Turkiye - Constantinople & Smyrna

binduchandana
May 6, 2024
12 min read

Updated: Jul 22, 2024

Constantinople

Another destination that was not on the radar; work took me to Turkiye. I was supposed to go to Izmir but with no direct flights, I had to, yes had to, fly via Istanbul. My motto for travel has always been; don't pass any opportunity. I don't like pushing it to future, its seems very arrogant, like I know what my future will be. I am the most clueless about my future, many people are great at predicting and planning. I on the other hand, see short-distances at a time, probably would go day to day if I had more money, more leave and unadulterated health.

I was to travel alone, but by the time I landed in Istanbul we were a merry-three plus one. The plus one was a wild coincidence, added extra color to our small gang of three, the child's second trip with me in less than 3 months, nothing less than groovy.

History of Turkiye - a timeline for perspective. Please note, as with most content on this blog, this is a slice to be added to your already known slice of Turkiye or it can be the one slice that can open up a rabbit hole for you - this blog is not comprehensive and that has never been my intent.

The timeline at the bottom covers from 10,000 BCE to Present; the top (in black) are the people and events that took place over the millenia. The blue in the middle is crude representation of Turkiye, marking important cities for perspective. And the gray are the sites we immersed ourselves in.

Breaking the blog down to sites, cultural revelry and neighbourhoods & walks.

Sites

A relevant map of the old city.

We covered a whole lot of the 'must do' sites; in no particular order:

The Hippodrome Area

Hippodromes were common during the time of the greeks - chariot racing and all other kinds of racing. And just like open air venues of today, they were a place for different kinds of social gatherings. The area is currently called Sultanahmet square, the older part of the city. An open space with multiple artifacts and of course parts of the massive stadium seating that even in its ruinous stage was so very impressive.

This hippodrome was something that was on our must-see list. You see, there was an artifact here that was brought from Delphi, Greece. A column, serpentine, that was a gift to the new city of Constantinople - this column was built to commemorate the victory of the greeks over the persians. Without the magnitude of context it is just a column that turned green from its original copper colour.

There was also an obelisk from Egypt, belonging to Thutmose III, casually 'brought' by Theodosius to adorn the hippodrome.

Just love seeing the connecting points of the different ancient civilizations - humbling always, the world was always flat, Mr. Friedman.

Aya Sofya

Was a church built over a pagan altar by Constantine I, the man who named the city after himself. The church got damaged by fire, rebuilt again, was looted during the 4th Crusades (of course) and was rebuilt by the Ottomans but as a mosque and currently stands as one - functional too.

The outside was a mix of two to three distinctive styles and also gave no indication on how the inside was structured.

Beautiful, mosaic and the colors, aesthetics at its highest. A quiet space meant to generate awe, quite like many religious spaces. Walking around, it's hard not to wonder how it could have instantly humbled & scared the common person.

Blue Mosque

A relatively new structure, built in the 17th century by the Ottomans. This one was built over parts of the old Hippodrome. This was built to surpass the Aya Sofya and to let the world know that the Ottomans were here to stay.

The blue mosque - superbly elegant and so very symmetrical. Built to showcase subtlety and grace. Clean lines and minimal fuss, and again stunning colour aesthetic.

The turmoil and the scars of Aya Sofya starkly missing.

Meandered towards the Topkapi palace. The interest was not as high (as it was not that old), so debated the really high entrance fees for a bit. Succumbed and went in.

Topkapi Palace

A massive complex of approximately 150 odd acres, we grossly underestimated the time it would take to walk through the entirety of space.

During the time of the greeks this was where the acropolis of the city of Byzantine was situated. Constantine's palace lay in ruins by the time the Ottomans took over. Mehmet II started with the building of the topkapi palace; drew out the overall layout of the palace. Eventually multiple kings added their own touch and buildings that they needed. The present palace complex has been the same since the mid 17th century.

We walked through as many buildings as we could, were impressed by the library, the maze of the harem and the audience hall. Was a lot of take in a small amount of time. The Ottomans had a lovely aesthetic too - very understated in so many ways - including painted walls, which we all know can go so horribly wrong. Contributed to the serene-ness of the place. The photographs below are from the places mentioned above.

Basilica cistern or Yerebatan Sarayi (sunken palace)

An underground water filtration system for the palaces during the Byzantine period; started by Constantine and later expanded by Justine - always unnerving when we attribute the building of the these impressive structures to the ruler of the times, texts claim that it took 7000 slaves to build it, no credit given to them. I figure it is some type of cognitive dissonance that I experience, pretty much every time I see historical places; the pendulum swings between appreciation and horror. Actually a very common state of mind these days for most everything - do I watch a movie directed by a me-too accused, do I acknowledge my faith publicly as it is so severely unrecognizable in the mainstream today, do I remain friends with people who insult in the name of humor, the list goes on. I do digress.

