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!