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Istanbul, Turkey, is one of the world’s great cities, and the only one to straddle two continents, as it spans the thin Strait of Bosphorus that divides Europe and Asia. The sprawling city, with a population of 11 million, offers a dazzling array of attractions.

The must-see site is the Hagia Sophia. Built as a Byzantine cathedral in the sixth century, the building stood as the world’s largest cathedral for nearly a millennium, and it later became a mosque with the Ottoman conquest in 1453. It combines features associated with the two faiths in a fascinating way, most markedly with the addition of towering minarets to the cathedral. Inside, mosaics of Byzantine icons coexist alongside pious displays of Arabic calligraphy.

Other main attractions in Istanbul include the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace with its breathtaking gardens and famously opulent jewel collection, the bustling streets of the Old City and especially the Grand Bazaar. This teeming marketplace contains more than 4,000 shops where you can find souvenirs from leather goods to gold jewelry. The ancient Roman Hippodrome is today an open-air museum. Another sightseeing trip worth doing is a boat ride across the Bosphorus to see the city’s skyline, spiked with minarets and glorious fairytale palaces.

Language: Turkish     Currency: Turkish lira (TRY)