­­­With the blue waters of the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara as glittering foreground to its domes and minarets, Istanbul is one of the most spectacular capital cities in the world. With access to the Mediterranean, Africa and the Black Sea, the city has served in turn as capital for Roman emperors, Byzantine rulers and Ottoman sultans.

On 23 July 306 AD Constantine proclaimed himself Emperor; uniting the divided Roman Empire under the banner of Christianity, he controlled much of the civilised world by rebuilding Greek Byzantium as his capital, Constantinople. Two hundred years later the great Emperor Justinian commissioned Hagia Sophia, largest cathedral in the world until the 16c. Its dome, now unscaffolded for the first time in sixteen years, is the epitome of Byzantine architecture. Symbolising the vault of heaven, the ‘circle of eternity,’ oneness and continuity, it served to transport worshippers to another world.

After a 53-day siege, Sultan Mehmed II “the Conqueror” captured Christian Constantinople on 29 May 1453. Proclaiming the city as the new capital of the Ottoman Empire, he wisely invited fleeing Orthodox, Catholic and Jewish inhabitants to return. A unique multicultural and cosmopolitan society was created. Christian emphasis on human narrative was seamlessly replaced by Islamic emphasis on planes of architecture and flat decoration, with minarets energetically punctuating the skyline and interiors glittering with mosaics.

Inscape celebrates the first 1300 years of a city with a political, military, naval, religious, economic, cultural and gastronomic history unlike any other in the world. This year, as 2010 European Capital of Culture, Istanbul will proudly display its vast cultural legacy.

Day 1

Flight to Istanbul, transfer from Ataturk Airport, Hippodrome Square

Day 2

Hagia Sophia, Archaeological Museum, Bayezid II Mosque, Grand Bazaar

Day 3

Little St Sophia, The Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Mosque, Museum of Turkish & Islamic Art, Topkapi Palace

Day 4

Chora Treasures Museum, Suleymaniye Mosque, Bosphorus Cruise, Sadberk Hanim Museum, Rumelian Castle

Day 5

Kalenderhane Mosque, Private visit of St Irene Church, departure