Monday, May 09, 2016
In 1630, aTurkish
scientist named Hezarfen Ahmed Celebi studied flight and designed a set of
eagle wings that allowed him to fly from Galata Tower, in European Istanbul, 3KM
east to the Asian continent, where he landed in Dogancilar Square in Uskudar. The Sultan was not pleased, and had him exiled to Algeria.
There are many amazing things about this city, but a successful Icaris was not
on my list of expectations. We
spent a great day touring sites with our guide, Mustafa Tanribilir and learned
many new things – including this bit of history of the first intercontinental
flight.
We also had a driver today
and use of Muammer’s car, which allowed us to roam much farther and see some of
the less well known sites that were on my list of “must sees.” We began first with the Chora Monastery
in the Edirnekapi region of Istanbul, which some guidebooks call Church of St.
Savior in Chora. Because it was
located outside of the city walls built by Constantine, the building was called
“Chora”, which means “in the country” or “outside of the city” in Greek. The
history of the site begins earlier, but in the 6th century,
Emperor Justinian built a monastery.
It was also a burial place for important persons, including Patriarchs
and Metropolitans. The buildings
on the site have been reconstructed for various reasons, including earthquakes,
and most of the current structure comes from the 11th or 12th
Century. It was largely renovated
by the son of a wealthy family named Metochites. He had the main church rebuilt
and added an additional chapel (parecclesion) and added mosaic decorations and
frescos. When he died in 1332 he was buried in the grave niche in the
parecclesion south to the church. A unique aspect of the
mosaics is the use of scenes from the life of Mary that come from other (apocryphyl) sources
than the 4 evangelist gospels.
 |
| Mosaics in the Church of St. Savior in Chora (Chora Museum) |
The building itself is
under renovation again, and is completely sheltered under scaffolding and a
large metal roof – so no exterior photos. However, the surrounding neighborhood has a number of attractive old style wooden houses typical of Constantinople/Istanbul. The mosaics and frescoes inside were very interesting and I’m looking
forward to reading more about them to more fully understand their symbolism and
significance. Mustafa mentioned he
is taking a class to learn to read ancient Greek to allow him to translate some
of the writing that is included in many of the mosaics. We’ll have to return again and have him
tell us more.
I bought 2 books and some
cards at the gift shop and was very frustrated later to find that I had been poorly
treated by the shop vendor. I was
the only person in the shop and asked to pay with a credit card. He told me the machine was broken and
he could only take cash (180 TLira).
He added it up and showed the amount to me on a calculator. So I gave him what was essentially all
the Turkish lira that I had.
Then I went outside and joined Michael and Mustafa in the café in front
of the church and learned that Michael had just made a purchase at the same gift shop with his credit
card. I also realized that
although there was a sales register on his desk, the vendor had not used it to
ring up the sale and also gave me no receipt. I’m sure it all went as cash into his pocket. Grrrr.
 |
| Historic wooden houses, with typical Istanbul style/architecture |
 |
| A whimsical open cafe near the Chora Museum |
Next, the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchal church of St. George – the home of His Holiness Patriarch
Bartholomew – head of the Greek Orthodox faith. The large church and compound are from the early 1800s. The Greek Orthodox style of decoration
for their location of worship is probably the most different from the Islamic
tradition. Here, everything is
covered with figures and icons, which themselves are covered with silver and
gold and jewels. The large
iconostasis is breathtakingly impressive, as are the carved seats, the large
chandeliers, etc. In the front
right side, up near the iconostasis is a column that is revered because it is
associated with a portion of the column in Jerusulem to which Jesus was bound and
flagellated. I bought a CD of the
service and the seal of Patriarch Bartholomew as a small gift for my friend
Pauline.
 |
| Byzantium double headed eagle on facade of St. Georges |
 |
| Interior of St. George's - including a beautiful iconostatis |
So, now a break from the
holy and the sacred – except for driving by the Bulgarian Orthodox church of
St. Stephen – made entirely in sections of iron (pre-fab) in Vienna and erected
on it’s location in Fatih on the
Golden Horn in the 1800’s. It’s closed
for renovation, so we had to peek at it through the scaffolding as we drove
by. We drove by it on our way to
Eyup to visit the Pierre Loti Café.
Pierre Loti was a French writer who fell in love with a beautiful young
woman named Aziyade when he was stationed as an officer in Istanbul in 1876. They would meet illicitly and he wrote
a novel – "Aziyade" – describing their affair.
