Istanbul’s must-sees
Continental drift ... the Bosphorus and the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey.
Explore a little-known palace or take an early morning boat trip on the Bospherus with our guide to the essential Istanbul
The Süleymaniye mosque
The ultimate architectural experience was designed for Süleyman the Magnificent. This wonderful Friday mosque works only if you go in by the front door, not the side door, which is what everyone is encouraged to do. Sinan, the great 16th-century architect, was the absolute master of the framed vista: the modest outer gate leads to the gigantic but austere courtyard gate, which leads to a courtyard about to be submerged in a vast cascade of domes, which leads to a huge wall of grey stone, pierced by windows with miniature tesserae of stained glass, veiled by a curtain of lantern ropes. Fortify yourself first with a bowl of beans at Kanaat (Selmanipak Caddesi, 9). Follow it with a glass of boza (fermented millet) in nearby Vefa Bozacısı (Katip Çelebi Caddesi 104), an impeccable 1920s café with mirrored columns.
Prof Sıddık Sami Onar Caddesi.
Sokullu Mehmet Pasha mosque
Sinan again designed this mosque, just below the Hippodrome. Enter by the front portal, up a marvellous staircase with a pointed arch framing the dome of the ablution fountain, in turn framed by the domes of the mosque. It's even better when it rains and the lead is gleaming. This is a much more intimate affair than Süleymaniye, built not for the Grand Vizier but his wife, Süleyman's granddaughter. Just around the corner stands Küçük Ayasofya, a stunning Byzantine church, now converted into a mosque.
Sehit Çesmesi Sok, Sultanahmet.
Yıldız Palace
The Sale Kiosk of the Yıldız Palace is perhaps Europe's most astonishing Victorian guesthouse. And nobody can stay there, unless – like Kaiser Wilhelm II, Churchill or De Gaulle, for whom the state bed was specially extended – they are invited. But it is open for the public to visit. It is an attractive if rather steep walk through woods to get there. Inside, tiptoe through room after glorious room until you emerge in the ballroom, with the second largest carpet in the world reflected in a long wall of art nouveau mirrors.
Barbaros Bulvarı Yıldız Park, Besiktas.
Walk in the hills
Take a bus from Sariyer, the city's northernmost district, to the hilltop above. Get out a few bends after passing Koç university into unspoilt countryside where there are migrating birds in spring and autumn. If you're feeling energetic you can walk down the hill all the way back to Sariyer.
Princes' Islands
A picnic on Heybeliada or Büyükada, two of the Princes' Islands, close to Istanbul in the sea of Marmara, makes a serene break from the busy city. On Heybeliada, the recommended spot is a small chapel on the hills above the large naval academy in the middle of the island. The end of the island is like a prow of a huge leafy ship. The other spot is Varan on Büyükada, or the best beach, at Eskibag Halka Acik Plaji. This summer a museum dedicated to the islands' heritage will open.
Catch the IDO ferry from the Kabatas (2.80TL each way, 2 hours).
Boat ride
Take a taxi to the Sarıyer ferry dock on the Bosphorus and catch the 7am commuter boat from Sariyer into the city. (You could also pick it up in Yeniköy or Istiniye, if you sleep in.) The boat is almost deserted and the Bosphorus lovely in the morning light.
Art and nightlife
Don't miss Beyoglu – Istanbul's turn-of-the-century downtown – where art galleries jostle with bars and meyhanes (traditional restaurants). Rodeo Gallery (Lüleci Hendek Caddesi 12, +90 212 2935800), and its neighbour DEPO (same address) are unmissable, as is Banu Cennetoglu's space, BAS (Nuri Ziya Sokak 7). Meanwhile the Pera museum (Mesrutiyet Caddesi 65) offers a fantastic collection of orientalist art as well as excellent temporary exhibitions and film seasons. Sidestep the expensive bars and quench your thirst at the lovably eccentric Hotel Buyuk Londra's terrace bar (Mesrutiyet Caddesi 53) or the new Marmara Pera Hotel before descending into the melee of Asmalımescit for fish and rakı at Refik (Sofyalı Sokak 10) or Yakup 2 (Asmalı Mescit Sokak 35).
Day trip
Close to Istanbul, the hauntingly beautiful city of Edirne is Turkey's true gateway to Europe and the Balkans. Home to Sinan's masterpiece, the Selimiye mosque, as well as stunning examples of Ottoman architecture, it remains well off the beaten track. The Eski mosque and Ottoman bridges are astonishing. If possible, find a way into the neglected Murad II mosque, with its unique, Chinese-inspired tiles.
John Scott, editor, and Thomas Roueché, contributing editor, of Turkey's English language Cornucopia Magazine
The Guardian, Saturday 10 April 2010
All you ever wanted to know about Istanbul’s Hippodrome
While the Hippodrome was central to Byzantine social life, the Hippodrome continued to exist after the 1453 conquest because the Ottomans also saw the square as a perfect place to hold their own unique horse-related games. Thanks to a recent exhibition and accompanying book, people can see what the Hippodrome may have looked like in ancient times, along with its development in subsequent eras.
