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Duration : Half day 4-5 hours || Full day 7-8 hours (approx.)
Galata Tower
Neve Shalom Synagogue
Ashkenazi Synagogue
Zulfaris Synagogue (Jewish Museum of Istanbul)
Balat
Ahrida (Ohrid) Synagogue
Jewish Cemetery
Galata Tower
Neve Shalom Synagogue
Ashkenazi Synagogue
Zulfaris Synagogue (Jewish Museum of Istanbul)
Schedule details
Jewish Heritage Tours in Istanbul, begin of Sephardic history at the Galata Quarter, a region which had been almost completely Jewish for more than 400 years. Today, Galata is known throughout the world by its huge tower, built in 1303 by the Genovese. Visit the Galata Tower, the office of the Chief Rabbinate is also located in Galata today, there are 16 Synagogues in Istanbul that are still in use.
First, visit the Neve Shalom Synagogue, used for most of the community functions today, as well as the Ashkenazi Synagogue dating from the nineteenth century and the only Ashkenazi Synagogue in Istanbul, originally built by the Austrian Jews. Stop at the Zulfaris Synagogue, which now also serves as the Museum of Turkish Jewish Museum since 2001. Its name comes from the street where it is located, which was called Zulf-u arus (present day Percemli Sokak) in Karakoy, which means “Bridal Curls” in both versions, as it was here that the brides, over the centuries, would walk by to go to the synagogue to get married. “Half day tour returning to where the tour concludes”.
” Full day tour ; You will continue to Lunch at a local Seafood Restaurant. (Lunch fee is not included) Drive to Balat, a Jewish working-class district on the shores of the Golden Horn, which absorbed most of the settlers in the fifteenth century from Spain.
Visit the recently restored Ahrida (Ohrid) Synagogue, originally built in the 15th century and is the earliest synagogue in Istanbul. The original 20-foot long oak bimah (teva), shaped either like Noah’s Ark or, like the Ottoman ship which brought the Sephardim to freedom from Spain to Turkey, can still be seen. Then visit the Jewish Cemetery before returning to where you tour concludes.
Inclusions
Pickup and drop-off included
Half Day Tour Price
Full Day Tour Price
Payment
Additional information
- Some Synagogues may not be accessible at the time of your tour. We need your full name, birthday and passport copies by email or fax in order to get the special permission for visiting the Synagogues in Istanbul.
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking, unless booked within 7 days of travel. In this case confirmation will be received within 48 hours, subject to availability.
- At time of booking, Cruise Ship passengers must provide the following details under Special Requirements: Ship name, docking time, disembarkation time and re-boarding time.
- Children 6-18 years must be accompanied by an adult
- Please enter your preferred pickup time in the Special Requirements box at the time of booking, and reconfirm 48 hours prior to the tour’s departure time.
- Ephesus requires walking long distances over uneven surfaces, comfortable clothing and closed toe, sensible walking shoes are recommended. Sunglasses and sunscreen are suggested.
- We will ensure your timely return to the Kusadasi or Izmir port for this activity. If you are not returned to the ship in time to board, we will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call.
Make the difference between a good trip and an outstanding one !
Anted de aterrizar a istanbul se puwdw ver la inmensidad de la ciudad magico se ve cuando contratas el tour privado
Visiting Synagogues in Istanbul
You can visit the synagogues only by prior reservation via the offices of the Chief Rabbinate (+90 212 293 87 94).
You should make reservations during office hours (Mon-Thu: 9:30-17:00; Fri.: 9:30-13:00) and at the least 24 hours before your planned visit.
Make sure to have the passport numbers of the people planning to attend the visit and their full names at hand while making the reservation. Also, carry your passport with you for security checks during your visits to all synagogues.
We had planned a cruise onboard the Royal Princess with a one day stop at our most anticipated port…Istanbul. We barely scratched the surface of this vibrant and historic city……but Taylan certainly gave us our best chance! He was organized from start to finish, anticipating our needs, modifying the itinerary for our requests ( the man jumped out of our private van to secure possibly the best baklava ever) so we could enjoy on our trip back to the ship. Taylan is organized, knowledgeable, easy going and charming. Our family thoroughly enjoyed Istanbul thanks to Taylan.
I had a great time in Istanbul unfortunately, the low point of our trip was our tour with Istanbul Jewish Heritage Tours. As others have mentioned our guide was not very well informed about Jewish Life and appeared to make up a lot of the information or simply repeat what he read in guide book.
The good part is we had a driver and someone to make sure we didn’t get lost. One of the synagogues, an interesting Sephardic one, Ahidra Synagogue was in neighborhood we would never have visited on our own and was locked so we needed a guide to access. You can simply visit the Jewish museum on your own. The museum is the Zülfaris Synagogue, and no guide is needed. From there you can also visit the Galata Tower. Overall, this is a safe neighborhood especially during the day time.
参加私人伊斯坦堡一日游的最大好处是，除了有专业的中文导游一路讲解和介绍，我们的导游大海先生还带领我们洗了土耳其浴及吃了刀削烤羊肉卷，让我们体验了当地人的日常生活。
Es lo mas lindo quw he visto en mi vida istanbul es una combinacion de culturas religiones modernidad el tour privado no dio esta oportunidad y muy bien todo
一日紧凑的行程下来，看了Haigi SOPHIA,TOPKAPI 皇宫，蓝色清真寺，还有黄金大市集，觉得不虚此行。中午吃了羊肉KEBAB,太好吃了！
Istanbul lo mejor de turquia es una mistica yagica ciudad el tour privado te fasilita todo para conocerla
Regards to Yesim and many thanks for a super day.
Todo de maravilla istanbul es um lugar magico y vale la pena visitarla