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Full DayDeparture:
07:00 am
REQUEST TO BOOK Explore the city of Edirne with an informative guide on a full-day tour from Istanbul. Founded by the Roman Emperor Hadrian in 125 AD and the second capital of the Ottoman Empire, Edirne is an important gateway between Europe and the East. See landmarks including Eski Cami (Old Mosque), Uc Serefeli Cami with its four distinctive minarets and Sinan's masterpiece Selimiye Mosque. Browse the shops at Selimiye Arastasi or Ali Pasa Covered Bazaar, and check out the Medical Museum at Beyazit Kulliyesi.
Your tour includes lunch, and hotel pickup and drop-off in Istanbul.
Edirne Tour Highlights
Full-day tour to Edirne from Istanbul
Learn about the long history of Edirne from your knowledgeable guide
Visit important mosques such as Eski Cami, Uc Serefeli Cami and Selimiye Mosque
Go shopping at the Selimiye Arastasi or Ali Pasa Covered Bazaar
See Beyazit Kulliyesi and hear about its past as an innovative hospital Includes lunch, and pickup and drop-off at Istanbul hotels
Full description of Edirne Tour
You will depart from your hotel in the early morning, at which point you will make your way towards Eski Camii. The structure was built of cut stone and brick between 1402-14, with fine white marble and decorative calligraphy on the interior walls and pillars. Uc Serefeli Camii, the name of the mosque, was derived from the three balconies on the southeast minaret. Each balcony is reached by a separate stairway, and the decorative tile designs on the minarets are all different. The minarets were the most important development in the structure of the mosque in the 15th century.
Selimiye Mosque Edirne's crowning glory was built for Selim II, (1566-74) by Sinan who was the architect of the Abode of Felicity for 50 years. It was the masterpiece of Sinan's old age, and its symmetrical design was strongly emphasized by the four minarets and the soaring rise of the central dome. Semiz Ali Pasa Arasta is also the work of Sinan. Completed in 1589, it is a long tunnel-like building with shops on both sides. There you may buy one of Edirne's specialities, soap shaped like fruit or vegetables.
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Meric Bridge (New Bridge) was constructed at the junction of the Meric and Arda rivers between 1842-1847. Kule Kapisi (a 12th-century tower gate) is all that remains of the tower, which once protected the principal gate of the citadel. It was rebuilt by the Byzantine emperor John Comnenus II (1118-1143) as part of his repair of the Hadrianic defensive system. Beyazit Kulliyesi is the largest in Edirne, the complex had a mosque and a hospital which was famous for the skill of its surgeons. In the octagonal domed timarhane, the insane were treated with musical therapy. At the conclusion of your historic tour, you will be returned back to your point of origin.
