Turkey: Part 2

In my last post, I talked about my trip to Turkey, focusing mostly on the sites and monuments associated with its Byzantine past. In this post, I want to share photos of the modern Turkish aspect of the city. The history of Istanbul/Constantinople changed forever in 1453, when Ottoman forces took the city and vanquished the last remnants of the Eastern Roman Empire. By the time of the conquest, Constantinople had declined substantially since its heydays a couple centuries earlier. In the subsequent centuries following the conquest, the Ottomans renovated and expanded the imperial capital, rebuilding the city to new levels of splendor. Following the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey, the city grew into a megacity spanning two continents.

After I visited the Hagia Sophia and the Basilica Cistern, I went to visit the Grand Bazaar, located a ten-fifteen minute walk from the Basilica Cistern. Istanbul straddles the key Bosphorus Strait, linking Europe and Asia, and because of its strategic location, was a major trading hub from its founding in 667 BC. The incredible riches of the spice trade all flowed through this city before reaching Europe. The Grand Bazaar continues to show this wealth in magnificent splendor. In a beautiful indoor market, merchants still sell spices, carpets, and Turkish delight. I walked around in the Bazaar and tried a few different types of Turkish delight in a few shops before buying a box to take home.

The Grand Bazaar.

After visiting the Grand Bazaar, I visited the Topkapi Palace, home of the sultans and their harem. The palace complex is enormous, spanning multiple buildings and courtyards. Walking through the rooms covered with dazzling blue and white porcelain, you can conjure images of Ottoman ministers sitting on comfy cushions by the windows (also known as ottomans) advising the sultan on the affairs of state. Besides the impressive architecture, the palace also houses some of the sultans’ greatest treasures: historic weapons (e.g. the sword carried by Mehmet the Conqueror as he entered the city), European clocks, and paintings of the sultans and their triumphs. The greatest treasures in the treasury, however, must be the sacred relics of the Abrahamic faiths: Moses’ staff (that turned into a snake), King David’s sword, a bone of John the Baptist, and beard hair of the prophet Mohammed. Even if the authenticity of these relics is not clear (like for all relics), the historic acceptance of their legitimacy and the adulation of the faithful today give these artifacts inherent value. It was incredibly moving to see so many devout Muslims (as well as people of other faiths) pay homage to these artifacts.

Bedroom in Topkapi Palace.

View of Bosphorus Strait. In the foreground, the wall is remnant of Byzantine era fortifications. In the background is the Bosphorus Bridge.

View of the Golden Horn and Galata from Topkapi Palace.

The Istanbul Archaeology Museum, which formerly was part of the palace. Currently, it’s under renovation, so most of the collection is not on display.

 All in all, however, I was more impressed by the Dolmabahce Palace, which I visited the next day. While I could still imagine the Topkapi Palace being the residence of a rich and large royal family, the scale of the luxury of the Dolmabahce Palace was over the top, putting even the Chateau of Versailles to shame. From a glistening white façade facing the sea, to crystal staircases, to grand rooms studded with purely decorative marble columns, the palace has something to please everyone. It is almost as if the sultan, indecisive about which luxurious style his palace should be in, decided to include little bits of everything, so that he’ll have one room to stay in if he’s in a marble mood and another for when he decides that gold is the way to go. Photography is not allowed inside the palace, which is probably a good thing given how crowded it is: from the entrance, there is a queue all the way to the exit. Despite the throngs of tourists, I still enjoyed the palace a lot. It shed a lot of light on the sultans’ decadence in the nineteenth century, as well as the competitiveness among the European monarchs on who could build the most extravagant palace.

Facade of Dolmabahce Palace facing the sea.

Elaborate gate of Dolmabahce Palace.

 I also went to some nice viewpoints for panoramic views of the city. My first day in the city, I went to the Asian side in the late afternoon to see the sun set on the old town. I took the ferry running from Eminonu to Uksudar, and from there, I walked south along the coastline. Historically, the settlement on the Asian coast was considered to be a different city, Chalcedon, famous for the Ecumenical Council that gave Chalcedonic Christianity its name. In fact, Chalcedon was an older city than Byzantium, founded by supposedly blind Greek colonists (the ancients thought these colonists must have been blind to miss the obviously superior location of Byzantium located just across the strait). Nowadays, the Asian side of the city is integrated with the rest of Istanbul, but it still maintains a less hectic and more hip atmosphere. All along the coastline, fishermen cast their lines into the water, catching fresh fish that are then served at the restaurants and stalls lining the coast. I had a delicious plate of mussels stuffed with rice: the shells were opened and filled with rice and spices before being steamed. I also scouted around for good photo locations for the sunset. I had hoped that the sun would set over the Old Town, but instead it set over Galata; I suspect that had I come earlier in the year, the sun would set more towards the south. Furthermore, the city was further away than I expected, and the domes and minarets were quite spread-out across the horizon. Because the city would occupy only a small horizontal strip along the horizon, I tried to find a good foreground for my images. I ended up finding two interesting locations: the Maiden’s Lighthouse, and a small pier jutting out into the sea.  

