After breakfast we met with the rest of our
tour group for a Welcome Briefing by our Trip Leader. After introducing ourselves to our fellow
travelers, Ahmet briefing went over our itinerary for the next 15 days. In addition to Ahmet and the couple from Colorado there are 10 other members of
our group – 3 couples and 4 singles.
Several come from Northern Virginia and one couple from Michigan spends
their winters in Puerto Vallarta. So
there is a lot of common ground between us.
It should be a fantastic trip.
Following the
briefing, we had a full day of touring Istanbul. Our bus took us up to Divan Yolu, Istanbul's Old City main street and dropped us off. From there, we walked down Divan Yolu which is lined with shops, restaurants, and little cafes. It is a very busy street. Here Ahmet pointed out the Column of Constantine. This road was also the main road of Constantinople. The Column commemorates the dedication of the city of Constantinople and is the oldest Constantinian monument to survive in Istanbul. At the time it was built in 328 CE, it was located in the center of the Forum of Constantinople. When first erected, a statue of Constantinople stood on the top of the Column, but that fell down following a strong gale in 1106 E. And in 1779, an earthquake and subsequent fire scorched the tower leaving it black, thus earning the name “Burnt Column.”
We also passed by the Beyazit Mosque, an early 16th-century Ottoman imperial mosque. We also passed by a courtyard where the residents had put out boxes so the many cats of the area could seek shelter. Food and water are also provided to these cats. The cats are very friendly and love attention. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, the cats belong to no one, but belong to everyone.
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| Beyazit Mosque |
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| Boxes used as Cat Shelters |
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| I think he likes me1 |
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| Column of Constantine |
Our walk took us to the Grand Bazaar, a large
maize of more than 4,000 shops. Built
more than 550 years ago, there are vendors selling everything from souvenirs,
clothing, and candy (especially Turkish Delight). It is very easy to get lost in the narrow
alleyways of the bazaar and it does not come with a map. And it was very, very crowded, even at 9:30
in the morning. We walked down the main
“street” of the bazaar, and I did stop and buy some Turkish Delight. The gummy version is very good, and we have
it in our breakfast buffet at the hotel.
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| Grand Bazaar |
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| The Main"Street" in the Bazaar |
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The Crowds were so Thick you could
Hardly Walk |
Our walk ended
in Sultanahmet district where many of the palaces, churches and mosques (to include the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia) from
the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman periods are located. Our first stop was the Hippodrome of
Constantinople which was built in 203 AD by the Roman Emperor Septimius
Severus. When Emperor Constantine the
Great moved the Roman Empire’s from Rome to Byzantine (which he then renamed
Constantinople), he had the Hippodrome enlarged and it became the center of
social life. Although it was built
mainly for chariot racing (Hippodrome is a Greek word for horse racing), it was
also used for public events such as celebrations and ceremonies, and was also
the scene of many rebellions and massacres.
The arena could hold up to 100,000 spectators.
Today, not much
of the original Hippodrome remains, the race track has been paved over, turning
the area into Sultanahmet Square, as it is known today. There is also the neo-Byzantine German Fountain that was given to the Ottoman Empire by Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany to commemorate his visit to Istanbul in 1898.Of the many monuments that adorned the
“spina” (the barrier in the center of the racetrack), only three remain.
Serpent Column – built in Greece in 370 BCE to
commemorate Greek’s victory over the Persians during the 5th century
BCE Persian wars, it originally stood in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi,
Greece. It was brought to Constantinople
by Emperor Constantine in 324 CE. The
bronze column was originally made up of three intertwined snakes holding a
golden bowl. However, the heads of the
snake and the bowl are now missing.
Obelisk of Theodosius (or Egyptian Obelisk) – in 390
BCE, this obelisk was brought from Egypt where it had been made around 1500 BCE
for Pharaoh Thutmose III. It once stood
in the Karnak Temple in Luxor Egypt.
Walled Obelisk (or Column of Constantine Porphyrogenitus)– Erected on the southern end of the Hippodrome, this obelisk was constructed
in Constantinople in the 10th century during the reign of Emperor
Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus. It was
made from pink granite and originally adorned with bronze plates depicting the emperor’s
victories and other historical events.
However, during the Fourth Crusade in 1204, the plates were removed and
melted down.
Also in the square is the neo-Byzantine German Fountain that in 1898, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany gave the Ottoman Empire in 1898 to commemorate his visit to Istanbul.
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| Serpent Column with Walled Obelisk in Background |
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| Blue Mosque |
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Obelisk of Theodosius and Walled
Obelisk in Background |
ur l
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| German Fountain |
O
O Our last stop
on our walking tour was the Topkapi Palace, a large complex of grand pavilions
and courtyards. Built during the middle
of the 15th century by Mehmet II following his conquest of
Constantinople, it was the residence of Ottoman sultans and their families (to
include concubines) for 400 years. Today the entire Palace complex is a museum.
On the grounds
is one of the world’s richest museums with its collection of weapons,
porcelain, jewelry, and other priceless treasures. If you ever saw the movie Topkapi, the
jewel-studded dagger used in the film is one of the treasures in the museum. We also saw a 500-year-old sycamore tree that
arborists were working hard to keep it alive.
The grounds are beautifully maintained and all around were gorgeous
flower beds of blooming flowers, especially the tulips.
Ahmet explained
many of the buildings that we saw to include the large kitchen building and the
building where Parliament met, but only the Sultan had any say in the
meetings. That building is topped by the
Tower of Divan. We also saw where the
Sultan and his family lived. No one was
allowed in there but the family and even today it is protected by 2 soldiers. As there was a long line to get into the
museum with all the jewels and we were getting very tired and hungry (our walk
did not include time for lunch!), we decided to just view the museum that
displayed some of the clothes worn by the sultans. (And on a previous trip to the Palace we had
seen most of the buildings and museums.).
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| Topkapi Palace |
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| Topkapi Palace |
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| Grounds Inside the Palace |
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| Buildings Inside the Palace |
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| Tower of Divan |
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| Residence of the Sultan's Family |
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| Parliament Building |
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| One of the Palace Cats |
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| Kitchen Building |
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| Tulips Inside the Palace |
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| Guard at Entrance to Sultan's Residence |
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| Outfit Worn by a Sultan |
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| Jewel-encrusted Crest |
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| Outfit Worn by a Sultan |
By the time we
reached our hotel, we decided that we needed sleep more than food, so we took a
little nap before our Welcome Dinner that evening. The Welcome Dinner was at a local restaurant
along the waterfront where we had a delicious dinner of Sea Bass and a host of
Turkish dishes. Poor Bill – he does not
like humus or yogurt, but he was happy with the eggplant.
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| Hotel's Easter Display |
As tomorrow is Easter, the Hotel had a basket of red-colored eggs to greet us.
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