Holy of Holies

Aya Sofya/ Church of Holy Wisdom

Attraction | "The Pot of Gold at the End of My Rainbow"

Quote:

The Aya Sofya, or Haghia Sophia, Church of the Holy Wisdom, may no longer dominate the skyline of Istanbul as it once did, but it is still a beacon, an object of veneration, a sacred space to worshippers of many faiths. As I made my way up overland through the Middle East from Cairo I felt its lure. If Istanbul was the end of my rainbow, the Aya Sofya, I felt, would be the glittering pot of gold.Aya Sofya has a proud pedigree. It was commissioned in the 6th century by the Byzantine Emperor Justinian. This was the Imperial church of his successors’ ...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

Aya Sofya/ Church of Holy Wisdom
Sultanhamet
Istanbul, Turkey

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Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii)

Attraction | "Folly, Fantasy, and Faith"

Quote:

According to my Rough Guide "many architectural historians are scathing about the Blue Mosque’s aesthetic merit". But what do they know? I personally found the Blue Mosque one of my favourite places in Istanbul. It is stunning from the outside and charming from the inside. I heartily encourage a visit.The Blue Mosque’s official name is the Sultan Ahmet Camii. The mosque, like the area surrounding it, is named after Sultan Ahmet I who almost exhausted the imperial treasury to finance its construction in the early seventeenth century. The mosque was, in effect, a great cosmic bribe; wars had been going badly for his forces and Ahmet wished to appease Allah with a new grand imperial mo...Read More

According to my Rough Guide "many architectural historians are scathing about the Blue Mosque’s aesthetic merit". But what do they know? I personally found the Blue Mosque one of my favourite places in Istanbul. It is stunning from the outside and charming from the inside. I heartily encourage a visit.

The Blue Mosque’s official name is the Sultan Ahmet Camii. The mosque, like the area surrounding it, is named after Sultan Ahmet I who almost exhausted the imperial treasury to finance its construction in the early seventeenth century. The mosque was, in effect, a great cosmic bribe; wars had been going badly for his forces and Ahmet wished to appease Allah with a new grand imperial mosque. This would be chief mosque of his empire, fulfilling the same functions as Aya Sofya did for the Byzantines. This actually created dissension among the sultan’s advisers, as it was being constructed from a position of weakness; previous imperial mosques had been funded wholly from war booty. Moreover to cement its position Ahmet ordered his architect to construct six minarets. Cue more criticism – the only mosque to have six minarets at that time was the holiest of all, in Mecca. As a result the sultan had to fund a seventh minaret for Mecca, yet another drain on resources. But complaints about Ahmet’s folly did not go away. To be fair it probably also didn’t help that the mosque was to be sited where many of his courtiers had their own palaces.

From the outside the mosque is quite spectacular. It is well situated across from the Aya Sofya (with some pretty gardens in between), and abuts the Hippodrome, the open area that once housed Byzantine chariot races and is now studded with obelisks. It is a pale dove grey, a cascade of shallow domes and half-domes. A minaret stands at each corner. An attached courtyard covers approximately the same area; the other two minarets are at its far corners. Entrance is through this court. I’m not sure if it is always like this, but on my visit the courtyard was full of booksellers’ stalls. From here you circle around to a veranda. It is here that you remove your shoes. Also if you are dressed inappropriately (shorts or short skirts, bare shoulders) you can be loaned a shawl to wrap yourself in. Women should ensure that their heads are covered too.

Once inside you can see why it is nicknamed the Blue Mosque. The interior is clad with over 20,000 tiles. Not all of these are blue – in fact very few are just one uniform colour. But many have patterns, traceries, calligraphy or highlighting in various shades of blue. These are the work of the famous kilns of Iznik, which were pushed to absolute capacity to meet the demands of the sultan. The domes soar overhead. It is much easier to make out their details than in Aya Sofya. Partly this is due to the use of pale tiles rather than dark stone. And partly it is because there are over 200 windows in the mosque. This is not a sombre, austere place of worship to a glowering god, but a playful, elegant one instead. Furthermore, I found the overall atmosphere much more peaceful and reverant than in Aya Sofya, understandably so as this is still a working place of worship. Half the floor area is cordoned off to provide space for those who wish to pray. That, and the enforced removal of shoes, instills a certain mindset into visitors that is absent at Aya Sofya. A look around does not take long, but it is likely to be a blessed respite from the hubbub outside, an oasis of spiritual calm among the crowds and noise of Sultanahmet.

