THE HIPPODROME

THE HIPPODROME



THE EGYPTIAN OBELISK (THE OBELISK OF THEODOSIUS I)



Around 1490 BC the Egyptian Pharaoh Thutmose III erected two obelisks before the Karnak temple in Luxor to commemorate the victories of his forces in Mesopotamia. The obelisks were made of rare pink granite.



In the 4th century AD, an unknown Roman emperor who wanted to accomplish something impressive that would create excitement among his people had the colossal obelisk brought to Istanbul.



For years it was left lying in a corner of the Hippodrome. In 390, during the reign of Theodosius I, it was erected with great difficulty by Proclus, a city administrator. It is the oldest monument in the city and has always been considered magical.



The obelisk rests on four bronze blocks on a Roman base decorated with reliefs. These depict the emperor, his children and other prominent personalities watching the races from the imperial box, as well as the spectators, musicians, dancers and chariot races. The obelisk measures 25.60 m including the base.



THE WALLED OBELISK



Built of roughly cut stones, this imitation obelisk stands at the southern side of the Hippodrome. Its exact date of construction is unknown. It is named after the Emperor Constantine Porphyroenitus who had it repaired in the 10th century. Its bronze plates decorated with golden lettering were plundered by the Fourth Crusaders.



THE SERPENT COLUMN



This is one of the oldest monuments in Istanbul. The heads of the three intertwined serpents used to form the legs of a gold cauldron. The thirty-one Greek cities, which defeated the Persians in 5th century, BC melted the bronze items they had captured to create this unique monument. The 8-meter high column originally stood before the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. It was brought to Istanbul in 324 by Constantine and erected in the middle of the Hippodrome. The heads of the serpents, intact until 1700, disappeared at that time. One of the missing heads was later found and it is now on display at the Archeological Museum.



THE GERMAN FOUNTAIN



The octagonal, domed fountain at the entrance to the Hippodrome was a present from the German Emperor Wilhelm II to Sultan Abdulhamid II and the city of Istanbul. It was built in Germany and installed in Istanbul in 1898. Built in a neo-Byzantine style, the fountain is decorated with gold mosaics inside. It is a beautiful fountain, but does not blend well with the ancient monuments in the vicinity.

The Blue Mosque

Decided to take a half day tour of Sultanahmet, which included the Hippodrome, the Obelisk, the famous Blue Mosque, and, the equally imposing Haga Sophiya (for reasons that would only be understood by a Bengali, the latter elicited many giggles from my 6 year old!).

The Blue Mosque is one of the most prominent, and, famous, landmarks of Istanbul, and, is very impressive with its beautiful domes, semi domes, courtyards and six minarets. Sultan Ahmet I built the mosque. He ordered Architect Mehmed Aga to build a mosque that would parallel the Haga Sophia - it took around 7 years to build it!

I never realized till I got back that in the construction of the blue Mosque, Mehmet Aga, paid tribute to his colleagues Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, architects of neighboring Ayasofya (Hagia Sophia), who designed their masterwork a thousand years before Mehmet Aga was born.

The two great buildings, Ayasofya and the Blue Mosque, stand beside one another on the Hippodrome, separated only by a small park. They are both entered from the same direction. In one, the visitor's eye is lifted heavenward inside, in the other, on the outside: master architects conversing across a millennium.

Traditionally, mosques built by Sultans had 4 minarets, and those built by others would have only two, thereby clearly distinguishing mosques built by Sultans / Kings from those built by other noblemen.

As per an anecdote, the 6 minarets of the Blue Mosque were a result of a linguistic misunderstanding! According to it, Sultan Ahmet I wanted to have minarets made of gold which is "altin" in Turkish. The architect misunderstood him as "alti" which means "six" . Luckily for the architect, the Sultant liked the 6 minarets and his head was spared. Prior to that time, no sultan had a mosque with 6 minarets.

As you enter, in the courtyard, there are some fountains which are for people who are going to pray in the mosque. In Islam, prior to praying, one must wash his/her face, arms, neck and feet as well as mouth and nose. This is a basic cleaning, which on the flip side, renders many a public bathroom unusable!

The marble courtyard’s marble comes from the Island of Marmara (the Turkish word for marble ,"Mermer" comes from Marmara).

Upon entering the mosque, one’s head is to be covered, and, the shoes must be taken off and put into plastic bags which one carries in one’s hands. I was amazed to notice that no one forces foreigners to cover their head, though you can buy blue head scarves outside the entrance for 10 TYL. The Turks appear to have great belief in the ability of human beings to pay respect where it is due, and, it’s a belief that’s well placed – you can hear faint murmurs as the guides talk, but no one runs around, screams or makes a nuisance of themselves, unlike in the Valley of the Kings back home.

