Strolling Through
3 total works
This classic guide to Istanbul by Hilary Summer-Boyd and John Freely - the 'best travel guide to Istanbul' ("The Times"), 'a guide book that reads like a novel' ("New York Times") - is here, for the first time since its original publication thirty-seven years ago, published in a completely revised and updated new edition. Taking the reader on foot through this captivating city - European City of Culture 2010 - the authors describe the historic monuments and sites of what was once Constantinople and the capital in turn of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires, in the context of the great living city. Woven throughout are vivid anecdotes, secret histories, hidden gems and every major place of interest the traveler will want to see. Practical and informative, readable and vividly described, this is the definitive guide to and story of Istanbul, by those who know it best.
There is perhaps no other European city quite as romantic, as exquisitely beautiful or as enigmatic as Venice. In this definitive book, John Freely brings Venice - her past and her present - alive. Beginning at Piazza San Marco, Freely guides the reader on a series of carefully planned and unique walks radiating from the iconic Grand Canal into each of the city's sestieri. Through streets and squares, along canals, into churches, galleries, museums and palazzi; every major place of interest that the visitor could hope to see is illuminated. At each spot Freely peels back the layers of history to reveal the secrets of Venice. Practical and informative, richly coloured and bursting with history, myth and legend, Strolling Through Venice is the perfect guide for anyone who has fallen under the spell of this most enchanting city.
Athens, city of the gods, birthplace of democracy, artistic and cultural centre of the ancient world, is one of Europe's most fascinating and complex cities, steeped in myth and legend. In this indispensable guide John Freely leads the reader on an ingenious and enlightening series of walks to the city's most vibrant and historic areas, from the magnificent Parthenon, centre of Athens for four thousand years, to the winding streets of Plaka, the crumbling ruins of the Agora and the colour and bustle of Monastiraki. This guide, more than any other, reveals how the heart of ancient Athens still beats beneath the living, modern city. "'There is no end to it in this city - wherever we walk we set foot upon history.' Lucius Cicero"