Day 3

Yesterday was a day to talk about current affairs and today was a day to explore the history of Turkey and particularly Istanbul. If you are like me you may not know or remember that Constantinople/Istanbul has served as the capital city of three different empires: Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman. There are artifacts in the Antalya area dated back to 20,000 BC but I’m sure I’ll share more about that when we visit Antalya. Today I’ll focus on Istanbul and a few other bits I learned today.

Our day started with a trip to the Haghia Sophia, which means holy wisdom, which is built on the site of a church from the 4th century. In doing excavation they did however find remains of the 5th century church that burned in AD532. Because of potential damage to the current structure excavation has been halted. The current structure was inaugurated by Emperor Justinian in 537. Until St. Peter’s was built in Rome, Haghia Sophia was the largest church in the world. It was used during the crowning and as final resting place of Emperors and Sultans. The patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church still resides in Istanbul. When the Ottoman’s captured Istanbul the church was turned into a mosque. Because Islam recognizes the holy books of Christians and Jews and shares a common history they didn’t destroy the church or the mosaics of Jesus, Mary, John the Baptist, Archangel Gabriel, or the Christian Emperors but covered them with plaster because images are not allowed in mosques. Minarets have been added and later large calligraphic roundels were added. Today many of the mosaics have been uncovered and work is ongoing. As a side note, I learned that in Turkey there is a Minister of Religions that appoints all Imams and writes the text for each week's Friday service. The minister is a political appointment.

Our next stop was Topkapi Palace built by Mehmet II between 1459 and 1465. It was used as the center of government for the Ottoman Empire until the 16th century and the sultan built a new palace in 1853. Topkapi became a museum in 1924. The palace was more than just a residence for the Sultans; it included school of the army and civil service, a hospital, public parks, food vendors, stables, homes for all the government ministers, a library and other businesses – the sultan’s residence has a beautiful view of the Bosphorus.

Next we had a great roof top lunch with a view of the Sea of Marmara and the Blue Mosque that we visited after lunch. Known for its blue Iznik tile work, it was commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I and built between 1609 and 1616 by Mehmet Aga. Most mosques are allowed to have only one minaret and the other special holy places have four, but the Blue Mosque has six which was seen at the time as a sacrilegious attempt to rival Mecca. While the mosque is open to visitors it is still an active mosque. Three times today we heard the calls to worship from three mosques in this area of the city. That could have been quite ear bending but they seemed to have a system where one started and the others came in after the first had set the pitch. At times it sounded like a call and response and was unbelievably pleasant and calming.

Dinner followed (it seems like we are constantly eating) at a lovely “community festival” (a restaurant in a public park owned by the government) overlooking the Bosphorus. There was plenty of sun, a cool breeze, a constant flow of ships from the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and even a school of dolphins. After the typical starters I had the grilled Sea Bass that came whole (head and all) and was perfect.

I’m trying to learn a few words in Turkish which seems like it shouldn’t be that difficult as they adopted the same alphabet we use in 1928 (with the addition of six characters) but it’s not coming easily. So Tim King’s mom had my mouth watering when she recently described the taste of watermelon here in Turkey as better than anything in the US so I was really looking forward to it. We’ve had it almost every day but I don’t think it quite compares to some of the best melons from Texas. On the other hand, the tomatoes are outstanding and fruits and veggies are dirt cheap.

Tomorrow we pack our bags and fly to Kayseri that is southeast of Istanbul in the middle region of the Asian side of Turkey.