Cruise across the Mediterranean - Athens to Malaga, via Valletta

RooFlyer · 2026-11-06T04:15:53+1100

Next stop is Şehzade Mosque Of course there are thousands of mosques in Istanbul, and the grandest are not on my itinerary this time. And, to be honest, the mosques here can get a bit ho-hum, being much the same basic plan. But I'm visiting a few and this one is very nice.

Sinan, the greatest Ottoman architect, built this mosque between 1543 and 1548 for Süleyman the Magnificent, in memory of his son Prince Mehmed, who died young. Sinan later called it his "apprentice work". Its symmetrical design, with a central dome supported by four half-domes, was an experiment at the time that he refined in later great works.

Tomb of the Prince, and others.

Inside. The first pic gives some perspective = the great dome at the top.

Somewhat skewed

Continuing my walk takes me past many wrecked buildings, many almost wrecked but habitable and a few old gems like this

I might say here that today, and tomorrow, I saw very few western-looking tourists. I walked a lot of grotty neighbourhoods (never felt unsafe) but even in the places like the next one, it was mostly locals.

'Vefa bozacisi'. (Vefa district) Since 1876 and said to have been a favourite of Ataturk. Wiki:

Boza is a fermented beverage originating from Central Asia. It is one of the oldest Turkic beverages . It is made in Turkey, Albania, Bulgaria, North Macedonia, the Volga region, the Caucasus, and North Africa. It is a malt drink made by fermenting various grains: millet, wheat (or bulgur) and maize (corn) in Turkey. It has a thick consistency, a low alcohol content (around 1%), and a slightly acidic sweet flavor.

Cinnamon on top and roasted chickpeas. You can see it has a very thick consistency, and is served at room temperature. It was OK, but won't become a favourite of mine.

My host:

ellen10 · 2026-11-06T08:01:51+1100

There doesn't seem to be many people out and around @RooFlyer

Pushka · 2026-11-06T10:51:23+1100

Are you going down into the Cisterns?

RooFlyer · 2026-11-06T15:23:27+1100

ellen10 said:
There doesn't seem to be many people out and around @RooFlyer

For the most part, these are just regular neighbourhoods. They’re not tourist areas at all.

But I do use the iPhone ‘clean-up’ function to eliminate some unwanted intruders in particular shots

Pushka said:
Are you going down into the Cisterns?

I’ve been to the Basilica cistern before. Yesterday I went to another large one, which is actually near the hotel, and I’ll mention that in a future post.

Happy Dude · 2026-11-06T16:30:18+1100

Hi @RooFlyer what's the plan for Algiers? Are you able to wonder about yourself?

RooFlyer · 2026-11-06T16:49:14+1100

Happy Dude said:
Hi @RooFlyer what's the plan for Algiers? Are you able to wonder about yourself?

A cruise tour at each location. No, you can't go off by yourself - its a 'cruise visa' which means you have to be part of the cruise group at all times.

Next, Claude led me further south-east of the Movenpick and initially through some particularly grotty neighbourhoods. Looking back; that's the Fatih mosque in the background which I'll get to later.

Vefa Mosque.
This was a Byzantine church from around the fourteenth century. Its walls alternate bands of brick and stone, giving it a striped look typical of the late empire. After 1453 it became a mosque, associated with Molla Gürani, a tutor of Mehmed II. The surrounding Vefa neighbourhood is old Istanbul at its most local, with wooden houses and small shops - and pretty run down. This was a disappointment - interesting for the Byzantine church to mosque history, but not able to be entered and surrounded by junk.

That said, at this point I was directly 'under' the grand Suleymaniye Mosque and the university, both of which I visit later.

Proceeding up the hill, there is some urban renewal in an area more up-market than behind me, towards the hotel.

Kalenderhane Mosque
Another small mosque, tucked away such that you'd never see it, let alone visit it without being led there. This building is believed to have been a Byzantine church dedicated to the Theotokos Kyriotissa in the twelfth century, built over an earlier Roman bath. Excavations in the 1960s revealed thirteenth-century frescoes of the life of St Francis of Assisi, which date from the Latin occupation after 1204 and are among the earliest depictions of Francis in the eastern Mediterranean. The Kalenderi dervish order later used the building, giving iit its name.