Istanbul — Finishing Our Bosporus/Golden Horn Cruise and Exploring the Galata Bridge Area

Today I’m still covering our 21 April 2024 tour upon the Bosporus Strait and into the Golden Horn. But this time I’m showing the trip back toward the Galata Bridge as our tour boat reversed course, traded sides of the strait, and headed southwest. Toward the end of today’s article I’ll show you the area around the south end of the Galata Bridge, which Ursula and I visited after disembarking from the tour boat.

You may recall from Monday that we sailed past the Ortaköy Mosque, built around 1855. What you didn’t see is this angle of the mosque taken from the opposite side:

Next up, behold the Dolmabahçe Palace (below). This massive palace was completed in 1856, and twice served as the administrative center of the Ottoman Empire (1856-1887; 1902-1922).

Meanwhile, almost directly across from the Dolmabahçe Palace, on the Asian side of the Bosporus, lies the Yeni Valide Mosque (completed 1710):

And almost next door to the Yeni Valide Mosque is another much smaller one, the Şemsi Pasha Mosque completed in 1581:

Just southwest of the Şemsi Pasha Mosque is where the Golden Horn estuary branches off from the Bosporus Strait. You’ll know when you get there, because here you reach the Maiden’s Tower (Kız Kulesi). The small island upon which the tower sits has served many purposes over the centuries. It has been a customs station, a quarantine station, a garrison barracks; and the structures that have towered over it have served as lookout. The current 1725 structure served as a lighthouse.

Time to turn into the Golde Horn, where the most prominent feature is the eleven-story, 13th century Galata Tower.

But before we make that turn into the Golden Horn, let’s take another look to the north where we’ll find the Dolmabahçe Mosque (1855). The Dolmabahçe Mosque is located just southwest of the previously mentioned (and viewed) Dolmabahçe Palace:

Now our boat passes beneath the Galata Bridge, where if you look to the south you will see the New Mosque (formerly the Valide Sultan Mosque). But don’t let the “New” moniker fool you. This impressive structure dominating the skyline south of the Galata Bridge was begun in 1597 and not completed until 1665.

Here is another view of the Galata Tower and surrounding neighborhood, but this time taken from the Golden Horn side of the Galata Bridge:

I believe this next photograph depicts the Fatih Mosque:

Once you disembark in the shadows of the Galata Bridge, here’s what you’ll see immediately west of the bridge:

Слава Україні! (Slava Ukraini!)