The cistern is eerie and the disco lights do not help. The medusa carved on the pillars, the addition of modern sculptures, the endless columns and the movement of water playing tricks on your mind. Do not miss it though, its insane.

The Galata tower

A majestic tower in the heart of the city, built by Justinian during the Byzantine period, was supposed to be the tallest building in those times.

We stayed 20m from the Galata tower, sadly, it was getting renovated, so we couldn't really walk to the top; was easy to give directions to the cab guys though.

Bosphorus the Strategic

A natural strait which connects via the marmara sea, Asia and Europe. hence strategic and coveted by all - a commerce and military advantage. The golden horn being the estuary that protected Constantinople.

A cruise in the cold was embarked upon and as the evening passed one could see Constantinople of the past. Some of the important monuments that dotted the shores were shouted out at us by the 'captain' of the boat. It was entertaining and meant for the tourist who experiences the place in the present moment and most of the time, moves on; unlike me who comes with historical baggage and a desperate need for so much more. I have been accused of being judgemental of that very tourist and I accept.

Some dots that I liked;

The maidan's tower or Leander's tower - the stories of this tower are plentiful, two prominent ones are - the emperor was trying to protect his daughter from a prophesy of being killed by a snake bite at the age of eighteen. The snake comes in the form of a worm in a gift-basket of fruits and kills her anyway. There is a similar tale in the Indian mythologies too. The other one is around Leander - the tragic love story of Hero, a priestess in the temple of Athena and Leander a commoner; this story has a twin in the greek mythology. It definitely has a tragic vibe, especially in the evening light.

The tower was built in 403 BCE as a customs station and each regime that came later used it for multiple purposes.

Rumelihisarı fort was constructed in the 14th century by the Ottomans for the obvious reasons of protection and watch.

The evening skyline as we headed back - at a macro-level Istanbul has an otherworldly quality.

The school of dolphins was an unexpected treat - my first time, in the wild and up-close.

Cultural Revelry

The Deverish performance was surprisingly authentic, how do I know it was authentic - they took their time, there was no gimmicky swirling, the music was live and played on actual instruments of the culture and we were not allowed to record or take pictures. As always, there was one old man who ignored the rules. The museum set up outside gave the complete history of deverish as a way to attain bliss. Watching them was mesmerising in pockets.

The Istanbul archaeological museum, a massive treasure trove, a day is not enough - it has over a million artifacts collected from the time of Mehmet the Conqueror, he was the Sultan in mid 15th century. It opened to the public in the year 1880.

I really loved the way their display was set up, especially Troy through the ages. There was an AV that gave Troy's history in a beautiful snapshot and a physical structure of how Troy was shaped over the millennia as it got destroyed and rebuilt multiple times. Troy or otherwise known as IIion has a history of 5000 years.

The other very cool aspect of the museum was massive murals depicting some of the stories and events of the periods. Just breathtaking detail and imagery. The way information is brought alive is a complex art indeed.

The rest of the museum was chronological structured - prehistory to Turkiye today, my hand-drawn timeline above is a decent reference. So as always it starts off with artifacts that are common across older civilizations - pottery, weapons and jewelry along with ritualistic paraphernalia. And along the way I always see something that looks like something else that I saw in another museum of a civilization far, far away.

Neighbourhoods & walks

I averaged about 15-17 thousand steps a day and drank maybe once, was the fittest vacation in a long time. We covered many areas, a glimpse if you please:

Galata

A touristy place for sure but definitely a place I would stay again. It is central-ish and the access to good food, coffee and jazz/other music bars was unbeatable, not to mention shopping and some very interesting art galleries. It is also 1 km+ away from the water, which was really nice.

Taxim

Another tourist hotspot. Our walk from Galata to Taxim was a melding of multiple sights - Istanbul showcasing how well it can hold old & new and east and west.

Sultanahmet

Walking around old city was, not surprisingly, like walking around old-city Hyderabad or Bangalore, except this was much much cleaner. The vendors were a tad bit aggressive in their selling techniques so we scurried everytime we passed a set of stores selling souvenirs.

Ortekoi

A part of the older area which has a lovely mosque by the water and also a street filled with the famous baked potato (Kumpir) shops of Istanbul. Being an avid fan of the much maligned potato, I insisted we make our way there. The mosque was stunning but since it was a functioning mosque, women were not allowed in the interior part of it and we unawarely walked in during prayer time, awkwardly walked out.

The Kumpir was a bust, did not like it and again the vendors were not very nice. Upset my child very much as they made fun of my Indian headshake. Disturbed the mood a bit, we headed out towards the by-lanes of Ortekoi and found a really nice cafe. A friendly and good barista welcomed us with good coffee and cake, we ended up sitting there a long while and chatting about everything, including casual racism.

Balat

An instagrammable-ly pretty part of Istanbul. Also had great cafes and antique stores. A must see, for at least a meal, we went into one which had cats galore. It was a relaxed meal as we ate while we petted the cats - Bigglesworth and Dr.Evil style - no offence to Bigglesworth but Istanbul cats are gorgeous.