There is no entrance fee to visit, though at the exit there is a desk asking for donations – I gladly gave 10TL. There are also leaflets in a number of languages explaining the core tenets of Islam and striving to correct some of the more common misconceptions about the religion.
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Member Rating 5 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii)
Sultanahmet
Istanbul, Turkey
0212 458 0776

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Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı)

Attraction | "Absolute Luxury: The Topkapi Palace"

Quote:

The Topkapi Sarayi occupies the most easterly point of Sultanahmet. To the south is the Sea of Marmara, to the east the Bosphorus, to the north the Golden Horn. This creates some quite heavenly fresh breezes around this pleasant wooded area, and it is understandable that this has always been prime real estate (the palace of the Byzantine emperors lay just to the south west). Since the mid-15th century it has been occupied by the famed Topkapi Palace, home of the Sultans of the Ottoman Empire and the Caliphs of Islam until 1853, practically a suburb in itself.The ‘First Courtyard’ of the Palace lies outside its walls. This was free for all citizens to visit. Now there are two ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı)
Sultanahmet Square
Istanbul, Turkey
90 212 5224422

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The Harem

Attraction | "Into the Forbidden Harem"

The Imperial Throne Room Photo - Istanbul, Turkey

Quote:

One option you have while you are visiting the Topkapi Palace, is to pay an extra fee to have a look at the Harem. A stall near the Divan in the Second Courtyard sells tickets for 15TL which allow you to investigate the Harem at your own pace. This is actually the most built-up area of the palace, a tight network of over 400 rooms that served as the private chambers of the sultan and his family. The sultan would live here with his wives, odalisques (female slaves who hoped to bear him a child and progress to being a full wife), children, eunuchs, and often his mother. These Valide Sultans often wielded immense influence and power. So the harem wasn’t all couches and dancing girls. It also conta...Read More

One option you have while you are visiting the Topkapi Palace, is to pay an extra fee to have a look at the Harem. A stall near the Divan in the Second Courtyard sells tickets for 15TL which allow you to investigate the Harem at your own pace. This is actually the most built-up area of the palace, a tight network of over 400 rooms that served as the private chambers of the sultan and his family. The sultan would live here with his wives, odalisques (female slaves who hoped to bear him a child and progress to being a full wife), children, eunuchs, and often his mother. These Valide Sultans often wielded immense influence and power. So the harem wasn’t all couches and dancing girls. It also contained the infamous Kafes, or Cage. The Ottomans were notoriously fratricidal, and upon accession to the throne a new sultan would routinely execute all possible rivals within his family. The Cage was a system to prevent this necessity. Instead young princes would be incarcerated in a suite of chambers with only deaf-mutes and concubines (with their ovaries excised) for company. The end result was generations of debauched and crazed rulers who could not deal with the outside world and were used to commanding absolute obedience. At least two inhabitants committed suicide. Osman II emerged with a love of archery, which he would practice upon live (human) targets. According to myth his bodyguards strangled him with a bowstring before replacing him with his uncle Mustafa I. Mustafa was neurotic, and spent his year in power searching the palace for his nephew who he believed was still alive. His successor Murad IV banned tobacco and coffee, and policed this personally, stalking the streets of Istanbul at night in plain clothes and murdering any smokers with his 60kg mace. ‘Ibrahim the Mad’ suffered from depression and neurasthenia. He was obsessed with obese women; when one was found who weighed over 330 pounds he allegedly gave her a governorship. On another occasion he ordered 280 members of his harem drowned in the Bosphorus in a fit of jealousy. In just eight years of rule he brought the empire to the brink of collapse.

You can tour the Harem unguided, but there is a very clear route marked out along the length of the ‘Golden Road’. Frankly the way is confusing, leading down corridors, through bath chambers, into throne rooms and antechambers. Walls are intricately tiled, providing eastern touches to rooms that are in other places all flouncy rococo, like a Versailles-by-the-sea. And there are some frankly exquisite stained glass windows. In the European gothic tradition each pane of glass would be one uniform colour, held together by lead flashing. As seen here, however, the glass itself would be minutely detailed, and backed by a masonry trellis-work, further diluting the light that would pour through. As elsewhere in Topkapi there are good explanatory panels – though they fall short of the more prurient details like the Cage.