Upon the entrance to the mosque, one should pay attention to the gate. The gate is a typical Seljuk- Turkish wooden work with a geometrical design in its center. The star symbolizes the Turkish Generation and very typical of early 11-12th C Turkish Art.

As you enter, you look up in awe at the massive interior of the mosque with its chandeliers and blue tiles. The tiles, our guide explained, are all 17th century beautiful Iznik tiles which give the mosque its name.


The mosque is all carpeted with prayer rugs because people touch their forehead on the ground. The carpet is designed as multiple small rectangles adjacent to each other. Each rectangle indicates a place for one individual to pray.

Our guide told us that the mosque has 260 windows through which the light sparkles into the mosque. The windows have centuries old stained glass, which diffuses the light as it comes in, and, creates a mellow halo effect.

The pulpit from which the Imam speaks is made of marble. The guide mentioned that every Friday, when the Imam climbs the pulpit for prayers, he never climbs right to the top as a mark of respect to Prophet Mohammed. Everybody turns his or her face to the south when praying, because Mecca( Saudi Arabia) is located in South. At the rear end of the Mosque is a prayer area for women shielded by an intricately worked mashrabeya partition. Some of our co-passengers on the tour, who were Muslims, knelt down to pray.

A trip down history lane!

A city which is 3000 years old, the fascination for Istanbul stems from its place in history, and, of course, the Bosphorus. A city that started its existence as a nondescript fishing village, underwent several changes into Byzantium, then Constantinople, to finally metamorphasize into Istanbul. A city that was witness to the fortunes of three great empires, and straddles two continents, Istanbul came to be known as the “Paris of the East”, and, to reaffirm this, the first great international luxury express train ever run – the Orient Express (of Agatha Christie fame) – connected Istanbul with Paris.

The history of Istanbul is rich and full of interesting tales.

Its rumoured that Byzas, a Megarian colonist (from the Doric colony of Megara in Ancient Greece), before leaving Greece, asked the oracle at Delphi where he should establish his new colony to which the oracle replied “ opposite the blind”. Sailing up the Bosphorus, Byzas noticed the settlement on the Asian shore at Chalcedon. Looking to the left they saw the natural harbour of the Golden Horn on the European shore, they wondered if the people at Chalcedon were blind not to have settled on the European side. So they set up their new city Byzantium “opposite the blind”!

Byzantium submitted to Rome and fought Rome’s battles for many years till it was won by Septimius Severus who razed it to the ground and rebuilt it as Augusta Antonina.

In 324 AD, Constantine won control over this city, declared it to be the “New Rome” or Constantinople. For the next many decades, Constantinople would be the centre of their empire.
Finally, in what is referred to as the “Fall of Constantinople” or the “Conquest of Istanbul” (depending on the perspective – Western or Muslim), Mehmet II, the young Ottoman Sultan, conquered what would become Istanbul. After conquering the Golden Horn, Mehmet’s forces were being frustrated by the large city walls. It is said that a Hungarian cannon manufacturer called Urban offered to build the most enormous cannon ever built to tear down the city walls. It appears that Urban decided to go to Mehmet after discovering that the existing Byzantine emperor had no money to pay him!

Mehmet’s entry into Istanbul on the evening of 29th May is celebrated every year. Those parts of the city that did not resist his troops were spared and their Churches guaranteed. Those that resisted were sacked, and their churches turned into mosques. Sancta Sophia (now known as Hague Sophia), then the biggest and most magnificent Church of the Christian world, was immediately converted to a mosque.

It is said that with the growth of the Ottoman Empire, Istanbul became a melting pot of different cultures. On its streets, people spoke Turkish, Greek, Armenian, Russian Arabic, Romanian, Italian, French, German, English etc. Sounds completely like exotica!

First Impressions

Reached our quaint little hotel in Taksim Square and crashed for the morning. Woke up and went for a walk in Taksim Square. The weather was absolutely fabulous. The cool breeze felt wonderful on my skin. The scores of pigeons on the square reminded me of Trafalgar Square in London as my son hesitantly ran through their ranks. The pigeons hopped a little distance away giving my son a rather baleful look.

Saw a shoe shine guy whose shoe shine box took my breath away – it was a brass plated quaint box with a number of brass topped bottles (will post a photo once I finish downloading the memory chip). If I weren’t wearing keds, faith I would’ve had my shoes shined!

Had lunch in a small café on Istiklal Caddesi which served what seemed the most delicious meal I had eaten in a while – hot lentil shorba, a hummus (chick peas) curry, a heavenly aubergine, garlic and tomato preparation and some rice.

First impressions?

