Guide to Istanbul | sultanahmet1.com
Besides numerous iconic monuments, there happen to be several famous places that add beauty and importance to the city of Istanbul. The book market (Sahaflar Carsisi) in Istanbul has been quite successful in aptly preserving the familiar atmosphere of the market (bazaar) so common nearly two hundred years ago when the place was dominated by the merchants involved in their respective trades with no special favor to the foreigner visitors.
Talking about the location of this market, it is spread on the courtyard from the Bayezid mosque extending up to the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, which incidentally is the same location where the book and paper market existed during the Byzantine period. The bookstalls in this market are full of holy books, novels, textbooks and foreign books majority of which had been printed by the first Ottoman printer, Ibrahim Muteferrika.
One can find not just new but even secondhand books in English in one of the prominent bookstores in this market named Dilmen Kitabevi bookstore. Among various books displayed in different book shelves, one can find sufficient material throwing light on the Sexual life in Ottoman times. And there also happens to be a small market dealing in old coins, which is located through the far away gate.
Interior of the Rustem Pasha Mosque
Rustem Pasha mosque- This mosque, although small in size, is in no way, less prominent in terms of historical importance. The undercroft of this mosque serves as shops and can be reached by winding stairs. The true beauty of this mosque lies in its majestic design, thanks to the coveted efforts of its architect, Mimar Sinan, who built this mosque in the year 1563. No wonder, it really deserves to be called as the decorative wonders of Istanbul. With a truly majestic array of Iznik tiles adding glory to this artifact, this mosque once had deep red colored tiles that are no longer to be found now.
Crimea Memorial Church
Crimea Memorial Church-Various efforts by Turkey’s secular nationalists have been diverted towards making the city wholly provincial, especially by expressing their disregard on the city’s tradition of religious diversity. This displeasure was apparent towards the Greek Orthodox Church, making life difficult for the Patriarch living in Istanbul. The history of Istanbul will be considered incomplete without making a reference about a small yet quite significant fragment in the history of Istanbul, that is, the Crimea Memorial Church. Designed by GE Street, a famous English architect, this church was built on the area donated by the sultan in the year 1858-68. This church is a reminder of the times when the quite traditional Ottoman Empire welcomed western influences with open hands. Declining by the 1980s, this Anglican church was opened once again with the efforts of Assyrian refugees who took shelter in the 1990s. do take time to enjoy the beautiful painted chancel screen by Mungo McCosh and taking part in the Sunday congregation which begins at 10 am.
Cinaralti teahouse, Cengelkoy-Want to move away from the noisy hustle and bustle of the old city, take a public ferry to reach Uskudar and even Beylerbeyi Palace while continuing your visit to Cengelkoy. Cinaralti teahouse happens to be a traditional teahouse located on the waterfront enabling you to enjoy some of the most exotic views of the old city. You will be amazed by the mesmerizing sound of the ringing of the bells coming from a Greek orthodox church situated just across the road that mingle beautifully with the call to prayer. If you want to find a perfect place for enjoying your supper, just head straight towards Iskele Restaurant and enjoy probably the best fish available in the town.
Asitane Restaurant- If you happen to pay a visit to the Chora Church museum to enjoy its vivid mosaics belonging to the 12th century, you must make your visit more enjoyable and memorable by having lunch at Asitane Restaurant located just next door. This restaurant will take you to the glorious past of the 15th to the 18th century because he searched various festival menus of the kitchen at the Topkapi Palace to recreate recipes of that period. So, don’t forget to taste stuffed quince or stuffed melon while enjoying classical and jazz concerts held in the garden from time to time.