Obviously you have to pay two entrance fees to gain access – 20TL to enter the Palace at all, and then an extra 15TL surcharge. However the look you get at Imperial life in this city-within-a-city is, I think, worth it. More could be done with it I feel – maybe some music or background sound effects, some running water, more dioramas – but on the whole you do get to see some lovely luxurious touches. This is the private life of the sultans, away from the ceremonial trappings that would have come into play in the outer courts of the palace.
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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

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Archaeological Museums

Attraction | "A Wander Through The Ancient East"

Quote:

The archaeological museums of Istanbul are not famous. In many ways they are a forgotten footnote to the history of Turkey. And this is ridiculous. Ancient Turkey was home to Trojans, King Midas, and the Golden Fleece. Ramses II got this far north; Alexander the Great got a good deal further south and east; the Romans were firmly in control. Turkey’s archaeology is just as storied as that of Greece or Italy, yet it seems to be mostly forgotten save as day trips to Troy or Ephesus. Whilst commonsense should have told me that Istanbul would of course have an archaeological museum, it was not one that I had heard of, or had resolved to visit before my trip. But this complex in Gülhane Park, abutting on t...Read More

Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

Archaeological Museums
Osman Hamdi Bey Yokusu
Istanbul, Turkey
+90 212 5207740

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Basilica Cistern

Attraction | "Drinking the Medusa's Tears in the Sunken Palace"

Quote:

Istanbul has always been characterised as a city on the water. The views and traffic of the Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, and Golden Horn make the city what it is. However, it was in 1545 that a French visitor by the name of Petrus Gyllius realised that Sultanahmet really was a city on water, and that a separate aquatic world lay just below his feet.Today the rim of the Galata Bridge is crowded with anglers, and you can buy fried fish sandwiches down on the waterfront. What struck Gyllius was that despite being hemmed in by the sea on three sides, he was constantly seeing fresh freshwater fish for sale. Upon questioning the locals he was guided to cellars beneath the streets. Buckets l...Read More

Istanbul has always been characterised as a city on the water. The views and traffic of the Bosphorus, Sea of Marmara, and Golden Horn make the city what it is. However, it was in 1545 that a French visitor by the name of Petrus Gyllius realised that Sultanahmet really was a city on water, and that a separate aquatic world lay just below his feet.

Today the rim of the Galata Bridge is crowded with anglers, and you can buy fried fish sandwiches down on the waterfront. What struck Gyllius was that despite being hemmed in by the sea on three sides, he was constantly seeing fresh freshwater fish for sale. Upon questioning the locals he was guided to cellars beneath the streets. Buckets lowered down would come up brimming with fresh water. And ladders led down into an echoing darkness, the only sound that of oars as the townsfolk rowed an immense underground lake in search of fresh catches of fish.

This underground world was properly no lake, but a manmade construction, as the regular placement of supporting columns showed. And after a sympathetic restoration job visitors can now descend into the atmospheric Yerebatan Sarayi (‘Sunken Palace’). Of course this was not a palace, but merely a cistern, probably constructed under Constantine the Great and Justinian in the 4th and 5th centuries, and supplied by aqueducts from the Belgrade Forest 12 miles away. But still, its survival is a great testament to the imperial masons who constructed it.

Entrance is via an unprepossessing ticket booth on Yerebatan Caddesi (10TL). Here you descend into this fantastical Hall-of-the-Mountain-King-type space. It is poularly known in English as the ‘Basilica Cistern’ because it was near the basilica of the Aya Sofya; however, its graceful columns and vaulted ceiling arches give it the impression of of an old romanesque church or crypt. There are 336 marble columns, each 9m tall, each 4.8m from its neighbour. In total the cistern is 140m by 70m, and has a capacity to store 80,000 cubic metres of water. M. Gyllius explored this vast space by boat in 1545. So did James Bond in From Russia With Love. (Ian Fleming loved to write about what he knew, so it is likely he had done similar prior to writing about it; however, it is the Sean Connery film that is most remembered. Of course, the Russian / Soviet consulate they went to eavesdrop on actually stands Istiklal Caddesi in Galata in real life fact fans).

