Pierre Loti

Last week I was invited to an area of Istanbul I had never been to. The area of Eyup is in the northern part of the Golden Horn. I was told the area was known for Pierre Loti...someone I had never heard of before. I was eager to learn about this French man who had a portion of this area dedicated to his memory. I guess the man liked a scenic view and some chai, because that is all I got from the trip. I still know absolutely nothing about why he has an area dedicated in his memory. I'll have to venture out again. I was hoping that going somewhere with someone woudl allow me to learn more about the area, but unfortunately that was not the case this time.

Hippodrome, oh Hippodrome, where are you?

On just about any list you look at of places you MUST see in Istanbul, you will see Hippodrome of Constantinople. First of all, I had to look up what a hippodrome was. A hippodrome is greek word literally meaning horse path or way. So basically, a hippodrome is a place where horse/chariot races took place. It sounds like a completely interesting place to see...if you can find it!

The Hippodrome of Constantinople has been one of the hardest things for me to find. You would think that a large area that once held 100,000 people would be easy to find! Wrong!!! Over the years much of the Hippodrome has been destroyed and some pieces from the area have been moved to be displayed in other countries. All that remains now are 3 columns.

I have ventured around Historic Istanbul many times. Each time I am out I hope to figure out where exactly this Hippodrome was. One of my guide books mistakingly lists the Hippodrome near the Topkapı Palace, so I have always assumed the park next to the Palace, Gulhane Park, was where the chariot horses took place...but I couldn't find any columns that would confirm this.

Last week, when I was out and about on the gorgeously beautiful day, I took a little walk by the Blue Mosque. I stopped, sat and admired the mosque and the water fountain nearby (that they just started running again), and ate some watermelon. I then decided to take a little trip to the Grand Bazaar to see if I could find some simple shorts to wear, as it was getting hot and I needed something besides pants. So, I headed in the direction of what I thought was west...but apparently was a little bit more southwest. I thought the shops around looked familiar, but the three columns in front of me were definitely new. It is funny how whenever I think I am in a place I know, but there is suddenly some big column or gate in front of me, I think it must have been just put there. I mean, it definitely wasn't ME who made a wrong turn.

I walked around the columns, admiring their heights and construction. They were set in the ground a good 15 ft...maybe. I took the following pictures and then read some more about each column. After a few minutes I realized...I was in the Hippodrome. Wow! It was definitely smaller than I thought it would be. To think that so many people crowded this area to watch chariots race by was hard to believe. So many stores line the area. All that is left now is the small oval shaped area where 3 large columns remain.

Tiled Kiosk

Here are a few pictures from the Tiled Kiosk. There is certainly more to say from the pictures than I could say in words. Everything was beautiful there! I will be back, as it is one of the 4 museums in the Archeological Museum area. Enjoy!

The picture below is of a wall in one of the rooms. I really liked the design and colors.

I loved the windows below! They were rainbow colored, with obviously more blue. So much prettier in person!

The ceramics below were made in Izmir, I believe. Izmir is south of Istanbul, in about the center of the country on the far west. I really thought the designs on these ceramics were cute. These designs were of animals. Just a simple ceramic bowl with brown images. Definitely something that could be used to decorate a babies room or something.

This picture came out blurry, but it is a very pretty mihrab.

Whew! 3,000+ years of artifacts will tire you out!

I visited the Archeological Museum, and boy was it far more than I expected. I really wished, as I walked from room to room of the 3 or 4 story building, that I had paid more attention in History class and could grasp the periods of events and understand more about each piece. I will be taking more trips to the museum to learn a little bit at a time. For now, here are a few pictures with some basic notes.






The actual Archeological Museum is the building above. It extends to the right about triple as long as this picture shows. There are at least 2 other museums in the area: The Tiled Kiosk and The Museum of the Ancient Orient.




This is the Alexander Sarcophagus. It was believed that this was actually the final resting place of Alexander The Great, but apparently they have disspelled this rumor.