Kadikoy/Moda

The eastern/Anatolian side of Istanbul - quieter less touristy and a different vibe, seemed like a more authentic/local part of Istanbul compared to the western/European side. We took a ferry across and then proceeded to walk around in the neighbourhood. Sat by the waters for the longest while watching the sailboats. Lunch at an Italian place closed the day for us.

The sights of Istanbul was something I had heard so much about over the decades that I felt like I didn't need to see it, glad I went against that thought. And the variety for vegetarians was outstanding - fresh veggies, lentils, soups and we even got a version of parathas (gozleme) and curd rice, the turks love, love their yogurt and buttermilk!

Smyrna

Izmir, as it is known today, was for work. One week in the city that was one of the earliest established cities in the region; from evidence of life during the neolithic times and has an urban history of 3000 odd years, was so exciting. Right by the water with easy access to the greek islands, a relatively short ferry ride, the city is picturesque and welcoming. My work was fantastic and the people great - I had some time to sight-see so off I went.

The Agora of Smyrna

Right in the middle of modern Izmir stands the ruins of the ancient agora. Built by the greeks and maintained by the romans; it was a place for gatherings in the heart of the city, a place which was meant for the polis (people) to freely discuss and debate social and political issues. It was also a place where athletic competitions took place. This particular one included a functional water trench. Much of the area was cordoned off as excavations are still in progress - evidence of prayers suggests co-existence of muslims, jews and christians. There are also Ottoman era graves that are still being excavated and examined.

A quiet walk around.

I was accompanied by a sweet lady from work who made the transactions with the space and the market later on, easy. Also was good company as we ambled through the agora and the old city, eventually stopped to have a cup of tea at a local cafe. The cafe was so stereotypical of what you would imagine Turkiye to look like in general - the pictures of faraway lands that I used to see as a child and now sitting in the same setting, crazy. Because as a child, never once do I remember saying to myself, 'I want to go there'.

Ephesus

Will I, won't I? Should I, Shouldn't I? Will she, won't she? Indecision is annoying. I finally did, reasons why I couldn't/shouldn't were mostly self-imposed. Don't feel too right about seeing places when I am on a work-trip, but it was a whole week and it was after all the work was done, there I go again.

I was sent off with a car and a driver - young chap, a bit traditional and opinionated, took me a bit of nerve to get him to slow down and not be on the phone. New country and all.

Back to Ephesus, an hour's drive from Izmir and you are taken back to a time before time.

One of the most awe-inspiring (for me) ancient sites. The scale of how much of the place was intact; too good.

There were street signs to navigate.

Ephesus, an ancient port city was located close to the River Kaystros.

Two prominent stories of how Ephesus came to be - the Ionian prince Androcles was told by Delphi he should built a city when he sees a fish and boar at the same time; and he does, so builds the city. The second is it Ephesus was founded by an all female warrior Amazonian tribe and the city was named after their queen, Ephesia. No solid evidence but both cool stories though.

It was a prominent site during the mid to late 700 BCE - Lydian kings took over and built a temple for Artemis (originally an Anatolian mother goddess) the goddess of hunt, chastity, childbirth, wild animals and the wilderness, highly revered. There were also three smaller temples for Artemis across the area. The temple was considered one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

After the persians took Ephesus over, the Romans decided they wanted it but lost it to the Egyptians but they took it back again in 300 odd CE. Serious whiplash these wars cause.

The Romans built the library of Celsius, pretty much the template for how I am going to build libraries once I non-violently conquer and rule countries.

And of course the agoras and stadiums were prominent.

Ephesus flourished under the Romans and continued to flourish till the tug of war started with the Christians and eventually Christianity took over.

My pockets of interest:

The Hellenistic heroon - a fountain and memorial of sorts thought to be built to commemorate the legendary founder of Ephesus, Androkleous, a particular depiction on the rocks of a man riding his horse backwards and the clothing he was wearing lead to the theory. Theory because there is also evidence that it may not be. The construction seems to be Doric and Ionic, that is something.

2. An intact dwelling of Roman households was available to see for a hefty fee, didn't make sense for me to see from the inside, so took a picture from the outside. Don't know when and where the 'kanjoos' pops out and smacks me.

3. Temple of Hadrian, one of the first Roman rulers, popular in this circuit too. We saw quite a few monuments in Greece. Hadrian was known to rebuild and name things after himself, as long as he rebuilds, I guess it is okay.

4. I was walking behind a bunch of tourists from Korea, was in no rush so ambled along. They didn't seem to mind, they stopped off at this footprint and the guide spoke there for about 3-4 minutes. I took a picture to figure out what it was, and apparently brothels advertised in this manner, discretion being the intent. I would have never spotted it!

House of Mary, a walk away and a revered space. The tale goes that she lived there for a period of time. There is again evidence for and against. I went there, rooting for the 'for'. Imagine!