Sultanahmet (Turkey)

Today was a day to tour Sultanahmet, the ancient heart of Istanbul and the Ottoman Empire. We saw the pillar erected by the Romans to mark the center of the city from which mileposts were measured (mille passuum). The city was named Constantinople (for Roman Emperor Constantine the Great) until 1453 when it was conquered by Muslim forces. Our guide's name was Ghenghis. He proudly informed us his son's name is Khan. He began by showing us a large map of Turkey which reminded us of how many ancient sites are here, from Troy to Thrace to Ephesus to Cappadocia. Only three per cent of Turkey is in Europe which ends at the Bosphorus Strait in the middle of Istanbul. The first stop on today's walking tour was the sprawling Topaki Palace complex, home of the Sultans. Just inside the palace walls was a large fourth century church. After the conquest of 1453 AD most churches in this area were converted to mosques. This one, however, was converted into an arsenal instead because in Islamic tradition all are equal before God and mosques are open to all. This would have posed an unacceptable security risk to the Sultan. His security was a recurring theme today for good reason. Palace intrigue and violent death were commonplace. Messengers from foreign lands brought into the Sultan's presence were required to lower their eyes and were restrained on each side by palace guards. If the Sultan didn't like the message the messenger was beheaded and his head returned to sender, preserved in a jar of honey. To this day Turks have a saying that a recipient of bad news "received the honey jar." The Sultan had over 300 concubines and 100 children. Fratricide was common as sons competed to become the next Sultan. Next stop was the Hagia Sophia, a third century church rebuilt twice into an enormous domed cathedral, turned mosque, turned museum. Its current iteration dates from the 1400s AD. Since Islam prohibits depiction of the human form as a guard against idol worship, we are fortunate that the mosaics depicting Jesus, Mary, and the Saints were merely plastered over rather than destroyed, thus preserving them. Then we were on to the underground cistern made (more) famous by a scene in Dan Brown's book "Inferno." Lost for centuries and rediscovered in the early 1960s by a curious British tourist poking around who stumbled upon it, this has become a major tourist attraction, made more so by the book. A movie version of the book was filmed here and is due out next year.

Then we went across the street to the Blue Mosque, the seventeenth largest mosque in the world. It's exterior is strikingly beautiful and dominates its surroundings. Upon going inside Terry received a light blue head covering as a loaner, we all took off our shoes of course, then marveled at the interior. We learned the patterned carpet is a guide to worshippers as they know where to place first their feet, then knees, hands, and forehead all according to the pattern. After the Blue Mosque we had lunch at a local restaurant serving traditional Turkish fare of grilled vegetables and meats/fish. This part of Istanbul has a very cosmopolitan feel. It is a cafe culture with diners spilling out of restaurants to streetside tables, similar to Paris. The foods displayed everywhere were colorful and showed a big city sophistication, not surprising for a city of over 14 million. Finally we were off to the Grand Bazaar which boasts being the world's oldest and largest market dating from 1453 AD with over 4,000 stalls. As expected in such a place the merchants (all men) were quite energetic in asking us to come into their stalls. Terry needed some leather gloves and our guide told us to haggle, a skill seldom used by Americans, but we were game. The merchant's opening price was 120 Turkish lira (around $40). After some back and forth Terry headed for the exit. That did the trick and the purchase price was 50 Turkish lira (around $15), not bad for black leather gloves. By this time we had parted company with Ghenghis so we walked back to our hotel on a perfect sunny fall day having gotten our excercise by walking for six hours in one of the most amazing cities I have ever seen. We stopped in a pastry shop we couldn't resist and bought a sweet resembling baklava on steroids filled with pistachios and honey. We made it back in time for afternoon tea which made my wife very happy.