Mick is a keen historian, and particularly loves Roman history, but neither of us studied Ancient History.

A fellow traveller who is staying at the same hotel told us that we should visit the Archaeological Museum which is only a short walk away. He thought it was amazing.

When I read about it online before we headed out, it turned out to be three museums: the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of the Ancient Orient and the Museum of Islamic Art. And together, these museums “house over one million objects from nearly all periods and civilizations in world history.”

I must admit, I was not too keen to visit three museums. But we thought we must try.

We did get a little lost on our walk there, taking a very pleasant detour through Gulhane Park.

Then we spotted this perfect shot – check out the cat on the letter “L”.

Once we found the entrance, we both were relieved to find that only the Archaeological Museum was open – as the other two are undergoing massive restorations. The tickets cost us $25AUD each.

We had no idea there would be so much to see here.

All items on display here were dated using the BCE* dating system.

*The BCE/CE dating system was first used in the 17th century and has been used since in scholarly publications read by people of all faiths and cultures in an effort to be inclusive. This system is also more accurate in that it makes no claim to date the year of Christ’s birth which no one knows.

Signage explained that in ancient times, it was believed that after death man would continue to live in an afterworld – hence burial places were shaped like homes, even with rooves. They were covered in many beautiful carvings.

Most of these sarcophagi were excavated in then late 19th Century from Sidon – the ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Lebanon. Sidon is one of the oldest Phoenician cities, dating back to the third millennium BCE.

These sarcophagi were found in two underground chambers (known as hypogea). Each of the hypogeum had multiple chambers, linked by hallways, and it was quite an engineering feat to remove them from deep underground (using a system of tracks and pulleys) before having them transported to Istanbul.

We eventually arrived at the section that featured Roman history. The display explained that Roman Emperors put a lot of effort into strengthening Roman sovereignty by investing in public works such as roads, ports, bridges, water channels etc. Emperor Hadrian visited Anatolia where monuments and statues were erected in his honour.

Hadrian was the first emperor to be portrayed with a beard, partly because there was a shift from the idealism of Greek sculpture to that of works which depicted real life. New tools were available that allowed more detail to be added to the sculptures.

During the afternoon I explored the areas around our hotel a little further, trying to work out where Mick and I would have dinner tonight before the show I had booked for us. I was also keen to work out how we got from the tram station to the show. During my walk, I was approached by a number of very nice men who wanted me to come and have a look at their shop or to come in and have a meal in their restaurant. They are always very polite but it does become overwhelming. I did however come up with an idea. I put my phone to my ear and just pretended to be having an interesting conversation with someone on the other end. It worked!

We ended up at a restaurant near Sultanahmet Station before catching the tram to Sirkesi to watch the whirling dervish show at Hodjapsah Cultural Centre.

I borrowed these two images from the website as they are better than any I was able to take, despite sitting almost next to these energetic and talented people, we were in the very front row.

It was a wonderful experience – Mick I think enjoyed the belly-dancer the most.

Mick and I are starting to be recognised in our little part of the Old City, as we got off the tram following the show to walk back to our hotel, we had three different men, from different establishments, ask us how our evening was. Another great day!