Cultural Learnings of Istanbul.....
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..... for Make Benefit Glorious Forum of Club 30!
I recently went to Istanbul, Turkey for my honeymoon two days after my wedding.
We took Emirates since it was the cheapest option at $1067/pax. The next cheapest was Qatar Airways at $1250/pax. Unfortunately the low cost came at a price: we had to transit twice at Colombo (for 8 hours) and Dubai (for two hours).
Anyway, we eventually reached Istanbul and the safety of our hotel, Hotel Mina. Hotel Mina is just a small boutique hotel in a side street with just forty rooms. The main downside of it is that the rooms are pretty small.
But that said, location-wise, it’s brilliant. Most of the main attractions are within a 500 meter radius of the hotel. And the way we saw it, we were going to spend a lot more time out of the room than in the room anyway.
Kapali Carsi (Grand Bazaar)
The Grand Bazaar, opened in the year 1461, is one of the oldest covered bazaars in the world. At over 4000 shops, it is also the world’s largest.
This is no ordinary pasar malam. For one thing, it’s open only during the day. The other is that it has its own gates and its own roofs.
One of the gates of the Grand Bazaar
There is an amazing array of things here that can be bought, from Turkish carpets to jewellery to leather products to prized Iznik tiles and so on. It has its own police station and mosque in the middle of the bazaar.
For shameless bargainers, this place is paradise. If you are willing to bargain hard, it is not difficult to bring the price down by a large amount. For example, we brought down the price of a traditional Turkish large tablespread from 250 Turkish liras to 110 TL before buying it (1 TL ~ SGD 0.85).
One of the streets in the Bazaar
Note that you are under no obligation to buy if you don’t want to. The shopkeeper may tornado his own shop and even offer you tea (and we drank it) and he will not hold a grudge against you if you don’t buy anything. However, once you offer a price that the shopkeeper accepts, it would be rude to change your mind and not buy it.
(to be continued)
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Sultanahmet Camii (Sultan Ahmed ‘Blue’ Mosque)
A view of the mosque from the roof of my hotel
A view of the mosque from Hagia Sophia
This mosque was built in 1616 by Sultan Ahmed I as a means of penance after an ill-advised war with Persia. It is built next to the Byzantine Hippodrome opposite the Hagia Sophia.
At the time it was built, this was one of the grandest mosques in the world, with six minarets. Legend has it that the sultan was criticized for being too presumptuous since the Grand Mosque in Mecca also had six minarets, and so he built a seventh minaret at the Grand Mosque.
The mosque courtyard. That little structure in the foreground is a fountain for ablutions.
The mosque itself isn’t really all that blue-ey. It was nicknamed the Blue Mosque because of the predominantly blue Iznik tiles that were used to decorate the interior of the dome.
A view of the interior
The front of the mosque, with the mihrab (niche showing the direction of prayer) and the minbar (the pulpit for Friday sermons)
It is still being used as a mosque. While visitors are allowed, everyone must take their shoes off and refrain from visiting during the five daily prayers (and especially during the Friday prayers).
(to be continued)
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Hagia Sophia
The Hagia Sophia ('Holy Wisdom' in Greek) was originally a cathedral dating from the 4th century AD. It was repeatedly burnt down and rebuilt over the centuries. After the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453 AD, it was converted into a mosque.
In 1935, after the abolition of the sultanate and subsequently the caliphate, the building was converted into a museum. It required extensive refurbishment works to stabilize the structure and improve its interior into its present form.
The interior of the museum
Internal view of the dome
A lustration urn carved out of a single block of marble - not sure what they're for
Byzantine emperors would be coronated at this spot
A ramp leading up to the second floor - it feels very Indiana Jones-like
The front section of the museum
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Topkapi Sarayi (Topkapi Palace)
Topkapi Palace is the medieval palace used by most of the Ottoman sultans between 1456 and 1856. This was the primary palace used until they moved out to the more European-style Dolmabahce Palace in the late 1800s.
Topkapi Palace Main Gate
Topkapi Palace is not one single building of its own, but rather, it is a complex of several buildings. It holds some of the most sacred relics in Islam (including Prophet Muhammad's cloak and sword). Too bad photographs couldn't be taken in those rooms.
A closeup of the gate
The audience chamber where the sultan receives guests
The interior of the audience chamber
The harem in the palace is a major attraction in its own right, and I'll go into that later.
(to be continued)
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Nice pics and commentaries
Waiting for more :P
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Topkapi Palace Imperial Harem
The Imperial Harem is what it sounds like: the section of the palace where the sultan's wives and concubines all live in, along with the Valide Sultan (Queen Mother) and the eunuchs.
The Tower of Justice next to the Harem
Interestingly enough, the Queen Mother is in charge of the harem, which means that she's effectively in charge of all the women her son gets to bonk.
