ECIS was held in Istanbul, so I spent five days there. There was a bombing the week before I got there, and the airport was bombed two weeks after I returned. I feel pretty lucky to have been there before the recent coup and its fallout.

The first evening was the conference welcome reception at Boğaziçi University.  Boğaziçi is the Turkish word for Bosphorus.

In a predominantly Muslim country there were the five daily calls to prayer from the minarets. Here’s a video of one. Pretty cool.

I went to the Sultanahmet district and saw the major sights there. First, went to the Hippodrome and saw the Obelisk of Theodosius, two-thirds of an Egyptian obelisk that was taken and erected here in 390.

I kept my scarf handy so I could enter the mosques.

I saw the Million Stone which was the zero point for all measured distances in the Byzantine empire.

Then I went to the Basilica Cistern, a very large unground cistern with 336 marble columns—in Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles. I saw two column basis with Medusa heads—purposely put on its side and the other upside down. I got dripped on a bit.

Then I went to the Hagia Sophia (Ayasofya) Museum. It was first built as a church in 360 AD, but was destroyed after rioting. A new church was constructed on the site in 415, but it was also destroyed through rioting and fire. Third version was built in 537. From Wikipedia:

“From the date of its construction in 537 AD, and until 1453, it served as an Orthodox cathedral and seat of the Patriarch of Constantinople,[1] except between 1204 and 1261, when it was converted by the Fourth Crusaders to a Roman Catholic cathedral under the Latin Empire of Constantinople. The building was a mosque from 29 May 1453 until 1931. It was then secularized and opened as a museum on 1 February 1935.”

Besides being very large and beautiful, the Hagia Sofia was interesting because it contained Christian and Islamic iconography side by side, after many of the the Christian symbols and artwork (such as mosaics) were uncovered. We listened to an audio tour and spent perhaps two hours there. Much of the interior was covered due to repairs, but it was still beautiful and interesting to see.

Then I saw tombs of several sultans (such as Sultan Mehmed III) and their families. The caskets were draped in green cloth, with the largest caskets for the the sultan and prominent family member. Many small caskets for children. The caskets had interesting white turbans on a pole above at the end.

 

We also got a tour of the harem where the wives, concubines, and eunuchs lived. More elaborate domes and tiled walls, but probably not the best life.

We went to the Çemberlitaş Hamami (Turkish bath) built in 1584 by Mimar Sinan (architect of the Suleymaniye Mosque. Segregated by gender. Hot stone in sauna area (with big dome), scrubbing with really fluffy soap, rinse and relax again on the hot stone. Relaxing experience. No photos allowed inside.

The next morning I went to Galata Tower, originally built of wood in 528, rebuilt in its current form in 1348. Great views of Istanbul. Walked across Galata Bridge. Lots of people fishing.

Then went on Bosphorus Straight boat cruise for 90 minutes. Went up and down the Asian and European banks of the Bosphorus between the Bosphorus and the Fatih Sultan Mehmet bridges.

Dolmabahçe Palace—a baroque/rococo style palace built for the Sultan in 1856. “Jaw-dropping” 4 ton chandelier.

We visited the Dolmabahçe Mosque next door—also interesting because of the baroque style of architecture.

We took the ferry across the Bosphorus Strait to the Üsküdar district on the Asian side. We passed the Maiden’s Tower.

We eventually were able to catch the 9UD bus to take us most of the way to Çamlıca Park.  It’s the highest point in Istanbul and provides great views of both sides of Istanbul.

We went inside the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque in Üsküdar.

It was an amazing city to see.