Anyone who has traipsed around Istanbul’s historic peninsula on the way to the Hagia Sophia or the Blue Mosque cannot have failed to come across the large, rectangular stretch of land that constitutes the Hippodrome.
For decades this space was nothing more than a dusty plain with a few decorative, almost nondescript pillars devoid of explanation. It was known as the Hippodrome where the ancient Romans and Byzantines used to have horse races (in modern times made famous by Charlton Heston in the movie “Ben Hur,” an adaptation from the book written by Lew Wallace, the United States’ ambassador to the Ottomans in the 19th century) and gladiatorial games of varying sorts. The square was also renowned for its political riots that nearly unseated Emperor Justinian, builder of the Hagia Sophia.
The square survived after the Ottoman conquest of 1453 because the new rulers saw the value of using the space for their own games, usually played on horseback. As a result, the square acquired the name Atmeydanı, or Horse Square. In addition, parades and festivities, such as those depicted in the miniatures of the 1582 Surname-i Murat III, were also held there. The space further played a part in political actions taken against later sultans because it was a convenient place for rebels to gather.
Now, thanks to the generosity of the Suna and İnan Kıraç Foundation, the Istanbul Research Institute and the Pera Museum, people can see what the Hippodrome may have looked like in its heyday and its progression through the various eras thereafter.
"Hippodrome/Atmeydanı: A Stage for Istanbul's History" is an exhibition that opened this week at the museum and will provide a start-to-finish pictorial tour of the space until April 18.
In tandem with the exhibition, a splendid, two-volume set of books has also been published in both Turkish and English under the same name as the exhibition. The set includes a number of articles related to the Hippodrome, as well as a catalog for the exhibition. The book certainly ranks among the most outstanding, comprehensive publications ever published for an exhibition and is one of those collections of material that provide all the information you ever wanted to know about the Hippodrome and likely much more that you have not even thought about.
In the foreword to the set, Suna, İnan and İpek Kıraç pay tribute to the Istanbul Research Institute whose research departments for the Ottoman and Republican periods facilitated the work. “We are happy to honor this very special and colorful square of Istanbul, which has hosted a variety of consequential incidents during the foundation of the Republic, with this exhibition that opens in 2010, the year Istanbul becomes the Culture Capital of Europe.”
The material has been collected under the general editorship of Brigitte Pitarakis, a researcher and writer on the Byzantine period. Because one can only see the masonry obelisk – whose origin is unknown – the Serpent Column and the Egyptian obelisk today, she says few can imagine the splendor and size of the original Hippodrome.
Throughout the Byzantine period, the Hippodrome was used for horse races between factions although this practice was discontinued under the Ottomans, who preferred to play cirit (a form of polo).
Volume one of the research deals particularly with the Byzantine period and reconstructions of what the Hippodrome might have resembled.
Pitarakis says much of the Hippodrome was still standing when the Ottomans conquered the city – apart from many metal statues and other ornamentation that had been melted down during the conquest of the city by 13th century Crusaders.
The books divides the Byzantine period into five sections: Imperial Power and the Arena of the New Rome, Entertainment at the Hippodrome; The Architecture and Archaeology of the Hippodrome; Ancient Myths and Urban Legends: the Statues of the Euripos; and Rediscovering the Hippodrome. The last section deals with the accounts of Western travelers between the 15th and 17th centuries.
Regarding the Istanbul Research Institute and Pera Museum, Pitarakis says, “[The institutes] seek to undertake exhibitions that highlight the major buildings, monuments and spaces of Istanbul that span the Byzantine and Ottoman periods and continue to make a significant contribution to the cultural richness of the Republic of Turkey.”
Meanwhile, part of the book’s visual material was provided by A. Tayfun Öner through 3-D representations of what the Hippodrome might have resembled in its former brilliance based on remains from the area found at the Istanbul Archaeology Museum and the garden of the Blue Mosque.
Öner worked with available archaeological reports, recent surveys, visual records, and the literary contributions of Byzantine writers and historians and travelers to ancient Istanbul.
His representations are so realistic that one could almost imagine being right in the middle of the Hippodrome – requiring only a few charioteers and a roaring crowd to whisk one back in time.
In fact, there are small statutes that represent some of the people that might have performed in the arena, as well as frescoes depicting charioteers in a church in Kiev.
If one thus fails to see the exhibition, there is always the two-volume set and with outstanding reproductions of colored miniatures and photographs.
The only problem is that each of the two is heavy and the thought of taking them around the exhibition is rather daunting. Nonetheless, the tomes are marvelous reference books that will stir up many memories of Istanbul’s historic peninsula.
(Hurriyet Daily News Friday, February 19, 2010)
Visiting Hours
Tuesday - Saturday 10.00 - 19.00
Sunday 12.00 - 18.00
Museum is closed on Mondays.
Special Days
Museum, with sugar and on the first day of Kurban bayram is closed on New Year's holiday
Address
Meşrutiyet Caddesi No.65
34443 Tepebaşı - Beyoğlu - İstanbul
Tel. + 90 212 334 99 00
Fax. + 90 212 245 95 11
Şunu daha büyük bir haritada görüntüle: Pera Museum (Pera Müzesi)