İş Sanat is a cultural center run by İşbank (Türkiye İs Bankası), the largest bank in Turkey. It’s located at the headquarters of the bank in the Levent neighborhood of the Beşiktaş district. There are art galleries and a performance hall. It’s an excellent venue for watching concerts, dance performances, and other cultural events.
Far to the west in Istanbul’s nether regions lies the district of Büyükçekmece. It sits on a large (and unfortunately polluted) lake, spanned by a historic Ottoman bridge built by Mimar Sinan (c. 1490 – 1588).
Çamlıca Hill (Büyük Çamlıca Tepesi) is a place on the Asian side of Istanbul with phenomenal views of the city and the Bosporus. The Turkish name literally translates to Big Pine Tree Hill.
Küçükçekmece is a district in Istanbul west of Atatürk International Airport that isn’t worth your time visiting. I’ll write about it anyway, but I won’t have much to say. When I visited with Isaac, we were in and out in 30 minutes.
Perhaps the reason the island of Heybeliada is internationally known is the controversy surrounding Halki Seminary (Θεολογική Σχολή Χάλκης), which sits on a hill just above town. It’s the main school of theology for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople.
The second biggest of the Princes’ Islands in Istanbul is Heybeliada (Saddlebag Island), also known by its Greek name, Halki (Χάλκη). It makes for a nice, relaxing day trip from the bustling and chaotic mainland.
It was a dizzying climb up the massive rock in the middle of the city of Afyon to Afyon Castle (Afyon Kalesi). It wasn’t easy, especially in the freezing cold.
From the modern center of Afyon, I walked to the historic part of the city. The old town has some of the most beautiful Ottoman homes in Turkey.
Afyon has a few points of interest in the city center. I started exploring there before checking out some more important sites.