The Maiden’s Lighthouse. In the background from left to right: the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace, and (at very right) Suleymaniye mosque.

View from a small pier.

The other more classic panoramic view of the city is from Galata. Because it is much closer to the old town than the Asian coast, Galata offers a clearer view of the old town, and during golden hour, the sun illuminates the old town at just the right angle. The most often photographed view is from the Galata tower. However, when I went there two hours before sunset, there was a two-hour (at least) line for climbing the tower. Wandering around the neighborhood a bit, I found the Galata Konak café, located on the rooftop terrace of a building. The view from this café is probably just as nice as the one from Galata tower, but there was no line and crowd. Moreover, instead of spending money on a ticket, you can spend the same amount (well, just a little bit more) for a full meal.

Galata Bridge, looking towards the Galata tower.

The busy Istiklal Avenue in the Galata district.

View from Galata Konak café.

On my final day in Istanbul, I went on a Bosphorus cruise to better understand this narrow pathway between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea (I took the regular Bosphorus line of the public ferry, which runs from Eminonu to Rumeli Kavagi, leaving every 45 minutes starting at 11:00; it is more flexible than the Short Bosphorus Cruise, and moreover, you can get off and explore at the various interesting places along the strait). Control over the Bosphorus has been one of Istanbul’s key geographic advantages, from the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), when Athens sought to control the city of Byzantium to ensure safe grain supplies from the Black Sea, to the geopolitics of the nineteenth century, when Russia sought to gain control over the Bosphorus to give them an outlet to the Mediterranean Sea. Sailing through the Bosphorus, I gained a better understanding of the role the city plays. The strait is surprisingly narrow and appears to be a very wide river winding (it is rather twisty) through a hilly landscape. A constant stream of ships, both passenger ferries and giant tankers, sails through the winding strait, passing under the several bridges spanning the strait. Continuing north, the population density quickly dwindles down, and the coast is dotted with charming fishing villages. I sailed as far north as the Rumeli Hisari fortress, where I stopped to explore.

Dolmabahce Palace from the Bosphorus ferry.

View of Istanbul suburbs from the Bosphorus ferry.

 The Rumeli Hisari fortress, along with its cousin fort across the strait, was constructed in 1452 by the Ottomans at the narrowest point of the strait. At that time, the Ottoman forces were besieging Constantinople, but they had difficulty preventing supplies from reaching the city by sea. The Sultan Mehmet ordered construction of a fortress to block the shipping, and his forces built the fortress in just four months. After the conquest of the city, the fortress fell into disuse but remained in pretty good condition. The towers provide commanding views of the Bosphorus strait and the Asian coastline, and best of all, there are relatively few other tourists there.

The Rumeli Hisari castle, as seen from the Bosphorus strait.

The view from atop one of the towers of the castle.

 Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Ephesus and Istanbul and would highly recommend visiting these two cities. Logistics-wise, it was quite easy to get around. The tram and subway systems of Istanbul are excellent. I had more trouble with buses not running on time (at least relative to the Google maps times), but it wasn’t too much of an issue. Of course, the most fun way of getting around Istanbul is via ferry; from Eminonu, located right next to Galata Bridge on the Sultanahmet side, you can reach Asia (e.g. Uksudar) or cruise along the Bosphorus, enjoying beautiful views along the way. The ferries are very cheap, and they accept the Istanbul Card (which you can use for the trams, metro, and buses as well). Ephesus is a bit trickier to get to. I flew from Istanbul to Izmir airport, which is connected to a train station. From there, I took the train to Selcuk, and from Selcuk, I took a taxi to the upper gate of Ephesus (you can also take a shuttle, but the shuttle only reaches the lower gate; I ended up taking the shuttle back). As for getting from Istanbul airport to the city center, there are buses (see here) but no metro as far as I know. I arrived late to the airport so I just took a taxi to the city. Getting back, I took a bus from Taksim square in central Istanbul, but the bus was a little bit hard to find, so be sure to get there at least twenty minutes early!

Turkey: crossroad of Asia and Europe

In the next series of blog posts, I plan to describe some of the stories behind the photos I have taken. Some of these photos date from a year or two ago, and others are from the recent months. Hopefully, some additional context can help you better understand these photos!

I visited Turkey this May (May 2019). It was a bit of a spur of the moment trip; the UK had a “Summer Bank Holiday” at the end of May coinciding with Memorial Day in the US, and I wanted to make the most of the long weekend. Turkey was a country that always fascinated me. On top of being a Muslim-majority country (I’ve never visited such a country before), it has a storied past, being an important theater of Lydian, Greek, Persian, Roman, Byzantine, and finally Ottoman/Turkic histories. In particular, I am interested in Byzantine history, having taken a course on it in college; it is a bit of a weird obsession given how traditionally unpopular it is.

