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Other entries in Istanbul

On Two Continents

Istanbul. Thursday to Saturday, March 6th to 9th.

Got to Turkey early in the morning. Minor hassle with the hotel (had no record of my reservation, and it was full) but it all worked out. Had to adjust to the colder weather, it was a mild 6 degrees and dry. Like Vancouver in the spring, there is a high grey overcast which does dampen one's spirits a little.

The city is as old as Dubai is new. The site has been occupied for over 3,000 years. It is an interesting mix of Asian and European traditions, and of Christian and Muslim cultures. Part of the city is in Europe and another part is in Asia, separated by the Bosphorus, which connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. For over 400 years, the Ottoman Empire ruled much of Europe and Asia from its headquarters in Istanbul. You can see evidence of this period by the many palaces and mosques in the European side of the city.

The Ottoman Empire came to an end after WWI, and with the ending of this era came the demise of Istanbul. One change that emerged from the creation of Turkey out of the former Ottoman Empire was a deliberate decision by the first president to separate the influence of the Muslim church from the role of government. Turkey is proudly secular. Whereas the citizens are 99% Muslim, I saw no women in the burkas and veils that were so common in the Gulf. Other than seeing mosques rather than churches, there was little explicit evidence of the Islamic traditions in Istanbul. Even the call to prayers was almost muted. It certainly did not fill the air as it did in any of the other Muslim countries I have visited in the past two months.

Had an errand to do in Istanbul (change my air ticket to fly directly to Singapore, rather than thru New Delhi). It was a challenge to see if I could use the mass transit system to get across town and find the office of Emirate Airlines. Worked out, likely took me no more time than a local would have taken. Feeling confident, I decided to walk to the water front (locals warned against it, as it was a few kilometres, but I dıd it anyway). Worked out, so I then took a ferry across the Bosphorus to the Asian sıde, and then another ferry to the part of the city I am staying in. Because the signage uses the same letters as we do, at least I can recognize combinations of letters and fınd them on my map. Feels nice to be able to travel independently again, subject to asking questions from the locals every five blocks. Walked 13 K today. For the past several days that has been the average, some days it is up to 16 K.

On Friday I went on a tour run by Grayline.  It was very overpriced, but I did get to see a few of the more important sites of Istanbul with a very knowledgable guide. 

The first site (they were all right next to one another) was the Obelisk of Theodosius.  The obelisk was taken from Karnak (Luxor, where I had been but a few weeks earlier) by King Theodosius in 390 AD.  It was carved around 1500 BC.  As it was being shipped to Istanbul, a large portion (40 of the 60 metres) of the obelisk broke off. 

Right next to the obelisk was the Blue Mosque.  Of itself it was not especially remarkable. However, it has a few claims to fame.  Firstly, it has six minarets rather than the standard four.  Secondly, and most importantly, it is right next to Saint Sophia Basilica, which is a Christian church, so to overset its beauty this mosque was classified as also being special.  Finally, it is called 'Blue' because inside, on the balcony level, there are 20,000 blue Iznik ceramic tiles.  Unlike in the Gulf States or northern Africa, we were allowed into the mosque.  It was built in the 1600's.  Pope Benedict (the current pope) met wıth Islamic leaders in this mosque, as part of an outreach to Muslims.  

Found out that there are 3,500 mosques in Istanbul.  And that the name Istanbul means nothing special - the correct or original spelling was Islam-bul.  In its earliest times, it was called Constantinople after Emperor Constantine, the Roman Emperor who converted to Christianity in the 4^th Century.  As the city and country are Muslim, it makes sense that they dropped the reference to its Christian  past.  Additionally, Istanbul is the equivalent for the Greek Orthodox (Black Catholic Church) of what Rome is to the Roman, or White Catholics.  They are called black or white because of the colour of the robes that their religious leaders wear, with the Greek Orthodox clergy wearing black and the Roman Catholics wearing white. 

Next was Saint Sophia Basilica (or in Turkish 'Hagia Sophia').  This is very impressive, especially as it was built in five years, from 532 to 537 AD.  Until St. Peter's church in Rome was built in the 15^th century, this was the largest church in the world.  Currently, it is number four.  The architects were both only nineteen when they designed the church, their first project.  It only took five years to build it, as many of the materials were taken from other sites such as Ephesus.  It took 90,000 people to work on the project.  It was a Roman Catholic church until 1054, when the Greek Orthodox church split from the Catholics.   In 1453, it was taken over by the Muslims.  The Muslims put minarets on the four corners of the church.  Finally, ın 1934, the president of Turkey made it into a museum.  Inside, you can see evidence of Christian and Muslim symbols next to each other.  Istanbul is subject to a lot of earthquakes.  Over the past 1400 years, the dome of the church has fallen from an original height of 61 metres to 58 metres.  Given its age, it is an impressive sight.  From the outside, it does not look that impressive. 

The tour finished at noon with a Turkish carpet presentation.  They are nice, and maybe once I settle in in Dubai I will come back and get one, but not right now.  In the afternoon, I picked up my new airline tickets.  Now I will fly directly to Singapore from Dubai, rather than doing a layover in India.  Spent the balance of the day walking around.  A 15 K day; my legs feel very tired.

On Saturday, I arranged a tour of the city using an Imaginative Tour guide (the same group who are doing the tour as of Sunday).  It was a very different type of tour.  We started by visiting some of the Mosques and markets near where we are staying (in Sirkeci and Eminonu, parts of the old city).  Next, we were ferried over the Bospherus to the Asian side of Istanbul (I had done this on my own earlier, and it felt nice to have that 'Been there – done that' feeling).  Then, we were back on another boat and went to the newer part of the city.  This was known in earlier times as the wild side of the city, as it was not controlled by Moslem rules (re-stated, alcohol was available here).  This is where the new buildings (post 1850) of Istanbul are.  Walked thru the retail shopping part of the city – there were thousands of people walking about on streets that were largely blocked off for cars.  Highlight was to go to the Galata tower.  Got an outstanding view of the old and new parts of the city. 

Saturday was a 20 K walking day.  Felt so good to finally lie down.  Was on my feet almost non stop from 9 a.m until 11 p.m, but it was a wonderful day.  Walking about and seeing so many different parts of Istanbul was extremely rewarding.  Rather like the city.

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