That said, don't expect to see a lot of kinky ongoings while you're there.
Courtyard of the Eunuchs
The eunuchs would sit here to eat
Many of the rooms are tiled with these beautiful blue Iznik tiles
One of the meeting rooms for the concubines
The Queen Mother's bathroom
The Imperial Hall used for receiving guests
(to be continued)
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Yeni Camii (New Mosque)
Despite its name, this mosque was actually built in 1597. Construction was painstakingly slow due to political infighting and intrigue - it was only finally finished in 1663 and inaugurated in 1665.
This mosque is located at Eminonu on the southern shore of the Golden Horn.
Courtyard of the mosque. You can see people taking their ablutions at the ablutions fountain.
Lots of pigeons outside the mosque.
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Misir Casirsi (Egyptian 'Spice' Bazaar)
The Spice Bazaar was initially known as the New Bazaar. Rents from the bazaar were meant to pay for the upkeep of the nearby New Mosque.
It was eventually known as the Egyptian Bazaar (in Turkish) since most of the shops sold spices from Egypt.
The Bazaar entrance
This bazaar is significantly smaller than the Grand Bazaar, but it sells things like spices and sweets which are hard to find at the Grand Bazaar.
Lots of spices for sale
MEAT.
MORE MEAT.
Yeah, Turkish Viagra. Apparently this traditional sweet has aphrodisiac properties.
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errm
Did the viagra work? :D :D
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they have eunuchs....
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Originally posted by shrekho:
errm
Did the viagra work? :D :D
LOL, will know when we hear about little fudgester (The litte Fudge) :-)
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any more meat ?
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where's part on the kebabs~~???
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Slowly, slowly..... I'll create a section on food.....
Anyway, I didn't try the Turkish viagra, because I think it's mostly just hot air...
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Originally posted by fudgester:
Slowly, slowly..... I'll create a section on food.....
Anyway, I didn't try the Turkish viagra, because I think it's mostly just hot air...
Did you try the baths?
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I did go for the Turkish baths, but I'll go into further detail later....
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Originally posted by fudgester:
I did go for the Turkish baths, but I'll go into further detail later....
You're posting too slowly Fudgie :P -
double post
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Galata Bridge
A short distance away from the Spice Bazaar, the Galata Bridge is a simple low-level bridge bridging the districts of Galata and Eminonu across the Golden Horn. Symbolically, it is the link between the Old City of Istanbul and the districts where many non-Muslims lived in the Ottoman era, making it a bridge between cultures.
The first thing you notice about this bridge is the many, many fishermen who fish at the docks on the sides of the bridge.....
..... and on the bridge itself.
Another thing you will notice is that they catch a LOT of fish, considering that they're using fishing rods.
All this was caught by those two guys in jeans. Using fishing rods.
Also, you get to see street vendors selling mussels.
You tell the vendor how many mussels you want, and he will open it for you. You will eat it on the spot. Needless to say, I didn't dare try it, because I don't know for how long the mussels have been there.
One thing unique to the Eminonu side of the bridge is the traditional Istanbul fish sandwich - the Balik Ekmek. Literally meaning 'fish in bread', it was thought up by fishermen who had the brilliant idea of selling the fish they caught by cooking it right there in the boat itself.
The fishermen would catch the fish, fillet it, grill it, and stuff it into half a loaf of bread with onions and salad - all on the boat itself. You can take it to be the Ramly Burger of this area.
Now regulations prohibit fishing boats from selling food (out of hygiene concerns)..... but hey, they still have floating boats where the Balik Ekmek restaurants would do the grilling.
They grill the fish on the boat (right), pass it to the waiter on the dock (center), who will then pass it to the customers in the eating area (left).
One of the waiters was thrilled to learn that I was from Singapore, and insisted that I take a photo with him....
It's just a grilled fish sandwich, but trust me, you'll never taste a fresher grilled fish in your entire life.
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The grilled fish sandwich sounds delicious :)~
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...........
grilled fish sandwich sounds extremely delicious...
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Nothing beats eating seafood almost straight out of the water.
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*earmarks Turkey for possible future trip*
Nice pics! Keep them coming.
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Inspirations for year end BBQ
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Galata Kulesi (Galata Tower)
This is a tall medieval stone tower (supposedly) a short walk from the Galata bridge. Unfortunately, you have to go through a maze of alleyways (all uphill) in order to get to it.
Also known as the Christea Turris (The Tower of Christ) in Latin by the Genoese. This is a stone tower built in the district of Galata in 1348. In that time Galata was a colony mostly settled by Genoese tradesmen and their families.
It was initially used as an observation tower for the Galata defensive fortifications during the Byzantine era. In the Ottoman period, it became used as a fire observation tower, given how it has such a commanding view of the city.
Well, the view's nice, but that's about it. Kinda boring methinks.