View of Istanbul. From left to right, Asia (the ancient city of Chalcedon), the Bosphorus strait, Topkapi Palace, the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Galata Bridge, and the Golden Horn are all visible.

To give a bit of a context, here’s a brief account of the history of the land occupied by modern day Turkey. In ancient times, Asia Minor was under the control of the Lydian empire, with parts of the Aegean coast occupied by Greek cities and colonies. The Lydian empire was conquered by Persia under King Cyrus the Great, and after this, Persia and the various Greek city-states fought numerous wars, culminating with the conquest of Alexander the Great. After Alexander, Asia Minor was under the control of the Hellenistic successors of Alexander for a couple centuries before the Romans came. The Romans, in one form or another, occupied Anatolia for more than a millennium. During this period, the ancient Greek colony of Byzantium gained special significance when Emperor Constantine decided to establish an Eastern capital there, a new Rome fit for the newly christianized empire. This city, renamed as Constantinople, gave its name to the Eastern remnant of the Roman empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The so called Byzantine empire (also called the Eastern Roman Empire) had its ups and downs, lasting until 1453, when it was conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The imperial capital of Constantinople was later renamed in the twentieth century to Istanbul.

With this impressive weight of history, I, a history geek, was naturally enthralled by the country. My first destination was the ancient city of Ephesus on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor. First a Greek colony, it became the capital of the Roman province of Asia, home of the Temple of Artemis, one of the ancient wonders. Many famous people of the past visited the city, including Alexander the Great, Mark Antony, and of course, the apostle Paul, who evangelized at Ephesus and, according to Acts, was shooed out of the city by angry silversmiths shouting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” Ephesus declined greatly around the time of the Arab invasions in the seventh century, and now, all that remain are ruins, albeit perhaps some of the most impressive Roman ruins in existence.

On my day in Ephesus, I started by visiting the ruins of the ancient city. Starting from the upper gate, I walked along an ancient Roman “main street”, passing by temples, baths, amphitheaters, and other public buildings. All around lying on the ground are scattered remains of statues, columns, and inscriptions from the Roman era, objects which would surely be behind glass cases in museums anywhere else. At the terminus of the path stands the impressive facade of the library of Celsus. This library, an impressive center of learning, is conveniently located next to a brothel and a bath. Going through the Mithridates gate, constructed by ex-slaves of Augustus Caesar, I entered the main market. It doesn’t take too much imagination to conjure images of a bustling commercial center; the store-front signs, both text and images, are still lying around there! Exiting the market, I came upon the main amphitheater of the city, where Paul supposedly preached and where the silversmiths supposedly rioted. Finally, continuing on, I reached the ancient harbor, now several miles from the sea, as well as the Church of Mary, the site of the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus.

“Main street” of ancient Ephesus. The end of the street is the Library of Celsus. All along this street are the columns of fountains, temples, and baths.

The Roman public (in a broader sense) toilets.

The great amphitheater of Ephesus, where St. Paul preached and where the silversmiths shouted “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

Olive oil and wheat for sale!

Exiting the ancient city of Ephesus, I had a few hours remaining before my flight to Istanbul. During this time, I visited the temple of Artemis, which is a mile or so away from the archaeological park. One of the ancient wonders of the world, the temple is now only a shadow of its former glory, with only one complete column standing. From the temple, I made my way up a nearby hill, to Selcuk Castle and the Basilica of St. John. This ancient Byzantine church was built over the (supposed) grave of St. John the Evangelist, who came to Ephesus with the Virgin Mary after the Crucifixion. Although in ruins, one can easily imagine the enormity of this ancient church.

The remains of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. One sole column stands intact in swamp land. The background is Selcuk Castle and the remains of the Basilica of St. John.

The Basilica of St. John, built over the Evangelist’s grave.

After a full day in Ephesus, I boarded my flight to Istanbul. The Byzantine historian Michael Psellos described his home city as a new, more glorious Rome; from my brief stay there, I’d have to concur that Istanbul is one of the few cities that can contest old Rome in both magnificence and heritage. I stayed in the Sultanahmet district, the historical heart of the city, where the imperial palaces, the Hippodrome (chariot race stadium), and church (later mosque and now museum) of Hagia Sophia are located. My first morning in Istanbul, I visited the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia, which are located a few minutes walk from each other. It was a little rainy that morning, but perhaps that helped keep the number of tourists down. I entered the Blue Mosque as soon as it was open. It was incredibly beautiful, both the exterior and what little I could see in the interior (the Blue Mosque was undergoing intensive restoration). I spent maybe twenty minutes at the Blue Mosque, but those twenty minutes were incredible.