An image of Alexander the Great on his horse. What I found interesting, and will have to learn more about, is that everyone had clothes on in these images, except for the Macedonian soliders. I guess it is to represent the "enemy" but I don't know.





A color representation of all of the images around the sarcophagus.





A statue of Alexander the Great.





The "Mourning Women" sarcophagus. The detail was great. And their expressions were somber and it seemed like they were remembering the person they lost.





There were so many tombs in the museum.

The picture above is one of the many actual skeletons I saw. There was no explanation as to who it was, but I didn't really need to know.

The picture below is of Zeus. I am very unfamiliar with Greek Mythology, so I will spend more time in this area of the museum in the future!

Below: A sculpture of Oceanus.

There was a display of all money used in Istanbul since 500BC. I found this display very interesting. The coins were very simple. A piece of gold or silver with a slight indent or image. An image that was popular when the currency was first created was an image of a bull standing on a dolphin. I tried to research this a little to find the story behind it, but couldn't find any certain facts. So, I am going to go with my assumption that the significance of the bull on the dolphin was to represent the proximity of Istanbul to the water. The reason currency was established in Istanbul was because Istanbul was a great location for traders from other countries. The traders would sail in from all around and trade their land good with that of Istanbulians. So, dolphin (water) and bull (land). That's just my explanation.

The painting below is of historic Istanbul hundreds of years ago. The water on the bottom of the painting is of the Bosphorus. The water that comes from what seems like the north, but is really the west (as the picture is actually with the West on top) is the Golden Horn. Obviously, the area has changed quite a bit in the hundreds of years that have past, but you can still very well understand how this area used to look. Many of buildings still exist...along with many others. And the walls have been taken down.

So maybe I'm being a little too courageous, but the floor mosaics they had displayed in the museums made me want to make one myself. I really would like to try this sometime. Maybe I'll start with a simple mosaic...8x10 picture?

Ulusal Egemenlik ve Çocuk Bahramı

National Sovereignty and Children's Day

April 23rd

A couple of weeks ago (maybe even about a month ago) I started noticing banners around Istanbul. They were banners reminding people that April 23rd was Children's Day. I thought that it was pretty neat that Turkey had a day dedicated to children. In the US, I was pretty sure there was a Children's Day also, but if you asked me what day it was I wouldn't know. Also, it's not a day that is regarded highly enough to post a banner numerous places around town weeks in advance.

A few days before Children's Day, the children here were talking about the holiday. One girl had an assignment to find a poem about the day. When I asked how hard that would be she replied, "Oh, it's Children's Day. There are a lot of poems." In just a couple of clicks, she had her poem. I was surprised. I then learned that Children's Day was a school holiday, and the girls would not have school that day. While I have just been here 2 months, it was interesting to me that the first "holiday" I would experience would be Children's Day.

On Friday, April 23rd, I knew it was Children's Day, but it was a holiday that was in the back of my mind. I was concerned with traveling to another city for the weekend with the family. As soon as we left the garage I noticed the security office to our complex had a flag flying above it's windows. I didn't think it had always been there, but honestly I wasn't sure that it hadn't. As the 45 minute drive continued, I noticed more and more flags hanging from numerous buildings. Various sizes, including some that were probably the length of boats! I quickly realized that Children's Day was truly a national holiday.

(Dolmuş: Taxi van)

(Apartments flying the flag)

(I was quite surprised by these flags hanging from the tall buildings!)

(Entering Sariyer, a fishing town.)

I learned that Children's Day is more than just a day for children. As one person told me, "It's the day Atatürk gave us." Yet another example of the pride the Turkish have for their first president. On April 23rd, 1920, the Grand National Assembly met for the first time in Ankara to establish a plan for an independent country. In 1923, after gaining independence from the Ottoman Empire and the invasion of numerous other countries, Atatürk dedicated April 23rd as a day of National Sovereignty and Children, recognizing that children were the future of the country.

The government in Turkey has been trying for years to make Children's Day an international holiday. UNICEF has taken part, and now recognizes April 23rd as International Children's Day.