Church of St. Sergius and St Bacchus- Also known by the name of Little Hagia Sophia, this church belonging to the 15th century is now used as a mosque. This church was mainly built as a draft of architecture for testing new ideas. The reason why it was named as Little Hagia Sophia is quite interesting. If, in your imagination, you divide this building and place another dome on the top of the two domes, you will find a close resemblance of the building made according to your imaginative plan with the original and bigger Hagia Sophia. Situated just at a short distance from the central point of the old town, it is advisable to first visit the calligrapher’s market on the right before the entrance of this building before proceeding your visit towards this smaller Hagia Sophia. And if you are interested in taking home a souvenir in old Arabic script on anything, just order as you enter inside and collect while exiting from this mosque.
Turkish coffee shop of Fazil Bey—While passing through the route where the famous Fazil Bey’in Turk Kahvesi is located, you are likely to be fascinated by the inviting fragrance of fresh coffee just roasted in a machine belonging to the ancient times. This famous coffee shop was founded in 1923 and since then, it has turned many hearts passing-by to enjoy a sip of its delicious coffee. You can choose the flavor according to your individual liking. From vanilla, mastic, cardamom to chocolate, the shop provides coffee in every flavor. And don’t forget to accompany your cuppa of coffee with the homemade lemonade along with a few pieces of a Turkish delight named lokum.
Uskudar Bit Pazari antique flea market- Known to be somewhat conservative suburb situated on the Asian side, Uskudar has a great historical importance and has several famous monuments, mosques and hamams belonging to the Ottoman times. There are nearly 40 shops inside the covered bazaar that sell almost everything under the sun from bric-a-brac to numerous intricately carved pieces including marble basins. And a famous shop that has special items with wood, iron and stone work on them happens to be Asir Antik. If you want to shop for antique knick-knacks like keys, locks etc., you need to walk just a step further because Ridvan Tasciogullari’s shop is the next shop after Asir Antik. The owner of this shop, Mr. Ridvan has been taking several tours of Turkey to find some of the most unusual and special pieces to be stored in his collection at this shop.
Laundromat Boutique- This is a recently opened boutique located in Galata-Beyoglu. Galata has emerged to be a hot destination and this shop in Galata is only at a walking distance from the Galata Tower. Designers Yasemin Ozeri and Oyku Thurston, who are the co-owners of this shop, have the deft of creating exquisite designs on mufflers, shawls and hats. Apart from the designer creations of these two above named designers, the shop also has collection of other contemporary designers of Turkey. The best thing about the collection in this shop is that it changes every three months to include new designs from contemporary designers. and an exhibition to showcase the new breed of talented fashion designers is held four times in a year.
Princes Islands- Princes Islands, particularly Buyukada, is an inviting place for walking or for cycling around. If you feel hungry while taking a stroll around the island, you have a couple of restaurants on the Iskelse that will serve you the best fish cuisines which you are likely to feel compelled to have more and more. You can walk up to Hagia Yorgi for visiting a monastery and a church there. What can be more enjoying than having a cup of tea while watching the beautiful sunset view at evening?
Kanlica-If you pass through the outskirts of the city of Istanbul, do take time to taste the amazing and very famous yogurt made from sheep’s and cow’ milk and topped with the creamy skin and sprinkling of sugar. This is none other than Kanlica yogurt. Of course, that’s the reason why Bosphorus is an ideal place to escape from the humdrum of the city.
Finding perfect reading solace in Sultanahmet Istanbul
In Sultanahmet, one can find several locations including shops and cafes storing a very good collection of English books. Not just shops, one can also enjoy reading even in numerous hotels and hostels as they too, maintain at least one small shelf for catering to their reading milieu.
Book Shops or (turkish Sahaflar)
No wonder, it is quite normal to see many tourists in Sultanahmet enjoy reading their favorite books while sipping hot coffee or tea in those leisure moments. The variety of books available for reading is not the usual tourist guides for the new visitors to this city of Turkey. In fact, the books are available in different fields of study, be it literature, history and so on. The list seems to be endless and certainly mind blowing.
