Istanbul: a virtual tour through books, film, food and music

Crime writer Barbara Nadel explores the ‘vibrant but maddening megacity’ that inspires her books

When I first saw this view of Istanbul, decades ago, it was as if I’d just met the love of my life. From the northern end of the Galata Bridge, looking across the Golden Horn to what is known as the Old City, the view remains breathtaking even on an iron-grey winter’s day.

Rising above the waters of the Golden Horn and the Bosphorus are: to my left, the vast Topkapı Palace complex; before me, the Byzantine wonder that is the Hagia Sophia and the Blue mosque; and to my right, the Kapalıçarşı or Grand Bazaar and the Süleymaniye mosque. This last was created by Turkey’s greatest architect, Mimar Sinan, for its greatest sultan, Suleiman the Magnificent.

Continue reading...

* This article was originally published here