Down in the darkness, ruddy uplighting and haunting eastern music create a ghostly atmosphere. It is more reminiscent of Dante than Fleming now – it could be a stand in for one of the levels of Hades itself, the cloaked Charon silently appearing to ferry souls across the Styx. However, there are no boats down here these days, just suspended duckwalks to lead you in to the forest of columns. It is a mysterious underground world. No more than a foot of water covers the paving beneath your feet, but it still provides a home to fish. Goldfish cluster in pools of light. A splash and a series of ripples out in the deeper water betrays the passage of a larger carp, kings of their watery world. Or at least I think they were carp. In this underworld it is impossible to be too certain…

The walkways channel you out into the furthest, darkest corner of this dripping, echoing space. Here, in an oddly angled crook of masonry you will find the mysterious medusae. Medusa was one of the three gorgons, sisters with snakes for hair. In Greek mythology her glance would turn mortals to stone. And yet here there are two immense carved heads in stone, two Medusas. Yet these were not placed as decorative features, but merely as column bases. One lies upon its side, seemingly crying a puddle of water; the other is totally inverted. But why use them at all? Why hide them down here in the furthest corner of this vast underworld, inverted and turned towards the wall? Constructed by Christian emperors the Basilica Cistern may have been, but it is clear that the old stories and myths still had the power to scare. Superstition may have prevented the destruction of these medusae; superstition may have prevented their remaining above ground. So instead they were secreted down here, lapped by the water that would have made its way into the drinks of emperors and sultans. Maybe this is why, I fancifully wondered, Istanbul is such a meeting-place of worlds – European and Asian, modern and ancient, splendid and decaying, Islamic and Christian and pagan. Had I too been drinking Medusa’s tears…?

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Member Rating 4 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

Basilica Cistern
across from Aya Sofia
Istanbul, Turkey

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St Saviour in Chora (Kariye Museum)

Attraction | "Saviour of Byzantine Art"

Quote:

While the legacy of the Ottoman sultans is everywhere to see in Istanbul, especially in Sultanahmet, I was fascinated by their predecessors, the Byzantines. We tend to think of the Byzantines as a brief lacuna between the split of the Roman empire and the coming of Islam. However their empire lasted for over 1000 years, a remarkably long time for any system of government. In comparison Istanbul has only been an ‘Islamic’ city for 550 years. I wanted to find out more about these people.However, there ain’t much about. Istanbul was built atop Byzantium. Excavations are ongoing around the former Byzantine palace to the south east of Topkapi and Aya Sofya. When I visited in August 2009 ...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

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Beyoglu District

Attraction | "Istiklal Caddesi - The First Street of Europe"

Quote:

Istanbul is a European city. There may be concern within some EU member states as to whether Turkey is a European country, but there can be no doubt that this city is European. And if there is any doubt, there is one easy cure: visit Istiklal Caddesi.Istiklal Caddesi is the pre-eminent address in Istanbul. It cuts through the heart of the district of Beyoğlu. A 1.5km long pedestrianised street, it is lined with shops, restaurants and bars. Yet more cluster on its side- and parallel-streets. It is thick with crowds at seemingly any time of the day or night; Istanbul at play. In the 19th century this was known as the Grand Rue de Pera and those who promenaded its length were th...Read More

Istanbul is a European city. There may be concern within some EU member states as to whether Turkey is a European country, but there can be no doubt that this city is European. And if there is any doubt, there is one easy cure: visit Istiklal Caddesi.

Istiklal Caddesi is the pre-eminent address in Istanbul. It cuts through the heart of the district of Beyoğlu. A 1.5km long pedestrianised street, it is lined with shops, restaurants and bars. Yet more cluster on its side- and parallel-streets. It is thick with crowds at seemingly any time of the day or night; Istanbul at play. In the 19th century this was known as the Grand Rue de Pera and those who promenaded its length were the merchants, diplomats, bankers and brokers of the Great Powers. Russian, Swedish, Dutch, French, Italian and British consulates still sit on or near it. Now it is still a place to see and be seen, but those who congregate here are primarily Turkish, young, and affluent. The average age seemd to be somewhere around 26. Designer clothes and styled hair are the norm. A scruffy backpacker like me definitely let the side down!

