Meanwhile the young soldier called Ulubatli Hasan who first erected the Ottoman flag on Byzantine land fortresses was martyred. Upon the entrance of the Janissaries from Belgradkapi and the surrender of the last defenders in Edimekapi front, the Byzantine defense collapsed.

Abandoned by his soldiers, the Emperor was killed during street skirmishes.

Turkish forces entered from every direction and crushed the Byzantine defense completely. Towards noon Sultan Mehmed entered the city. He went directly to Haghia Sophia Church and ordered to convert it into a mosque.

Consequences of the Conquest
The conquest of Istanbul has had such a historical impact on the Turkish and Muslim world to the degree that some historians demarcate the end of the Middle Ages with the city’s conquest. With the siege of Istanbul, the Ottomans proceeded to establish hegemony over numerous independent Turkish states (Beylik) within Anatolia (Asia Minor). The result of imperial conquest was to unify the Turkish populations in Anatolia. In turn, other non-Turkish, Muslim communities and principalities were brought together under the aegis of Ottoman leadership so that the Ottoman Beylik would eventually expand into an Empire.

After the conquest, Ottoman Muslims were to take dynamic roles in shaping international politics. Up until that point European Christendom had, for three centuries, striven to evict Muslims from Asia Minor, with Istanbul functioning as a border station for the Crusaders. After the conquest, however, the sovereignty of Asia Minor Muslims was assured, and they were no longer threatened by the Crusaders. Indeed Muslims would eventually begin European campaigns, so that the conquest of Istanbul became a historic turning point vis-ı-vis proving superiority over Europe.

A second critical component in Istanbul’s significance to world events and history is its relationship to the Renaissance. After its conquest, many Byzantine artists and philosophers emigrated to European centers, mostly Rome, taking with them valuable manuscripts regarding advanced intellectual developments. These intelligentsia were instrumental in the movement to revive and revise classical Greek culture. The clash and reunification of the two divergent schools sparked the ideological revolution known as the European Renaissance, and Byzantine intellectuals from Istanbul were pivotal agents in catalyzing the movement.

The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works and Arts, which contains a meaningful collection of Turkish/Islamic Works, welcomes its visitors in the historical Ibrahim Paşa Palace located in Sultanahmed Square after having moved there on May  22nd, 1983. At first, it was established as the Evkaf-ı İslamiye Museum (The Islamic Foundations Museum) in the Daruzziyafe (a soup kitchen during the 16th century) within the Suleymaniye Mosque Complex in 1914. After the proclamation of the Republic in 1923, it took the name “Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works and Arts”.

The rich carpet collection of the museum is unprecedented  showcased together with other rare items from around the world. Its collection of roughly 15,000 manuscripts (spanning through the 8th-19th centuries) introduce its visitors to a historical adventure of the development of a basic civilization. The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works and Arts is a cultural place showing how to masterfully bring together the core culture of a nation with a great civilization. After having been honoured with Islam, Turks played a leading role in the development of the Muslim civilization, its cultural richness, and social life. The museum provides an ethnographically rich detail for its visitors with its objects made of stone, ceramic, wooden and metal as well as black tents and yurts which were the essential components of the nomadic Turks’ daily lives.
         
The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works and Arts has a collection consisting of authentic items reflecting the lifestyle and culture of the Turkish people. The museum consists of seven sections: the Section of Wooden Works, the Section of Ceramics and Glass, the Metal Art Section, the Ethnography Section, the Stone Art Section, the Carpet Section, and the Hand Writing and Calligraphy Section. 
         
The Anatolian woodworks belong to the 9th and 10th centuries as do the works during the Anatolian Seljuk and Beylik period. The woodworks of tortoiseshells inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl belong to the Ottoman period and are under exhibit in the Section of Wooden Works. 
         
In the Section of Ceramics and Glass, visiters can see examples of 10th century Islamic glass art samples, ceramic works discovered during excavation works between the years of 1908 and 1914, mihrab and wall encaustic tile samples, and plaster ornaments of the Konya Kılıçaslan Palace.
         
In the Metal Art Section, visitors are able to view the door knockers from the Cizre Ulu Mosque, constellation and planet symbols, spouted ewer, and dirhems constitute.

Ethnographic pieces, which have been collected over a long period of time are on exhibit in the Etnography Section. Among the works exhibited in this section are nomadic society’s daily life tools and equipment, costumes, kilim looms, and materials giving information about the art of carpet weaving. In the other sections of the museum, there are also many qualified works of art, science, art, and culture that shed light on Turkish-Islamic culture which have managed to become inseparable parts of the visual composition of the culture.
        
Of the museums of Istanbul, this one holds a great interest to the domestic and foreign tourists, researchers, students, and art-lovers who it welcomes. Within the walls of the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Works and Arts lies a treasure of culture which was sophisticatedly developed in the past and which has been carried into future. 

 The Sultan Ahmed Mosque is an historical mosque in Istanbul. The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

 It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Ahmed I. Like many other mosques, it also comprises a tomb of the founder, a madrasahand a hospice. While still used as a mosque, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque has also become a popular tourist attraction.

Architect: Sedefkâr Mehmed Ağa
Architectural Style: Islamic, Late Classical Ottoman
Capacity: 10,000
Length: 72 m
Width: 64 m
Dome height (outer): 43 m
Dome dia. (inner): 23,5 m
Minaret(s): 6
Minaret height: 64 m