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Istanbul Part 2, Touring and
Eating
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Istanbul Part 2, Touring and
Eating
Sunday, April 2
Hello again,
In the last chapter, we were underground in the old cistern. But we also walked around above ground and saw both famous and not-so-famous sights. Of course there are mosques and bazaars. But since we are so busy with our own remodel here in Kiev, we also looked at places we might fix up here in Istanbul. (Just a mind game - no intention to move!). My favorite had a great location, just around the corner from Topkapi Palace and St. Sophia's church/mosque. Needs a little work but what place doesn't? Actually, we understand that such buildings are really historical landmarks from the last century when all the finest homes in Istanbul were made of wood with overhanging upper stories. Today, they are protected from development so to use the space, the original structure has to be rebuilt - an expensive proposition.
Speaking of remodels, our next historic sight is called both St. Sophia's and Hagia Sophia. This was particularly interesting for us since back home in Kiev we look out on St. Sophia's church which was modeled after the Hagia Sophia 1,000 years ago. Now we were at the real thing. The current structure was built as a Christian church and inaugurated by the Roman Emperor Justinian in 537. About a thousand years later, the Ottomans converted it into a mosque and added minarets and ornate mausoleums. Both the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and Kiev's St. Sophia church have been extensively re-worked over the centuries so that there was little resemblance.
The inside of the church/mosque has a gold-covered "sultan's lodge" to the left and, on the right, the special rooms for the readers of the Koran ("muezzin"). There is a 9th Century fresco of the Madonna and Christ Child at the top of the dome which was above the location of the original altar. Even though Islam does not allow likenesses of people, especially of faces, this fresco has been preserved for almost 1200 years. During our visit, the main dome of the building was being repaired with scaffolding reaching to the very top. This gives an idea of the scale of the building and the skill of the original builders.
After leaving Hagia Sophia, we were ready for a walk to our lunch. Istanbul is famous for food and seafood is a speciality so we descended to the shore of the Sea of Marmora, just where it turns into the Bosphorus Straights. This is a very busy shipping lane since all goods going to the Black Sea must sail through these relatively narrow waters. One ship seemed to have missed something on his charts but it makes for a nice tourist attraction. Meanwhile, over our other shoulder kids were on their playground under the protection of the Blue Mosque.
Eventually, we did make it to the Fish Market. After living in inland Kiev for so long, the display of seafood was wonderful. Everything seemed very fresh and many of the fish were being held in tanks - "held" except when they flipped with enough force to jump out onto the sidewalk. For lunch, we were lured into a restaurant with a promise of a water view as soon as such a table opened up. And that's exactly what happened. A sales pitch perhaps, but we had learned that salesmen here understand delivering on the promises they make. (For us this was a welcome change from Soviet-trained service people.)
So that's Part 2. In the next part, we'll show a little bit of shopping and some rug museums. Colorful pictures, I promise.
John and Marianne.
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Originally emailed April 2, 2000. Reformatted for the web May 20, 2001
This page created on a Macintosh using PhotoPage by John A. Vink.