Walking down Istiklal is a must when visiting Istanbul. Seeing the modern face of this historic city is important to see both sides of the story; no longer a decaying ancient capital, Istanbul is a vibrant, forward-looking metropolis, the equal of many European capitals. And there are plenty of places to stop off en route. There are numerous coffee shops and juice bars along the way. Other bars line the side-streets. Music echoes down the passageways and the rainbow flag flies freely. The Balik Pazari along Nevizade Sokak is the fish market, and the restaurants here specialise in seafood.

If you do not want to walk 1.5km each way, there is a dinky red antique tram that covers the route between Tűnel Meydani and Taksim periodically.

The northern end of Istiklal is anchored by the massive Taksim Square. Turks are inordinately proud of their Taksim, though heaven alone knows why. Grubby, whizzing with traffic, framed by brutalist modern architecture, it looks the sort of place you would expect to find in a former-Soviet central Asian republic. Its one saving grace is a small thread-bare park (Taksim Parki) with shady trees.

As I was staying in Sultanahmet I approached from the south, over the Galata Bridge. This stretches over the famed Golden Horn. A constant stream of boats passes beneath its middle. Restaurants and bars line its lower levels. The footpaths above are lined with anglers. They all seem to have great success with fish. Several of them also sell pots of shrimps; the pots seem to sit out in the sun all day so I decided that much as I love shrimps I’d give them a miss!

Having crossed the bridge you will find yourself in the port area of Karaköy. From here roads climb up the hill toward Beyoğlu. Quicker and easier than slogging all that way up by foot to to take the Tűnel. This is a one stop funicular underground line with its lower entrance just left off Karaköy Caddesi on Tersane Cadessi. The fare is 1TL. Give your money to the cashier and they will provide a jeton to get through the barriers. The train is modern, though there never seemed to be quite enough seats whenever I used it. It heads off steeply; even the platform at the upper station is slanted. This leads out into Tűnel Meydani, the pretty square that anchors the southern end of Istiklal Caddesi. The Tűnel runs from 8am to 9pm every day.

Rather than pay money to travel back down the slope I decided to walk. This is something I highly recommend. The precipitous pathway leads through a charming area of bars and music stores. Window displays showcase everything you would need to start your own rock band. The vibe is very chilled out, with less of the posing you might find on Istiklal. The chief attraction is the Galata Tower, a tall cylindrical tower built by the Genoese in 1349 that is still the most eye-catching structure on the Istanbul skyline. The views from the walkway just below its conical roof are said to be the best in Istanbul. Naturally there is a price to pay.

Crossing back across the Golden Horn and emerging into crowds of headscarves and hustlers, tourists and touts, submerges you once again into the wonders of the ancient orient. But the time spent in the vibrant and cosmopolitan areas around Istiklal Caddesi should leave a lasting impression of Istanbul as a modern and European city. Read Less

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

Beyoglu District
Taksim/Beyoglu Area
Istanbul, Turkey

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Bosphorus Strait (Istanbul Strait)

Attraction | "Between Europe and Asia"

Quote:

If I would recommend that the Topkapi Palace is the one sight to see in Istanbul, I would have to say that the one activity to do would be to get out on the water and take a boat ride up the Bosphorus. Istanbul is built on the water. Sultanahmet is enclosed on three sides by the sea (clockwise, the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus, and the Sea of Marmara). Ritzy suburbs straggle north along the strait, and almost half the city is located on the eastern (Asian) shore. The seas protected Constantinople from the Ottomans, brought wealth and luxuries to its palaces and caravanserais, were the object of military grabs by the Russians in the 1870s and the Allies in the First World War, and even...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on October 27, 2009

Bosphorus Strait (Istanbul Strait)
Eminonu
Istanbul, Turkey

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IgoUgo

Istanbul Journals

Holy of Holies

Aya Sofya/ Church of Holy Wisdom

Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii)

Topkapi Palace (Topkapı Sarayı)

The Harem

Archaeological Museums

Basilica Cistern

St Saviour in Chora (Kariye Museum)

Beyoglu District

Bosphorus Strait (Istanbul Strait)

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