Duration: 8 hours, Except Mondays Highlights: Istanbul Modern Museum Karakoy Galata Tower Istiklal Street Pera Museum Istanbul Modern seeks to integrate the experience of Turkey’s artistic past, the dynamism of its present, and the cultivation of its cultural future. Istanbul Modern, the first private museum devoted to modern and contemporary art in Turkey, was founded in 2004 in order to promote wider enjoyment and understanding of modern art among the public. Located beside the Bosporus, the strait separating Europe from Asia, the museum brings together the Istanbul cityscape with the production of arts ranging from painting, sculpture, and photography to video and new media. The museum aims to collect, preserve, and exhibit modern and contemporary art and to provide a venue fostering the integration of the visual arts with the rich cultural spectrum of Turkey. Visit Galata Tower and see the most beautiful view of Istanbul. It took its present shape during the Genoese period. The Tower was heavily damaged during an earthquake in 1509, and it was renewed by the architect, Hayrettin, who was very famous during that period. During the reign of Süleiman the Magnificent (1520-66), it was used as a jail for prisoners who were sentenced to work at the Kasımpaşa Naval Dockyard. The head astrologer, Takıyeddin Efendi, established an observatory on the top of the tower at the end of the 16th century and functioned as an observatory for a particular period of time. Have a walking tour of the colorful Istiklal Street, Istanbul’s main pedestrian promenade. Pera Museum, exhibiting three permanent collections – Anatolian Weights and Measures, Kutahya Tiles and Ceramics, and Orientalist art. The Orientalist collection consists of more than three hundred paintings, including works by European artists inspired by the Ottoman world from the 17th to the early 19th century. Our tour in this museum will be accompanied by one of the curator – experts of the museum.