(But wait, there’s
more!) We hadn’t yet visited the
Beyoglu or Taksim area across the Golden Horn, other than to drive to the Kabatas
ferry with Muammer. So we drove
over the Ataturk Bridge and up to Taksim Square – the heart of modern Istanbul. It’s a lovely location, surrounded by
restaurants, shops and hotels.
Unfortunately, it was also the location of some difficulties between the
people and the government over the potential destruction of a beloved park
area, and more recently some terrorist activity. On a more positive note, everyone was out enjoying the
beautiful May sunshine and all seemed business as usual. We took a look at the Monument of the
Republic and Mustafa told us the story of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and the
foundation of the Republic of Turkey after the Turkish war of
independence. Most impressive, the
establishment of education, democratic voting (including women – very
progressive for the 1920s), the Latin alphabet and secularism. He was given the surname Ataturk as an
honorific and no one else is allowed to use this name.
 |
| The Monument to the Republic, honoring Mustafa Kemal Ataturk |
So, we walked Istiklal
Caddesi, this most famous pedestrian street of Istanbul (Independence Avenue) –
in the downhill direction, thank goodness. In addition to all the shops, clubs, restaurants, cinema,
etc, we saw the nostalgic tram and the Tunel – built in 1875. It is the world’s second oldest subway,
after the London Underground.
 |
| Nostalgic tram for tourists to travel up and down Istiklal Caddesi |
We stopped for lunch at a
great little café, Konak Kebap, located right on Istiklal Caddesi and walked
the 4 flights up to sit on their open air rooftop terrace – really a lovely
spot. We ordered their Doner style
kepab/gyros and a plate of salad – with homemade bread and nicely seasoned
meat. After lunch, we stopped to see Sant'Antonio Kilisesi - an Italian Roman Catholic church build in Venetian style just over 100 years ago.
 |
| Lunch: a Doner kebap with a salad |
 |
| View of Istiklal Caddesi from our rooftop terrace restaurant - nice! |
And finally, we walked to
Galata Tower – a round tower built in 1348 in the Genoese sector of the banking
area of the city. It’s 220 feet
high, nine stories. It had various
uses – prison, watchtower, launching pad for flight experiments, and
observation tower for fires. I
read it’s 9 stories tall and you’re lulled into complacency by the elevator
that takes you almost to the top –
but the last story or so is a tight circular staircase to gets you out on the
circular observation deck. Great
views and worth twice the effort required. And the story about Hezarfen Ahmed Celebi, which you only get if you have a guide as great as Mustafa.
 |
| Views from Galata Tower |
After we returned to the
ground from the Tower, Mustafa offered for us to take a walk across the Galata
Bridge, but we declined as it was time to return to Muammer’s office to decide
on what we wished to do about buying some items. So we hopped in the car, (once it arrived, as traffic was
getting pretty bad) and headed back to the Little Hagia Sophia and the MK
Travel Agency. We said goodbye to
Mustafa and were very grateful to have spent 2 days with him as our guide to
all things Istanbul. Really a
lovely person, smart and well informed with a great sense of humor and ready
smile.
We didn’t seem to be in
the mood for buying, despite looking at calligraphy and leather coats for
Michael, so set off in the car with driver to return to our hotel. We made dinner reservations at the
O’live Restaurant in the Yasmak Sultan Hotel, based on the recommendation of
our hotel clerk. It was a great choice
and cost less than $60 for a 3 course meal with wine and tea. It is a rooftop restaurant above the 5th
floor of the hotel with large windows all around which look out over the Golden
Horn, the Topkapi Palace and the Hagia Sofia. I watched as the two buildings turned gold and then rose in
the setting sunlight and the parrots and egrets flew around in the treetops. The dessert was especially tasty – two pieces
of baklava; apricot & almond and chocolate & hazelnut. Yum.
 |
| O'Live Restaurant with panoramic views of the old town |
 |
| Sunset over the Bosphorus |
On the way back to the hotel I bought a few textiles
from the shop next to the hotel and was happy with my bargaining skills, as I
paid just over 50% of the first quoted price. We were back in the room by 8:30 and packed up to leave at
5:30 tomorrow morning for our flight to Ephesus. Looking forward to it.
I am glad that you had a great time in my country Susan, it was nice meeting and guiding you :) You're welcome back anytime. I like all of your posts and read them word by word ;)
ReplyDelete