A view of the Grand Bazaar.

Visiting one of the Grand Bazaar’s shops.

The group listens to a presentation from a Turkish carpet dealer; note the weaver working on a loom at the bottom right.

Looking at the bishop-saint frescoes in the parecclesion (side chapel) of the Kariye Museum, which is located in the fifth-century Church of the Holy Savior in Chora. Like the Aya Sofya, this church was converted into a mosque during the early 16th century; it became a museum in 1948.

Christ healing a paralytic in Caphernaum, from a series of 14th-century mosaics in the Kariye Museum that depict the miracles of Jesus.

A view across the Bosphorus. (You can also see a 360° panorama of the Bosphorus from another location here.)

The Yedikule Hisarı (Fortress of the Seven Towers), a 15th-century Ottoman fortress built by Mehmet the Conqueror over the Golden Gate, an older city entrance dating back to the reign of the 5th-century Byzantine Emperors Theodosius I and Theodosius II.

Another view of the Yedikule Hisarı from the top of one of the towers. Construction work on a new park near the Yedikule Gardens has led to a dispute between the municipality and a group of local historians, who are worried that historically important archeological remains at the UNESCO-protected site are being endangered by the project.

Though never actually used as a fortress, Yedikule Hisarı did serve as a both a treasury and a prison. (For 360° panoramas of one of the Yedikule dungeon towers and the surrounding area, visit this link.)

A member of the Honors group stops to sketch at Yedikule Hisarı.

Looking up at the Süleymaniye Camii (Suleyman Mosque), part of an enormous complex of buildings that includes madrasas (schools), royal tombs, residential buildings and a hospital, all built by Sinan under the patronage of Suleiman the Magnificent starting in 1550. (There’s a virtual walking tour of the complex here.)

A view of some of the architectural details and mosaic decorations inside the Süleymaniye Camii.

Another view inside the Süleymaniye Camii.

The Honors group listens to a presentation about the mosque’s history and architecture.

Stopping for a meal at the Daruzziyafe Turkish Cuisine Restaurant, located in an old Ottoman dining hall located in the Suleymaniye complex. The restaurant’s menu features modern adaptations of recipes dating back over 400 years. VCS alumna Shannon Broder is visible just to the left of center in this image (she’s the one wearing the long white patterned scarf).

A group portrait taken in the courtyard of Topkapi Palace, a royal residence and administrative center that housed the Ottoman sultans for nearly 400 years.

The chambers of Topkapi Palace are filled with intricate mosaics, and many of them also have beautiful stained glass windows like these. You can find a virtual tour of the interior here.

VCS student George Rue in the Buyuk Londra Hotel lobby.

Another shot from the Buyuk Londra lobby, showing VCS class of 2013 students Ilana Kruger (left) and Amelia Modlin (right), and VCS Chair Assistant Bret Schneider (center).

A farewell dinner on the last night in Istanbul. VCS Systems Administrator Justin Elm (who uploaded all of these photos to Flickr) is in the lower left corner, and Shannon and Bret are in the lower right.