Another good thing about the books available in Sultanahmet is that a large number of books are in English language. That’s something interesting and inviting for the visitors from English speaking countries. Istanbul has many bookshops and bookstores selling English-language books, with many of them being about culture, art and history. The covers of the books are elegant and glossy likely to catch the fancy of any passerby potential buyer. And many of these books demand long hours of serious reading. The books, whether non-fiction or fiction, are all priced at quite affordable rates. So, none of the British or even the American tourists will miss to grab a copy or two for them.
The city of Istanbul has also several of the popular literary and classic works on sale and also with Turkish translations. So, it is quite common to find many Turks holding Tolstoy in their hand or even the mysteries of the mysterious Agatha Christie.
Several hostels and hotels prefer to keep a shelf booked for the books of various varieties, probably those enjoying a wide readership among the hotel guests from various corners of the world. Among the books in the hotels include the ones left by the tourists most of which are often gothic thrillers or romances. These books are good enough to provide entertainment to any causal reader relaxing on a hotel terrace or even during a long journey on a plane back home.
Sahaflar Carsisi- The Old Book Bazaar-----
As you walk along the west side of the main street of the famous Grand Bazaar, you will come across a series of stalls and shops selling new as well as old books in different languages. Many of them have books in English language and can be bought after a bit of bargaining with the shopkeepers.
Sahhaf (Book Shop) ---
While talking about some of the good shops for getting books, there is one named Sahhaf. It is just about a block away from the famous Divanyolu Cad, just next to DoRemi, a store selling musical instruments. Here, one can find several English books in the shops apart from the books in other languages including French, Spanish, German and Arabic to cater to a wide variety of tourists from the world over.
Konya Pension Bookstore---
This bookstore is located at Akbiyik Cad., Terbiyik Sok., No. 15. As you walk down the stairs from the famous Konya Pension on the noisy backpacker’s street, you will be amazed and delighted by the huge variety of volumes of English-language books, about 4,000 in numbers. To help the visitors decide about which books suit their pocket, a list mentioning the price of various books is displayed on the wall. The books are arranged according to different categories. For example, you can find travel books, best sellers, novels, fiction, non-fiction aptly displayed in different sections for the convenience of the visitors. And the novels have been displayed in shelves in an alphabetical order by the author. You can reach here either through the gift shop upstairs or through the outdoor stairs.
Java Studio---
Java Studio is one of the best known places for browsing books of splendid variety. Located at Cankurtaran Mah., Dalbasti Sok., No. 13. Near the Arasta Bazaar and the Blue Mosque, just across the small street from the Hotel Blue House. This bookstore, in its tastefully furnished lounge, stores and displays exquisitely wide variety of used books and even some books offered at a bargain of two for one. Sounds interesting, isn’t it?
Book exchange in Istanbul---
In Istanbul, the Istanbul Book Exchange has been established only recently by a small group of expats having interest in literature. It involves a monthly meeting of people having keen interest in literature or reading. As compared to a book club where a member has to devote his time in studying a specified book or books on a chosen subject so as to discuss related aspects with the members in the meeting, the book exchange’s sole aim is to talk and do business of books. It does not involve any fees or charges nor is there any pre-established rule for exchange. So, whether you have many books or even no book at all, with book exchange, you can always take at least one book or even two books. However, it is good if you bring something (of course, a book) along with you.
The meeting of Istanbul Book Exchange is held on the third Sunday of every month at the fixed time of 1’o clock. The venue of this meet is fixed to be the FPPP (Kucuk Aya Sofya Cad., No. 39A, just two blocks towards south of the famous Arasta Bazaar, Sultanahmet). The café usually remains closed on the afternoons of Sundays; however, the chef does offer a small menu for those members of this book exchange who want to have lunch. If you, too, want to share your interests and ideas with the like minded literary minds of this book exchange, you are welcome to join this group. Just email your details at the address--- expatturk@gmail.com.
How can one forget to mention a quotation by a renowned writer, Emily Dickenson, who once said that books are a convenient way to take us back to our homes even though for a matter of few hours only.