Our day started with an uphill walk to the heart of the Old City. Along the way, Ulaş told us that the earliest sections of the city walls date back to the 7th century BCE, when the city was founded. The walls were expanded many times over the succeeding centuries.
The first historic site we visited was Topkapı Palace. It’s actually an enormous complex rather than a single structure. Topkapı was constructed by Mehmet the Conqueror following the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. The complex includes gardens, ceremonial gates, courtyards, and countless buildings used for administrative, educational, and cultural purposes as well as serving as the residence of the sultan and his family.
Topkapı is located on the Byzantine acropolis that overlooks the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, and the Sea of Marmara. By the way, until I consulted a map, I had no idea what the Golden Horn was. It’s actually a body of water, an inlet of the Bosphorus, and it’s considered to be the world’s largest natural harbor – hence, its strategic importance. As for the name, I really don’t see anything resembling a horn.
On the side facing the water, Topkapı is surrounded by the original Byzantine walls. And on the side facing land, Mehmet ordered the building of new defensive walls in the 15th century.
The palace complex is laid out in the Chinese style, with four courtyards. In the first courtyard, Ulaş pointed out the sycamore trees, some of which date back several centuries, and the 6th century CE Aya Irina Orthodox church, which was transformed into an armory by the Ottomans.
He also noted that in the springtime, the courtyard would be filled with tulips, which originated in Turkey before being brought to Holland in the 16th century. The tulip is associated with the Ottoman rulers and stylized tulips are a common motif in Ottoman decorative arts.
We quickly moved on towards the second gate, known as the Gate of Salutation.
The second courtyard, which is surrounded by porticoes, was both the ceremonial area and the center of administration. Here we viewed the magnificently decorated Imperial Council Hall. This is where the sultan received foreign ambassadors and held wedding ceremonies for his daughters.
Also of note in this courtyard was the oldest living tree in the palace complex, an ancient sycamore tree dating back to the 1400s.
We spent the majority of our time exploring the buildings in the third courtyard.
The aptly named Treasury contained a wealth of gold and jewel encrusted objects. Among them was the 86-carat pear-shaped diamond, known as “Spoonmaker’s” diamond. The gem was nearly impossible to photograph with the camera on my phone. But take my word for it, it was quite dazzling. Another priceless object was the Topkapı dagger. This mid-18th century piece is famous for the three large emeralds on its sheath.
There were countless beautiful weapons, bottles, boxes, and pieces of jewelry and furniture.
A display of uncut gems included rubies, sapphires, diamonds, and the two largest emeralds in the world.
Even the armor showed the wealth of the Ottomans.
The Treasury building was decorated with beautiful tile work.
From the Treasury, we had an excellent view out over the Bosphorus.
Another building in the third courtyard housed many relics the Ottomans took from the Byzantine palace. I didn’t have time to visit the holy relic collection, which contains relics from Biblical figures such as Abraham, King David, Moses, John the Baptist, and Mohamed.
Instead, I opted to take a look at the extensive collection of imperial clothing. I was especially interested in the clothing made for the female members of the sultan’s family. Not surprisingly, tulips were the most common decorative element on these garments.
There was plenty more to see at Topkapı, but after a few hours, I was distracted by hunger pangs. We all gladly followed Ulaş to a famous Turkish restaurant unofficially known as the Pudding Shop. In the 1960s, it served as the meeting place for young people traveling overland on the “hippie trail” from Europe to India and points east in Asia. Due to its history and its proximity to Hagia Sophia, the Pudding Shop is very popular with tourists and it was extremely crowded at lunchtime. And despite the restaurant’s intriguing name, the cuisine was pretty much standard Turkish fare. My lunch consisted of chicken with spinach and cheese, served with rice and fries, along with a salad. I soon figured out that a minimum of two different carbs - not including bread - per meal was standard. And since I was in the Pudding Shop, I ordered rice pudding for dessert.
While we were enjoying our lunch, Ulaş was busy arranging for us to enter Hagia Sophia without waiting in the long line that snaked across the plaza. I’d been anticipating this visit for years after learning about the building in art history and history classes I had audited at George Mason University.
Although the current Hagia Sophia is a 6th century building, the history of Hagia Sophia spans more than 1500 years. In its first incarnation, it was a wooden Orthodox church built in the mid-4th century CE on the site of a pagan temple. After the building was destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt and rededicated by the Roman Emperor Theodosius in 415 CE. The church was burned again in 532 during riots that occurred during the reign of Justinian I. The emperor took advantage of this opportunity to completely reimagine a replacement structure. The new Hagia Sophia was completed in 537 CE.
For more than a millennium, the immense building was an Orthodox cathedral, the seat of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. It managed to withstand looting by the Venetians and the Crusaders who arrived on the Fourth Crusade in 1204. But its demise as a Christian edifice came in 1453 with the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople. Mehmet II had Hagia Sophia converted into a mosque. On the exterior, he added a wooden minaret, and on the interior, he added an enormous chandelier, a mihrab (niche indicating the direction of Mecca), and a minbar (pulpit).
