Sultanahmet Square
Tulips are blooming in Sultanahmet Square.
I said I wanted cooler weather. I’m wearing a turtleneck, a wool sweater, my Sox hoodie and my heavy foul weather rain jacket. But the sun was shining and the cold felt good. The day it rained I had skipped the hoodie, my Henri Llyod rain jacket soaked up rain and I froze.
“This is one of the oldest pieces of art in Istanbul. The heads of 3 snakes entwined with each other formed the feet of a cauldron. The 31 Greek cities that defeated the Persians in the 5th Century B.C. melted the bronze trophies they acquired and constructed this artwork of unique quality. The Snake Pillar which is 8 meters long was originally erected in the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. It was brought by Emperor Constantine in 324. It was erected in the middle of the Hippodrome. (Now Sultanahmet Square) One piece of the snake heads which were lost in the 17th century is exhibited in the Museum of Archaeology in Istanbul.”
The Theodosius Obelisk
“The two obelisks were erected in front of the Karnak Temple in Luxor by the Pharoh of Egypt, Tutmosis the 3rd in 1490 B.C. for the victories Egypt won in Mesopotamia. The obelisks were made of pink granite of a rare quality. A Roman emperor, whose identity is not precisely known, brought an obelisk weighing many tons to Constantinople in the 4th century. The obelisk, which lay on one side of the Hippodrome for years, was erected with difficulties in 390 by one of the governors of the city, Proclus, during the reign of Theodosius the 1st. The artwork, which has always been considered to be “enchanted,” is the oldest in Istanbul. The obelisk stands on 4 bronze blocks on a Roman pedestal decorated with embossed figures.” One of the obelisks is being refurbished and the base of this one is wrapped and not visible. These two structures are obviously the oldest mad-made works that I’ve ever seen.
Randal was more fascinated with the piles of granite “pavers” used to maintain the roads and center of Sultanahmet Square.
Vendors sell bread, corn on the cob or roasted chestnuts.
A segue used as a police vehicle shows the modern side by side with the ancient.
Attack of the ice cream cone.
With a long handled scoop, the vendor would scoop out some ice cream, catch a cone with it, and thrust it at a passerby. It was too cold so I wasn’t tempted.
Tea glasses left on a window ledge in front of a carpet shop.
Linda and Michael gave us a tip; if you are cold and want hot tea or coffee, walk into a carpet shop and they give you a beverage while they try to see you a carpet. We haven’t tried that yet but have had hot apple tea from these lovely glasses. The main character in Bastard of Istanbul would buy a set of tea glasses almost each time she walked through the Grand Bazaar. There are hundreds to chose from and all lovely and I can see why she had been so tempted.
AKDENIZ OTEL is just down this alleyway on the left right on the main road and tram route.
Our favorite bookshop in Turkey on the main street where the tram runs (see its reflection in the window.)
“Our aim is to show Turkey to the world, to act as an international window for Turkey.” “Ali and his staff select their stock by consulting the Bookshop’s “100 advisors”…a group of experts and academics from around the world who alert Bookshop to new publications.” Amazingly there are two Book Shop locations in Sultanahmet, just about across the street from each other! The collections are about the same but one the second shop is larger. We met Ali our first visit and walked out with 3 books, all recommended by Ali or his staff. Portrait of a Turkish Family by Irfan Orga originally written in 1950; Turkish Reflections: A Biography of a Place by “Virginian” Mary Lee Settle in 199;, and Belshazzar’s Daughter by Barbara Nadel, a murder mystery series featuring Inspector Suleyman set in the Jewish section of Istanbul. Ali’s comment about Nadel was that her goal was to kill off all the men in Istanbul. I may have already mentioned that The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak was not available. Ali implied it was because her writing isn’t yet great, but I know there were issues with Turkish censors. But a bookshop isn’t a library so can choose what it likes and limit what it sells.
The Blue Mosque is also in Sultanahmet Square but that gets an email of its own. My favorite places so far are the Chora Church which I’d read about in Sue Monk Kidd’s Traveling with Pomegranates. Randal’s brother-in-law Ken is a minister and I wanted to see it for him too! And we went to see the Pera Palace Hotel where Agatha Christie wrote Murder on the Orient Express in room 441. It was occupied so we couldn’t see it but I told my friend Sarah I’d try because her book club had just read Murder…. And we had a really fun dinner one night because chef Burak of Burak’s Turkish Kitchen became our friend and checked to find where Linda could find food kosher for Passover. But that’s a story for another email.
Ru
DoraMac
Keep going SOX!!!!!