Ralph Rapson in Istanbul

Hagia Sophia, in Istanbul, Turkey, designed by Isidoros and Anthemios, 532 to 537.

Color sketch by Ralph Rapson, from Ralph Rapson Sketches and Drawings from Around the World, courtesy of the Afton Press.

"I may be one of the few people who have seen Istanbul and the Straits of Bosporus from atop a minaret. I'd long wanted to see the Hagia Sophia, once a mosque, a Christian church, and now a museum, and when I suggested to a guide I'd met in the streets that I'd like to see the city from one of the towers, he miraculously found a way For twenty dollars, I not only had several meals and a day's worth of touring, but I also got to see the city's narrow, jostling streets and port from one of its finest vantage points." – Ralph Rapson

Overview of Istanbul, Turkey. Image: Ralph Rapson