Istanbul

What a city to take pictures — especially on the water, on the routes of the ferries that constantly shuttle between 2 continents that the city straddles.

Here is a lengthy video of our visit to Istanbul.

There’s a lot to like about Istanbul. As the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires (and even the Roman Empire just before its collapse), it has an amazing history. As a commercial and political center and the largest city on earth for a very long time — it attracted many ethnic groups, all of whom left their marks.

Modern day Istanbul is a major city in Turkey with a population of 15.5 million residents including at least 1 million displaced Syrians. Its Old City reflects cultural influences of the many empires that once ruled here. In the Sultanahmet district, the open-air, Roman-era Hippodrome was for centuries the site of chariot races, an intact Roman Aqueduct, and Egyptian obelisks also remain. The iconic Byzantine Hagia Sophia features a soaring 6th-century dome and rare Christian mosaics.

The desire to explore it is still here for visitors and locals. We boarded one of the city’s beloved ferries on the European side. We congregate on the open deck and as we depart, the city’s modern silhouette emerges beyond the waters of the Bosphorus — the minarets, the Spice Bazaar, the bustling bridges, crowded seafronts, the Galata Bridge, Golden Horn and beauty that overwhelms you.

We sailed east to the Black Sea. At 19 miles long, the Bosphorus not only connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean, but also splits Istanbul between two continents, Europe and Asia. Probably one of the most important straits in the world, this watery boundary houses numerous Byzantine and Ottoman fortifications as well as a mixture of residential homes.

The Hagia Sophia

A Cathedral, a Mosque and a Museum. If a mosque has multiple minerets, they MUST always be the same — Not with the Hagia Sophia.
Grandly arrayed on a hilltop over the Bosporus in the Sultanhamet District where it divides Europe and Asia, the Hagia Sophia’s 15-century history is suffused with events, myths and symbols important to both East and West. Built in the sixth century by a Byzantine emperor, Justinian I, as the premier cathedral of the Roman Empire and dedicated to “Holy Wisdom,” it was for almost 1,000 years the largest church in the world, a temple so majestic that upon its dedication the emperor is said to have proclaimed, “Solomon, I have surpassed thee!” Its influence on history and architecture and religion, Christian and Islamic, is profound.
When Constantinople fell to Ottoman forces in 1453, Mehmed II the Conqueror converted it to a mosque, the Great Mosque of Ayasofya, and with time the Byzantine mosaics were covered over or destroyed and four great minarets were raised around the structure. It remained a mosque until 1934, when Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the secular, modern republic of Turkey, transformed the Hagia Sophia into a museum, exposing long-concealed mosaics and marble floor decorations, in what was seen as a bid to free the monument, and the nation, from myths of sacred conquest.

It became the most-visited museum in Turkey, attracting about 3.7 million visitors in 2019. It was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, identified as a landmark of exceptional cultural significance to all humanity, worthy of conservation. Why President Recep Tayyip Erdogan chose to reverse Ataturk’s decision is a matter of some conjecture. A product of an Islamist political tradition, he said he was unable to sleep on the night he issued the presidential decree making the change. Only a year earlier he had argued against the conversion. What is clear is that despite the great powers Mr. Erdogan has seized over 17 years in power as prime minister and president, his current political standing is shaky, and he needs to feed his nationalist base.

The Blue Mosque

Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque, is an Ottoman-era mosque located in the Sultanhamet District across the street from the Hagia Sophia (and 1000 years younger). A functioning mosque, it also attracts large numbers of tourist visitors. It was constructed between 1609 and 1616 during the rule of Ahmed I. Its Külliye contains Ahmed’s tomb, a madrasah and a hospice. Hand-painted blue tiles cover the mosque’s interior walls, and at night the mosque is bathed in blue as lights frame the mosque’s five main domes, six minarets and eight secondary domes. It was going through a major renovation during our visit in January, 2019.

Galata Tower

The tower stands at the top of a hill on the European side on the Golden Horn. The Genoese were involved in trade with the Byzantines and the tower was used for the surveillance of the harbor in the Golden Horn. After the conquest of Constantinople by Mehmet II, it served to detect fires in the city. It’s a very popular attraction since you can look right across the Bosphurus to the Asian side, all over the city and a great view of the Sultanhamet District.

**Hugh admiring the view of the Golden Horn**

The Grand Bazaar

The Grand Bazaar is a massive covered market in Istanbul. It is one of the largest and oldest covered markets in the world, with 61 covered streets and over 4,000 shops on a total area of 30,700 m², attracting between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.

Basilica Cistern

There are hundreds of cisterns in Istanbul. The Basilica Cistern is one of the largest open to visitors. This huge historical cistern is approximately 30,000 square meters (105,000 ft) in area and can hold up to 850,000 cubic meters (2,800,000 ft) of water. Built by the Romans during Justinians reign in the 6th century constructed an aqueduct to fill the cistern. Today the cistern is not used and has very little water. Due to its underground construction and the Basilica above it, the roof of the cistern is held aloft by 336 marble pillars salvaged from other Ionic or Corinthian style sites.

The Pudding Shop

The Pudding Shop in Sultanahmet established in 1957 became the most famous restaurant on the entire Istanbul-to-Kathmandu Hippy Trail of the 1960s. Young folks heading to the far east would connect with fellow travelers and share transport to the far east. Here’s a good report on the history of the shop. Although this restaurant has all the virtues of a Turkish eating establishment, the reason it has made it to this travel report is my fellow traveler, William. Will spent a few days in Istanbul circa. 1970 and countless hours on the 2nd floor of the shop. The story is kind of sketchy but he met a young lady, he abandoned the trip to Goa and somehow ended up in the Greek islands. Apparently the shop and the meeting have a special place in his heart.