Very different scenery as you drive from the airport to the heart of the city. Its very lush and green compared to the beak but compelling brown of the dessert back home,

Very Mediterranean especially the white washed houses,

The azure Bosphorus and the glorious Marmara

Gorgeous weather with a nippy cool breeze that caresses your skin,

Quaint mix of the modern and Arab but definitely more European,

NO headscarves (despite Turkey being 98% Muslim),

Architecture though Muslim, yet not as Arab as you see in the Gulf and the Middle East,

People have European coloring but slightly Arabic features

Women definitely not as pretty as back home in Cairo,

Secular state but divided on community lines – conflict with the Armenians and the Kurds

Taksim Square bustling with activity, open air concert with live bands, very European

Quaint streets lined with shops selling lots of food

Mouth watering shwarma tempting even a vegetarian like me!

Istanbul, I love the feel and smell of you!!

Istanbul - getting my bearings

Istanbul

A city built on seven hills, Istanbul is divided from north to south by the Bosphorus ( a strait that connects the Black Sea and the Marmara) into the European and Asian portions. The European portion is further divided by the Golden Horn (a freshwater estuary / a really short river) into the Old City and Beyoglu.

The Old City is the area that includes Sultanahmet and the Grand Bazaar, basically all the touristy spots.

As I discovered from the Lonely planet guide, Beyoglu is the Turkish name for the two ancient cities of Pera and Galata. Beyoglu includes areas like Taksim square, the five star hotels like the Hilton, Hyatt, The Marmara etc.\, and, as per tourist guides, the heart of Istanbul!

When I asked the hotel reception, I was informed that all the touristy stuff is on the European side. The only tourist attraction / place of note on the Asian side is the Haydarpasa Station which is the railway station for all trains going to Anatolian region. Since we were only going to be in Istanbul decided to give it a miss. I would much rather see the station near Eminonu, which is the station where the famous Orient Express used to arrive!

Istanbul here I come!

Boarded the flight for Istanbul, which turned out to be Turkish Airways instead of Egypt Air (code share), at an unearthly hour, and, a little grumpy at having lost my beauty sleep. To add to my woes, we were boarding the flight from Terminal 2 instead of the new swanky Terminal 1 reserved for Egypt Air.

After a really turbulent flight, which I thought I would never survive, we managed to land in Istanbul. It really didn’t help that the airhostess and I did not understand each other except for a few exchanged smiles. I’m convinced that had I taken the breakfast offered, it would have flown all over the plane, the ride was so eventful. I’m sure many people on the flight ate out the whole next week on the story of this really scared babe on the plane!

The Istanbul airport is new and all silver and glass. More than ever now, I am convinced that there is some international prototype for airports that makes them all look the same – marble, silver / steel columns, and, lots and lots of grey / blue glass…

Stepping out of the airport, the air hits you like a whip. Its bracingly cold, a refreshing change from the stale air inside the aircraft and the airport and gives you an instant bounce in your step. As we drive onto to the main road leading to the heart of the city, you get a panoramic view of the city - Istanbul is huge, spread all around the Bosphorus and Marmara, built at different levels over 7 different hills.

My nerves tingle in anticipation and excitement!

I’m in Istanbul!

The Istanbul of the blue, blue Bosphorus, the Istanbul of the Blue Mosque and the Aya Sophia.

I can't belive that I am actually here!

Azar sanctions Urfi marriages

Read a really interesting article in the newspaper a few days ago. Interesting because it signals a pragmatic, practical and thinking side of a religious institution which is rare to see.

Al Azar is the Sunni Muslim world's most influental authority. According to press reports, it sanctioned the controversial urfi marriage. Members of the Islamic Research Council, an influential arm of Al-Azar, after a long discussion, concluded that contentious marriage arrangements, known as Missyar and Urfi (unregistered), are acceptable as a solution to the problem of young people. The average age of marriage in Egypt has risen to 42 for men and 35 for women, according to unofficial estimates, say newspapers.

Missyar marriage is a contract that allows a man and a woman to be married for any period of time from just an hour to 99 years. Some scholars condemn Missyar and Urfi marriages as tantamount to prostitution, but other clerics argue that they are practical ways of addressing basic human urges, as under Islamic law, or Sharia, extramarital sex is prohibited, and, punishable by flogging or stoning to death.

If one moves away from what perspective one looks at this, to me the news is significant because a religious institution is chosing to move with the times, and, recognise that it needs to adopt a stance that is in keeping with the needs and requirements of its current population. Clerics may come and go, and, they may debate the interpretation of religious law and its implications, but the reality is that religion is lived through its practioners, and, if it ceases to address their needs, then it faces the danger of extinction or worse still, creating unrest.

See article: http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1998/397/fe1.htm