WELCOME COCKTAIL 
June 12^th,2007 (TASKISLA – Main Courtyard)  
Included in the registration fee

Welcome Cocktail will start at 07:00pm and will be held at the inner court of the TASKISLA building. Executive members of the Greater Municipality of Istanbul will also be attending to this opening night.

Hot and cold canapés and unlimited local alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks will be served within a soft music ambiance during the cocktail.

TASKISLA, the conference venue, is one of the most interesting buildings of Istanbul. It is located in the city center near Taksim, which has served as the trade and cultural center of the city since the 19th century.( Please click here for conference Venue )

Within the boundaries of this building, ITU was established in 1773, during the time of the Ottoman Sultan Mustafa III. With its original name "Muhendishane-i Bahr-i Humayun", The Royal School of Naval Engineering, its responsibility was to educate chart masters and ship builders. In 1795, the "Mühendishane-i Berr-i Humayun", The Royal School of Military Engineering, was established to educate the technical staff in the army. In 1847, education in the field of architecture was also introduced.  

HALF DAY SHORT CITY TOUR (Hipodrome, Blue Mosque, Grand Bazaar)  
June 12^th, 2007, courtesy of conference secretariat.  
3 Euros per person 
*** This daily tour is the courtesy of conference chair. The cost of the tour is much higher than the symbolic amount it is being offerred to sell.  

The short city tour will take place between 2:00pm and 5:30pm after the workshop sessions and lunch. During this tour you will have a chance to enjoy some of the historical peninsula and to buy traditional Turkish souvenirs.

Sultanahmet Square, or the Hipodrome, was commisioned by Roman Emperor Septimius Severius at the end of 2nd century. Hipodrome was later extended by Great Constantin. In the long, east side of the U-shaped hipodrome, there used to be an emperor lodge in the balcony where there were 4 bronze horses. In the center, there used to be a shallow wall which divides the sand covered hipodrome field into two, around which cars raced. Over this wall were placed the monuments brought from many parts of the empire as well as statues of horses.

Sultanahmet Mosque, the only mosque in Turkey with six minarets, was commissioned between 1609 and 1616 by Sultan Ahmet the First on the square with the same name in Istanbul. Its architect is Sedefkar Mehmet Aga. The mosque section has dimension of 64x72. Its central dome has a diameter of 33.4m and a height of 43m and is 2.6m greater than that of St. Sophia. The interior of the mosque is illuminated by 260 windows. Since it is beautifully adorned by blue, green and white encaustics, it was named by the Europeans as the "Blue Mosque". The inscriptions on the mosque are made by Seyyid Kasim Gubari of Diyarbakir. With the surrounding buildings it constitues a complex.

Grand Bazaar (Kapalicarsi) is a great bazaar near Nuri Osmaniye and Beyazid Mosques and Mahmutpasa Bazaar, and is made up of various shops constituting a street sheltered by roofs and domes. Though not very regularly shaped, it holds an area of about 31 thousand square meters. It has hundreds of domes which are covered with lead and windows. The nucleus of Kapalicarsi is a Byzantine building which is today called Old Bedesten. The section of the covered bazaar where valuables and jewellery are bought and sold was commissioned by Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror and the main great bazaar itself was commissioned during Kanuni Sultan Suleyman, on a wooden basis. Kapalicarsi managed to claim its present look within 250 years. The major sections of Kapalicarsi are Inner Bedesten, Sandal Bedesten, Other Sections, and Hans.  

VISIT TO ISTANBUL MODERN MUSEUM
June 14^th,2007 (Istanbul Modern)  
Included in the registration fee

İstanbul Modern seeks to integrate the experience of Turkey’s artistic past, the dynamism of its present, and the cultivation of its cultural future. İstanbul 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 straight separating Europe from Asia, the museum brings together the İstanbul 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. İstanbul Modern’s collections, exhibits, and educational programs aim to foster active engagement in and love for the arts among an audience of all ages and segments of society.Relying on the principles of inclusion and harmony, and supporting the development of knowledgeable visitors through its emphasis on communication and education, it takes on the function of a mirror for society. As it strengthens the creative exchange between the art of Turkey and the West, it presents the artistic and cultural experience of our country to the world. 

http://www.istanbulmodern.org

 

CONFERENCE DINNER (Cruising Dinner over the Bosphorus); 
June 15^th, 2007,  
65 Euro Per Person 
Not included in the registration fee.

The conference dinner includes the following: 
- Pick-up transfer from the TAŞKIŞLA, the conference venue, drive to the Bosphorus shore where we embark at the private deluxe yacht.  
- Cruise down the Bosphorus Strait, 2-3 hours cruise strating at 7:00pm (getting closer to beautiful Villas , Fortresses and Palaces of Bosphorus, both on the Asian & European Sides).  
- Dinner with beverages (unlimited local alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks during the voyage)

During this cruise you will have a chance to see the impressive life of Istanbul. You will enjoy having your dinner the old Ottoman Empire style accompanied with new Istanbul style.

During the Byzantine period, when the villages along the Bosphorus strait had no roads linking them to each other, people earned their living from fishing and gardening. Later, Ottoman Sultans had several palaces and villas built on these shores. 

On the European Side, some of the shores we will see include: Feriye palaces, Ortaköy Square and Ortaköy mosque, which is an attractive location where one feels the texture of the city at its best. Next, passing under the great columns of the Bosphorus Bridge, we will pass by Kurucesme, Arnavutköy, Bebek, Rumelihisari (fortress), Emirgan, İstinye, Yeniköy, Tarabya, Kirecburnu, Büyükdere and Sariyer, finally reaching the end of the European side of the Bosphorus at Rumeli Kavagi, last point before the entrance to the Black Sea.

On the Asian Side, opposite to Rumeli Kavagi is located Anadolu Kavagi. South along the shore past Yusa Hill is Beykoz. Though it is quite a distance from the city center, Istanbul residents usually go to eat the best fish at Beykoz. The next place we will see is Pasabahce famous for its glass and bottle factories as well as liquor factories of the state monopoly. After Pasabahce comes Cubuklu and Anadoluhisar (Anatolian Fortress) famed for the good quality of clay on the shores of the Göksu and Kücüksu, freshwater rivers that flow into the Bosphorus. 
 
 

*** Attention:  The Conference Dinner (Cruising Dinner over the Bosphorus) and the daily excursions (especially the courtesy tour) have limited seats available. Please make sure to check the extra social activities at the Online Conference Registration module while registering online.