In the 1930s, after the establishment of the Turkish Republic, Kemal Mustafa (aka “Ataturk”) converted Hagia Sophia into a museum. Then in 2020, Turkish president Erdoğa converted it back into a mosque, in what was probably an attempt to gain support from the more conservative elements inside and outside the country. However, since a mosque cannot charge an entrance fee, the government lost an important source of revenue and it is now planning to convert Hagia Sophia back into a museum.
In the crowded entrance hall, we shed our shoes (thank you, Ulaş, for very helpfully providing plastic bags) and the women covered their heads with scarves. Looking up, I could the few remaining Byzantine mosaics.
Then we stepped through the doorway and I was immediately overwhelmed by Hagia Sophia’s massive scale. According to Ulaş, the dome is so high that Notre Dame Cathedral could fit under it, as could the Statue of Liberty, minus her torch.
I also learned a few interesting facts about the current state of Islam in Turkey: There are 90,000 mosques in the country. Only about 5-6% of the population comes to pray at a mosque regularly. The imams are paid by the government. And most surprising to me, the Friday sermon delivered by the imam is set by the government and cannot be altered.
When we left Hagia Sophia, our day of sightseeing wasn’t over yet. The Basilica Cistern was a short walk from Hagia Sophia. Although it wasn’t on the official OAT itinerary, everyone in our group was eager to see this marvel of engineering. The underground water storage system was built during the reign of 6th century Byzantine emperor Justinian to ensure that the city would have an adequate water supply in the case of a siege. There was a long line to get in, but once again, Ulaş was able to gain immediate entrance for our group. With its 366 recycled Greek pillars and eerie, changing lighting, the Basilica Cistern was like nothing I’d ever seen before.
Our final activity of the day was the official Welcome Dinner at a restaurant within walking distance of the hotel. The festive meal started with a variety of Turkish appetizers, including grape leaves rolled around a vegetable filling; eggplant salad; roasted peppers; hummus; feta, tomatoes, and wild herbs. Next came a spinach-filled pastry. The main course was grilled sea bass from the Sea of Marmara and dessert was rice pudding. Wine, beer, and mixed drinks were readily available. Although the majority of Turkey’s population is Muslim, the country is secular and does not restrict the sale of alcohol.
At the end of the first official tour day, my head was so full of information about the history of Turkey that I needed to sort out all the dates and facts I’d learned from Ulaş. Before I settled down for the night, even though I was beyond exhausted, I started making up a timeline for reference. I constantly added to it and corrected it throughout the trip and even worked on it after I returned home. I’ve included it below, in case you’re interested. And if you don’t want to bother with it, I hope you’ll enjoy reading about my adventures anyway. There’s much more to come!
660 BCE – Greek settlers led by King Byzas of Megara start a colony on the European side of the entrance to the Bosphorus Strait
522 BCE – Greek city-states in Anatolia (the Asian part of today’s Turkey) come under Persian control
513 BCE – Persians, at war with the Greeks, destroy Byzantium
478 BCE – Sparta gains control of Byzantium
390 BCE – Athens gains control of Byzantium
312 BCE – Alexander the Great’s conquest of Asia Minor, including Byzantium
192 CE – Romans, under Septimus Severus, conquer Byzantium
312 CE – Emperor Constantine makes Byzantium the capital of the entire Roman empire and changes its name to Constantinople; Christianity becomes state religion
395 CE – Roman Empire splits into West (capital – Rome) and East (capital – Constantinople)
476 CE – Goths defeat Romans; fall of Western Roman Empire
6th century – great territorial expansion of Eastern Roman Empire under Justinian
7th – 11th centuries – gradual loss of territory to Persians, Goths, Bulgarians, and Arabs
1071 CE – Seljuk Turks defeat Byzantines at Battle of Manzikert, leading to further decline of Byzantine Empire
1204 CE – Sack of Constantinople by Crusaders on the 4th Crusade
13th – 15th centuries – various Turkic tribes (originally from central Asia) take control of many formerly Byzantine territories in Anatolia
1453 – Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmet II conquer Constantinople; Ottoman sultan became the Caliph (leader of the Muslim world)
16th century – Ottoman Empire is at its peak, in control of vast territory
18th – 19th centuries – with start of Industrial Revolution, Ottoman Empire begins to lose territory and goes into a gradual decline
World War 1 (1914-17) – Ottomans on the losing side, which brings Allied occupation and an end to the Empire
1923 – Turkish Republic is founded by Ataturk as a secular nation
World War 2 (1939-1945) – Turkey remains neutral, grants visas to many Ashkenazic Jews fleeing from Nazi-controlled areas
2018 - Turkey's parliamentary system is replaced by a presidential system
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