The Blue Mosque

Interior of Blue Mosque.

After leaving the Blue Mosque, I head towards Hagia Sophia, the church dedicated to Holy Wisdom. The Hagia Sophia was constructed in AD 537 under the order of Emperor Justinian, right next to the Hippodrome and the imperial palace. I remember reading about this church in seventh grade history class, about how incredible of an architectural achievement the church is, and ever since, I dreamed of visiting it. Walking in, I could not help but be impressed by the immensity of the interior space; I can totally imagine the amazement of Prince Vladimir the Great of the Rus, who, when shopping for a religion for his pagan Slavic subjects, exclaimed, “We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth” upon entering the Hagia Sophia. On the walls and ceilings were both Orthodox mosaics and Muslim calligraphy/decoration, a testament to the building’s time as a mosque under Ottoman rule. The building even houses the grave of Enrico Dandalo, the Doge of Venice during the Fourth Crusade, when the Crusaders sacked the church and brought its valuables to Venice.

Hagia Sophia, once a church and mosque, and now a museum.

The interior of the Hagia Sophia. “We no longer knew whether we were in heaven or on earth”.

Close by the Hagia Sophia is the Hippodrome, the chariot racing stadium of Byzantine times. Chariot racing displaced gladiatorial combat after the christianization of the Roman Empire, and in its heyday, enjoyed immense popularity. The main teams of the day were the Blues and the Greens, and the populace was divided in their support for these teams. Loyal fans of these teams frequently rioted, once almost overthrowing Emperor Justinian. I suppose the closest modern equivalent is the British soccer hooligan culture. Unfortunately, all that remain of the Hippodrome are the three monuments standing in the middle of the race track, around which the charioteers used to go.

The two Egyptian obelisks standing in the middle of the Hippodrome. They were brought over by Constantine and his successors to adorn the new capital.

The Serpent Column of Delphi. This monument was cast in 478 BC by the Greek cities after their victory in the Persian Wars. Made from the bronze of Persian weapons, this monument was given as an offering to Apollo in Delphi.

Also close by to the Hippodrome is the Basilica Cistern, the storage place of water brought in to the city via the aqueducts. The cisterns are remarkably well preserved and pretty creepy, especially the columns resting on Medusa’s head (the Romans were master recyclers). The cisterns were a nice cool respite from the May heat and a testament to the quality of Roman engineering.

The Basilica Cistern.

Medusa’s head casually resting at the bottom of a column.

For the Byzantine history geeks, another must-see is the Church of Chora. This church originally was outside the city walls of Constantinople (chora means countryside), and it contains some of the best preserved mosaics from the Byzantine empire. Byzantine art was historically looked down upon as stagnant or a regression from classical art, but this church was mind-blowingly beautiful. One interesting observation I had was that Byzantine mosaics were very easy to understand compared to Western Catholic religious art. Despite not knowing Greek, I had no trouble understanding the stories that the mosaics are trying to tell.

The final stop on my Byzantine history tour was the Theodosian Walls. Constructed in AD 413, these walls were breached only once in history, and not for the lack of trying. Despite numerous sieges by Avars, Persians, Arabs, Slavs, crusaders, and Turks, these walls protected Constantinople from harm and conquest until 1453, when the Ottomans finally managed to breach the walls with gigantic cannons and equally large casualties. Standing on top of the walls, I tried to imagine being a Byzantine soldier, looking out at an army of mass and charge covering the entire landscape before me. I feel like these walls are an under-appreciated sight in Istanbul. Perhaps it is for the better, as it leaves one precious location of peace and quiet away from the hordes of tourists.

Chora Church mosaics. Over the doorway is a picture of Christ of Chora. On the ceiling is the miraculous transformation of water into wine and the multiplication of bread.

The Theodosian Walls, still standing after more than a millennia of battles and sieges.

These were all the Byzantine sights that I saw while I was in Turkey. But of course, Turkey and Istanbul have a lot more to offer. In the centuries after the conquest of Constantinople, the Ottomans and later Turkey rebuilt the city to new heights,. In my next post, I will describe the Turkish side of Istanbul in greater depth.

Launching "recording reality"

I am excited to launch my website, “recording reality”, to share with you photos I have taken of places around the world. The name of the website refers to the Japanese word for photograph, 写真. The first kanji means “to write” or “to record”, and the second kanji means “truth” or “reality”. This of course refers to one of the principal aims of photograph: to capture a moment in time of the physical world around us.

A little bit of information about me: I am a Chinese-American from the state of California living in London. My main job is as a computer scientist, and I pursue photography as a hobby. In my spare time, I like to read, mostly history, art, or science books. Because of these interests, travel for me is always a mixture of practicing photography, seeing amazing artwork and architecture first-hand, and recalling the history of the place I’m visiting.