My Istanbul

The places I return to.

There are places I visit with almost every guest, and places I recommend only when the moment is right. This is my own map of the city.

History

For a thousand years the largest cathedral in the world, then a mosque, then a museum, and a mosque again today.

“I go early, before ten, when the light comes through the dome and you can still hear your own steps.”

Three hundred and thirty-six columns under the street, holding the water of a city that could be besieged.

“I bring people here when they have had enough sun. It is fifteen degrees inside and nobody hurries.”

The mosque Sinan built at his height, on the one hill from which you see the whole city.

“The courtyard has the best view of the Golden Horn and almost nobody walks up to it.”

An L of vaults beside the harbour, built to pay for the mosque next door.

“This is where I buy what I take home. The streets around it are better than the market itself.”

The tower of a foreign colony that ended up inside the city surrounding it.

“The view is better late in the afternoon, but the climb is worth more for the neighbourhood than the tower.”