While in Istanbul a few weeks back, we took a hop-on-hop-off city tour by bus, with one of the stops being Taksim Square.
Its a huge square in the modern centre of Istanbul, in quite a happening district for restaurants and the like.
As can be seen, the weather was stunning while we were there and it was bedecked in these lovely red, white and blue flags (I'm not quite sure what for !).
The Square is dominated by the beautiful Taksim Mosque that sits at one end, and was actually only built in the last so many years (constructed lasted from 2017 to 2021). Yet another incredible mosque in Istanbul, of which there are many. We never had the time to go inside this one, but did admire it externally.
The Republic Monument is also a key feature in the Square, which is 100 year old memorial commemorating the creation of the Turkish republic.
I found the flags quite impressive.
And based on the shot above, I must have been thinking about shadow hunters at the time !!!
We also stopped there for a quick beer, to help ward of the mid-day sun which was very welcome. And also had a kebab (when in Rome, etc) !
The flag theme was extending down one of the main shopping streets there. I think these yellow and red ones were something to do with Galatasaray, which is one of the areas of Istanbul, and also one of their most famous football (soccer) teams.
In addition to all the other flags, was this lovely large Turkish flag, which looked quite stunning against the beautiful blue sky. There was quite a number of huge flags flying around the city - its great to see their pride for their flag !
There was quite a buzz to this part of the city - very trendy and studenty - very different to the old town where we were staying. I was quite surprised to see the contrast.
I certainly would have liked to have visited the mosque, seeing as all the other ones we were in were hundreds of years old - I'd be interested to see if there were any main differences. But that will have to wait for another visit !
Well it certainly was a beautiful place to stop for a bite to eat and a drink, and to admire the surroundings. And also very nice to see a rather different part of the city from where we stayed. And the flags there just made it all that bit prettier ! What a place !