It only took a few hours for Istanbul to become my favorite city in the world. It’s massive, vibrant, crazy, old, beautiful, smelly, historic, dirty, confusing, mysterious, exotic, crowded, and fascinating.
I loved the architecture. I loved the food. I loved the people. I loved the chaos. I loved hearing the calls to prayer blaring from the loudspeakers of the city’s minarets. I loved the hills and views. I loved the mixture of European and Asian influences. I loved the juxtaposition of seeing women in high heels and halter tops next to women wearing black robes that covered everything but their eyes. I loved the colors. I loved how old everything was. I loved how unfamiliar and exciting the city felt.
Here are a bunch of photos from the few days I spent in Istanbul with my brother and brother-in-law. Hopefully they convey at least to a small degree how great this city is.
A couple of obelisks in the Hippodrome. The one in the back is the Walled Obelisk (built in the 10th century). The one in the foreground is the Obelisk of Theodosius. It’s Egyptian, was built around 1400 BC, and was erected in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the 4th century.
One thing that struck me was just how many Turkish flags there were all over the city. I saw more flags in Istanbul than I’ve seen anywhere else in the world. Turkish nationalism is strong.
The Valens Aqueduct is a Roman creation dating back to the 4th century.
The famous Hagia Sophia, one of the more imposing and impressive religious structures I’ve seen. It played a huge role in the conversion of the Kievan Rus (the ancestors of modern Russians and Ukrainians) to Christianity. This is from Wikipedia: “In the year 987, as the result of a consultation with his boyars, Vladimir [the prince of Kiev] sent envoys to study the religions of the various neighboring nations whose representatives had been urging him to embrace their respective faiths. Of the Muslim Bulgarians of the Volga the envoys reported there is no joy among them; only sorrow and a great stench. In the gloomy churches of the Germans his emissaries saw no beauty; but at Hagia Sophia, where the full festival ritual of the Byzantine Church was set in motion to impress them, they found their ideal: ‘We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth,’ they reported, ‘nor such beauty, and we know not how to tell of it.'”
This circle on the floor of Hagia Sophia is where the Byzantine emperors were crowned. So cool. Hagia Sophia was built in 537 and was a Christian church until 1453, when it became a mosque. In 1935 it was declared a museum and is no longer an active place of worship.
A mosaic in Hagia Sophia
The inside of Hagia Sophia is a fascinating mixture of Christianity and Islam.
A mosaic of Jesus inside Hagia Sophia
Ruins from an even earlier church outside of Hagia Sophia. The sheep represent the apostles of Jesus.
The Blue Mosque, which I think is the most beautiful building in the world. It’s something I’d wanted to see for years and years.
Me and the Blue Mosque
Inside the Blue Mosque. The mosque was built in 1616.
Inside the amazing Basilica Cistern. It was built in the 6th century and was rediscovered in the 16th. Here’s an excerpt from Lonely Planet: “It seemed to have been forgotten by the city authorities sometime before the Conquest. Enter scholar Petrus Gyllius, who was researching Byzantine antiquities in 1545 and was told by locals that they could obtain water by lowering buckets in their basement floors. Some were even catching fish this way. Intrigued, Gyllius explored the neighbourhood and discovered a house through whose basement he accessed the cistern. Even after his discovery, the Ottomans (who referred to the cistern as Yerebatan Sarayı) didn’t treat the underground palace with the respect it deserved and it became a dumping ground for all sorts of junk, as well as corpses.” (Photo by Seth)
One of the medusa heads in the cistern. The cistern was constructed using materials from other structures and temples, and those materials apparently included a couple really neat looking stone heads. (Photo by Seth)
Inside the Grand Bazaar
Inside Suleymaniye Mosque
Vendor at the appropriately named Spice Bazaar
Suleymaniye Mosque and the Bosphorus (or Golden Horn, to be more specific) waterfront
Galata Tower, built in 1348
Looking over to Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque from Galata Tower
Istanbul has one of the greatest skylines ever
A chicken shish kebab meal. Yum.
Dolma
Taksim Square, home to the protests and brutal police suppression of a couple months ago. There were riot police everywhere.
Istiklal Caddesi, one of Istanbul’s main streets. 3 million people apparently visit the street each day on the weekends. I believe it.
A dome inside Chora Church, home to arguably the best Byzantine mosaics in Istanbul
Trevor climbing a surprisingly steep section of the famous wall of Constantinople
Looking out at the city from the top of the old city wall. It was a beautiful day.
The New Mosque. It was built in 1665.
Rumeli Fortress on the Bosphorus, as seen from a Bosphorus cruise. It was built in 1452 by Mehmed II, the Ottoman sultan that conquered Constantinople.
Maiden’s Tower sits on a little island in the Bosphorus
Lahmacun, a kind of thin Turkish pizza
Sunset on the Bosphorus