After a month, we leave Asia. Somewhere along the way we lose Buddha, and pick up Muhammed. Even though we arrived in Istanbul late, it's obvious on the taxi ride to our hotel that we have arrived in a special city. The streets are impeccably clean and restaurants buzz with people. We zip past ancient walls and ruins of the city, until we finally make it to our hotel in the heart of old Istanbul.
Istanbul is a unique city in history. The city straddles the Bosphorus waterway, that connects the Black sea to Maramara then Mediterranean seas. It is the only city to lie on both the European and Asian continents and its history reflects this strategic location. The city has been the capital of three empires; the Roman, the Byzantine, and the Ottoman. The crowning achievement of the city is probably being the focus of the swing song: "Istanbul (not Constantinople)" by Jimmy Kennedy in 1953.
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| It is polite to dress modestly in the Blue Mosque |
Just walking distance from our hotel are the sites of ancient Istanbul. We start our day with the blue mosque. We are required to dress modestly, take our shoes off, and show no knees. The mosque is beautiful. It is known for it's intricate blue tile work and stained glass, that can be seen in the background of this photo. Mosques are different from western style churches in that there are no seats. Worshipers use the floor and they are kept immaculately clean. There seems to be someone always vacuuming the floors, and they don't even have any dogs.
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| View of the blue mosque from the outside |
Connected by a park to the Blue Mosque, is the famous Hagia Sophia. Completed by 562AD, it is considered to have changed architecture forever and has been a wonderment to travelers for over 1,000 years. It can house Notre Dame Cathedral within its main structure, and the statue of liberty could do jumping jacks.
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| The beautifully ancient, famous Hagia Sophia |
Hagia Sophia was a Byzantine church until 1453 when it was conquered by the Ottoman empire. The Ottomans built the four minarets now surrounding the structure, painted over the mosaics with white plaster (which ironically helped preserve some of them), and converted Hagia Sophia into a mosque. The structure was converted to a museum in 1953 and some of the mosaics were exposed and restored.
Personally, I like the minarets. They add a cool symmetry to the structure. Istanbul has a very interesting skyline filled with domes and minarets.
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| This picture really illustrates how the Hagia Sophia combined the worship of religions |
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| Maria and the cat |
Everywhere we go there seem to be cats. With hundreds of tourists visiting Hagia Sophia that day, this cat was the main attraction. He just sat in this hallway the whole time we were there, and had a crowd of about 20 at all times. No mosaic had close to that many people taking pictures of it. This little spanish girl especially loved the cat.
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| Carp swimming in the cistern |
The Basilica cistern was built by the same emperor, Justinian, who built Hagia Sophia. It is one of the largest Roman ruins still in existence. It was used to hold up to 100,000 gallons of water brought to Istanbul via the aqueduct. It was built in the 6th century, forgotten, then rediscovered by a Frenchman in the 17th century. He noticed the residents had unlimited freshwater from their wells and some even invited him to fish from them.
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| The forrest of ancient pillars is amazing |
The Basilica Cistern was damp, dark, and a very surreal place. It really felt like you were walking somewhere crusaders hid a secret treasure.
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| The sultan and one of his many wives |
For some reason the Cistern had a dress up and take a photo area. We had to partake.
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| At the Suleymaniye Mosque |
North of the Hagia Sophia is a mosque built by perhaps the greatest leader of the Ottoman Empire, Suleyman the magnificent. It is actually the largest mosque in Istanbul and our favorite, due to the simple and clean architecture.
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| Suleymaniye mosque from the courtyard |
The final resting place of Suleyman the great is in this courtyard. Along with his favorite concubine-turned-wife, Roxylena.
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| Some of the spices for sale at the spice market |
We decided to also walk around the Grand Bazaar and the spice market. These places were just as crazy as you would think. FIlled with people crowding the area, and vendors screaming. It was good fun. We managed to buy some delicious pumping seeds, local Turkish coffee, and dried apricot.
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| The Blue mosque at night from the sight of the ancient Hippodrome. |
We happened to be in Istanbul during the last days of Ramadan. The faithful fast all day during this time then come out in droves to eat when the sun comes down. They have a festival in the old town near our hotel, which we thought we would join (although it's hard to call it a festival when not a drop of alcohol is served). During dinner a fight broke out between some local yutes across the street from where we were eating. Apparently, this is a common occurrence during Ramadan, as tensions and hunger grow high.
This was a long, but awesome, day.
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