Introducing Istanbul

I fell in love with Istanbul. There’s simply no other way to describe it. It’s old and tatty in places but full of life and surprise wherever you turn. Istanbul marries the best of natural vistas with layer upon layer of history and grand relics. After a while you’re compelled to forgive its grime and simply marvel in its beauty.

My first impressions of Istanbul were less favourable. Like most tour groups our hotel was located in the Old City close to the outer walls of Topkapi Palace. The palace was home to sultans of the Ottoman Empire for more than 400 years. The area outside the walls was once the heart of the city dominated by grand mosques, churches, stadiums and rambling bazaars. However, it’s clear that decay set in once the retail and entertainment district moved elsewhere.


On our first evening in town we wandered around the Hippodrome soaking up an incredible scene. This green park runs from the entrance to Haghia Sophia, the city’s grand Byzantine church to the entrance of Sultan Ahmet Camii, more commonly known as the Blue Mosque. The park was once the centre of a Roman chariot racing track, set in the heart of a 100,000 spectator stadium. It was built by Emperor Septimus Severus in 330AD and later enlarged by Emperor Constantine I.


Through the central spine of the racing track Constantine erected obelisks and columns plundered from ancient Greece and Egypt. Three of these monuments remain including an Egyptian Obelisk from Luxor, a bronze column of intertwined serpents from Delphi and the Column of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, also known as the Brazen Column. It was also here that the four bronze horses adorning St Marco in Venice were once located.


In a single evening of wandering, we’d covered more 3.5 thousand years of human civilization. For the first time we began to sense the truly remarkable heritage of Turkey. Without doubt it sits at the crossroads of human history.


The following morning our group explored the Hippodrome again and then went on to enter the Blue Mosque. Commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I, it was the last and grandest of the Sultanate Mosques built in Istanbul. Its walls are encircled by six towering minarets, ringed by two or three balconies – 16 balconies in total. Built in 1609-16 it interior is crowned by a series of intersecting domes, each tiled in exquisite blue patterned tiles from the nearby city of Iznik. The central dome is a staggering 23.50m in diameter, sitting 43 metres above the main floor. Breathtaking!


Our next sight couldn’t have been more different, yet was equally dramatic. At the end of the Hippodrome sits a modest, squat building. It houses the entrance to the Basilica Cistern, a vast underground Byzantine water reservoir that once provided water for an enormous Roman palace nearby. The underground chamber is supported by more than 336 columns more than 8 metres high.

Walkways have been installed making it possible to wander among the columns as water quietly drips in the distance. In the far corner we were shown two columns resting on carved heads of Medusa. In each case, her head has been put on its side. This ensures that one can’t look into her eyes and thus be turned into stone as legend has it.


After lunch at the Pudding Shop (which mainly sold Turkish meats, salads and bread) we ventured into Haghia Sophia. I’d heard a little about this incredible Byzantine church many years ago. At the time historians were criticizing the Vatican for focusing its restoration efforts on St Peters in Rome while this building fell into decay. Haghia Sophia is staggering, even more so when one stops to consider its age. Built more than 1400 years ago, the interior dome was the largest free-standing enclosed space for more than a thousand years. Its vast dome reaches a height of 56 metres and spanning an astonishing 31.87 meters.


Nothing prepares you for the sight of the interior. From the outside, the building is a clattered by chunky drab buttresses and tombs to the point that its original shape has long been lost. The exterior is simply an assorted jumble of shapes and sizes. Even the original dusty pink colour suggests something frivolous. The interior is nothing short of breath-taking, bathed in a golden glow from hundreds of thousands of tarnished gold mosaic tiles.


A gallery runs around the interior, framed by a series of arches. The four corners of the main nave are festooned with four deep green roundels. These were installed by the Ottomans who converted the building into a mosque after conquest of Istanbul in 1453. Haghia Sophia is incredible. Its proportions are staggering; more so when one remembers that it was built at a time when cathedrals of its proportion did not exist.


Our final stop of the day was Topkapi Palace. It sits on a hilly promontory overlooking the stunning entrance to the Bosphorus Straits. The palace itself consists of a series of pavilions, contained by four separate courtyards. This inner complex is in turn surrounded by high walls and tree-filled grounds. The views of Istanbul from the far corner are spectacular, as is the 86 carat Spoonmakers diamond on display in the Treasury.

Perhaps the most astonishing area of the palace is the Haram. The Saltan’s wives and concubines once lived here, governed by the Saltan’s Mother. At its height up to 1000 concubines lived here. Incredibly, the last woman left the Haram in 1909. The Haram itself is a fascinating labyrinth of rooms and courtyards. Many of the rooms are exquisitely decorated.


On the opposite side of the palace rises a series of chimneys. Each sits over its own vaulted brick dome. These mark the location of the palace kitchens where meals for 12,000 people were prepared every day. Today, the building houses a vast collection of ceramics, glass and silverware.


Our first day in Istanbul had been over-whelming. Layer upon layer of history had been thrown at us in an endless stream of images and stories. I’ve visited many of the world’s great cities, but none has contained so much history from so many different civilizations as does Istanbul. The following morning our group headed off to ANZAC Cove, however, Garry and I would return later in the week for another two days. I’m glad we did. Istanbul had more surprises waiting for us.