Sultanahmet at sunset

"Sultanahmet . . . it's like a big museum," Ceylan Zere, the Context Istanbul city manager tells us of the main tourist neighborhood in Istanbul.  "The rest of Istanbul is where people live."

The moment we enter Sultanahmet, we are transported into Touristland, a place where hawkers push us to buy carpets and Turkish delight, restaurants serve bland fare at ridiculous prices, and English speakers outnumber the Turkish ones.  But, away from Sultanahmet, we discover that Istanbul is a city of a thousand villages.  Each neighborhood is unique, distinct, and dissimilar from its neighbors, so to understand Istanbul, we walked . . . a lot . . . hearing and understanding stories about Istanbul's past and present.

The Galata Neighborhood

Scenes from the Galata market

We walk across the Galata bridge in the waning day's light, past the fishermen reeling in their lines, and away from the market where vendors showcase the Bosphorous-caught fish and vegetables trucked in from the countryside.  The Galata neighborhood has been many things: it was a fortified part of the city, held by the Genoese sailors; Armenian and German shopkeepers sold their metalworking in this area; the French high school and Greek Orthodox Churches were located here; and, for many years, the Galata area was the banking center of Istanbul.

Galata Tower; run-down buildings; church in the Galata area

But, then, as happens all too often in many cities, the Galata neighborhood started to slide downhill.  Beautiful buildings and monuments lost benefactors and turned to ruin.  As prices became cheaper, the artists began to move in, reclaiming this portion of the city for their own, as they recognized how close it stood to Istanbul's downtown area and main bazaar area.  Slowly, the Galata neighborhood became the arts and fashion center of Istanbul, and, now, though many streets are full of ruined building, it is easy to find street art (see the Santas hanging on the top picture above), high end fashion stores, great restaurants, and beautiful people enjoying Galata's charms.

Istlikal Street and Taksim Square

Views of Istlikal Street and the Taksim historic tram

Istlikal Street is 1,400 meters long and chockful of big malls, shops, and tourist vendors.  But, behind Istlikal Street's smooth exterior lies a turbulent history.  To understand a bit about Istlikal Street, you need to understand a bit about Turkish history. 

Until the 1920s, Turkey was the base of the Ottoman Empire.  Istlikal Street at that time was the homebase for most European diplomats and ambassadors and many Armenians owned high-end stores along this street.  After the Allies defeated the Ottoman Empire in World War I and split up the Ottoman Empire, Turkish nationalists, led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, defeated the Allies and formed the Republic of Turkey in 1923.  This Republic was an amazing accomplishment and Ataturk is to this day revered in the same way that George Washington is revered in the United States. 

Ataturk and the young patriots made many huge changes to Turkey.  The new Republic was completely secular --- and, Turkey, today, is a completely secular nation.  As part of that secularization, all religious symbols in public places were banned, meaning that men and women could not wear crosses or cover their heads with head scarves or fezes and, even today, head scarves are not allowed in public universities and schools.  Ataturk also opened up Turkey to tourism and Istanbul became one of the most popular tourist cities in the world.

Hotel de Londres, one of two hotels that the Orient Express passengers stayed in, and where Agatha Christie stayed

One of the other controversial changes the nationalists undertook involved the Armenians and the Greeks.  Though much could be said about the Ottoman Empire, they certainly encouraged a diverse population: in the 1890s, 50% of the population of present-day Turkey was non-Muslim.  Following the foundation of the Republic, all persons of Greek origin were asked to leave Turkey and go "back" to Greece, and the Turks were sent back to Turkey from Greece.  At the same time, Armenians were forced out of Turkey back into Armenia.  There's a lot of debate about how many Armenians died during this migration but, suffice it to say, it was a lot of people.  Today, only 1% of the population of Turkey are non-Muslims. 

(This, by the way, is why Turkey is so adamant that the Armenian repatriatization wasn't a genocide: if Ataturk and the first revolutionaries committed such a heinous act as killing thousands of people simply because of their race, then the entire foundation of their republic is at risk.  For us Americans, this would be similar to someone claiming that George Washington brutally killed thousands of black slaves.)

. . . keep reading beyond sultanahmet in istanbul's diverse neighborhoods after the jump

Hagia Sophia from the water

We spent March in rural Bulgaria, living amongst sheepherders and vineyard workers.  We went weeks without speaking English and finding western cuisine.  The largest building in our village was the three stories high library and school.  We sped past donkey carts and Communist era automobiles and pushed our four wheel drive to its limit on what the Bulgarians claim are "roads." (More on Bulgaria later.)

And, then, in early April, we drove into Istanbul.

Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia up close, Sulemaniye Mosque, and Blue Mosque surrounded by Sultanahmet

Istanbul is dramatic.  The rounded roofs and pointed minarets of Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, and the Sulemaniye Mosque dominate the skyline of the historic center.  From afar, Hagia Sophia is the least impressive of these buildings --- faded brick with none of the blue and silver elegance of the Blue Mosque or the Sulemaniye Mosque --- and we wondered why Ceylan Zere, the city manager of Context Istanbul, insisted that we visit Hagia Sophia early on our trip.  But, we followed her advice and, on our second day in Istanbul, we took Context's Hagia Sophia Seminar (priced at 125 TRY or about $67.50 USD).

Ebru Gokteke, our guide, and the obelisks and German fountain at the Hippodrome

Ebru Gokteke, our docent, explained that Sultanahmet --- the main tourist center of Istanbul and home to Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, and Hagia Sophia --- is essentially one giant history museum.  It was here in Sultanahmet that the remains of 34 shipwrecks were found from the 1st century B.C. and a Neolithic settlement, as well.  Mythically, this site has great importance because it is believed that the Oracle of Delphi told Greek settlers that they must live "across from the City of the Blind."  They arrived in modern-day Sultanahmet and realized that all of the Neolithic settlers were living on the modern-day Asian side of Istanbul, though the European side had better vantage points and resources for water.  Thus, they settled in the European side of Istanbul across from those who were too blind to see what the European side offered.

Basilica Cisterns

In 330 A.D., Constantine conquered Byzantium and Constantinopolis became the new capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.  The Roman penchant for building big, BIG, and BIGGER things included the monumental obelisk at the Hippodrome in Istanbul which could seat 40,000 people for the chariot races, and the eerie Basilica Cistern that had the capacity to store about 100,000 tons of water --- enough drinking water to supply the entire city during a siege.

Hagia Sophia

But, their triumph was Hagia Sophia.  One of man's greatest architectural achievements, the Emperor Justinian built the Hagia Sophia to create a cathedral that would match the ancient Solomon's famous cathedral in 537 A.D.  When it was built, the Hagia Sophia was the largest building in the world and, even today, it is the 4th largest church building in the world.

. . . keep reading intersecting cultures at hagia sophia after the jump