Turkey’s largest city is the backbone of the artistic beauty of the world
IF Cairo is regarded as the “Mother of all cities”, the honour for the coveted title of “The Princess of all cities” must surely go to Istanbul .
This is a fantastically — one may even say, ravishingly — beautifully city. Here, the bounties of nature and the genius of man have joined hands to invest the city with an atmosphere and an ambience steeped in history, culture and antiquity as well as with such aspects of modernity as gleaming sky-scrappers, 5-star hotels, cell phones, shopping malls and smart discotheques.
For my wife and myself the experience of visiting this charming city recently was as exciting and thrilling as our first visit, over 35 years ago. A city of ten million, the city is without a doubt Turkey’s main hub of economic and financial activity, and the focal point of its growing tourist industry.
Sitting in serene splendour on and around the seven hills that adorn its landscape, Istanbul straddles the Bosphorus — the only city in the world to be located on two continents, Europe and Asia. It also enjoys the unique distinction of having served as the capital of two empires, the Byzantine (324-1453) and the Ottoman, till its dissolution by Ataturk in 1923. Both the Byzantine Emperors as well as the Ottoman Sultans were great builders, and have left behind imperishable imprints in the form of magnificent buildings, churches, mosques, palaces, gardens, fountains, forts, etc.
For a visitor there is much to see and do in Istanbul. But it is virtually impossible to cover everything in a week’s time. Under the circumstances, we — a group of six family members and friends — had to be selective in our sight-seeing.
MOSQUES: Visits to Istanbul’s splendid mosques, a priceless legacy from the time of Ottomans, was high on our list of priorities. First of course was the Sulemaniye Mosque and its complex (1550-1557). One of the largest and grandest of its kind, it was designed and constructed by Turkey’s most renowned architect, Sinan, under the orders of Suleyman, the Magnificent (1520-1566). It consists of an outer courtyard that houses four madressahs, a caravansaray, a hospital, a public bath and a free kitchen for the poor.
The graves of the Sultan and his Russian wife, Roxelana as well as of the architect Sinan are located in this section. The inner courtyard, which may be regarded as an integral part of the mosque is rectangular in shape. From its corners arise the four majestic minarets.
In the center of the courtyard is a marble fountain. On the sides are 24 marble columns that support twenty-eight domes. The dominant feature of the main Prayer Hall, measuring 57 by 60 meters, is the huge magnificent dome, supported by four massive piers.
Though the Sulemaniye is one of the grandest mosques of Istanbul, the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, popularly known as the Blue Mosque (because of the blue tiles used in its interior), is considered to be one of the most beautiful. It was built by the Mehmed Aga, a student of Sinan and is the only mosque in the world with six minarets. Legend has it that Sultan Ahmed, before proceeding for pilgrimage to Mecca, commissioned the architect to build the mosque with golden minarets. Mehmed Aga soon learnt that the funds at his disposal were not sufficient to cover the cost of the gold required for the minarets. He, thereupon, hit on the idea of “six” minarets, as the Turkish words for “gold” and “six” have almost similar spellings and pronunciation!
Amongst the many other mosques, noted for their beauty, elegance and grandeur, special mention must be made of the Fatih Mosque, Shezade Mosque, Beyazit Mosque, Yeni Mosque and Salim Mosque. All these mosques are architectural masterpieces in their own right.
DOLMABACHE PALACE: This ornate and luxurious palace, on the Bosphorus, built in the Turkish Renaissance style, was constructed on the orders of Sultan Abdul Majeed in 1843-1856. Hitherto, the Ottoman Sultans had lived in Topkapi palace, but after a breakout of a number of fires there, Sultan Abdul Majeed felt the need for a new residence. The Dolmabache Palace served as the official residence of the Sultans till 1877. After the termination of the empire in 1923, Ataturk lived here on his visits to Istanbul. His study and the bedroom where he died on November 10, 1938 are still preserved in their original setting.
The palace derives its name from a combination of two Turkish words, dolma, meaning ‘to fill’ and bache meaning ‘garden’. Apparently, this place was once a low-lying area which was filled in by soil, and subsequently, a garden was grown here. Later, the site was selected for the palace — hence the name Dolmabache. This is the most luxurious palace in Turkey. Reportedly 14 tons of gold and 40 tons of silver were used to furnish and decorate it.
A visit to Istanbul is not complete without a visit to its famous Grand Bazaar, Taksim Square, the ever crowded Istiklal street, the fashionable Eminonu district with its expensive restaurants, the Topkapi Museum and the museum of Haghia Sophia. The best way to enjoy Istanbul, is to take a walk, or a taxi ride through its narrow, stone-cobbled streets, where at every twist and turn you will be surprised to discover some new facet of the city — little flower shop, a crowded donor-kebab stall, an exquisite fountain, or even a noisy, raucous tea house, where Turkish tea or coffee, and lively conversation, seems to flow in streams of never ending abundance.
BUYUKADA: A 40-minute ride by ferry will take you to a group of islands in the Sea of Marmara. The largest of these islands is Buyukada where the rich and famous of Istanbul have built luxury villas and houses for the summer. Over the years, Buyukada has also developed into a popular tourist resort. On its picturesque sea-front are to be found a number of tea houses, souvenir shops and some excellent restaurants offering delicious seafood and other items of Turkish cuisine.
A PLEASANT ENCOUNTER: On the return ferry trip to Istanbul we were fortunate to be sitting next to a group of three young, very charming Turkish ladies. It turned out that they were sisters, and what was even more surprising was that two of them were teachers, and the third, the youngest, was studying to be one. As they spoke reasonably good English, I asked them, why they had chosen this profession, considering that there isn’t much money in it?
The second eldest sister, who was the more articulate of the three, replied that teaching was a family tradition (apparently, their mother had also been a teacher), and that this was, perhaps one of the very few professions that gave one a sense of satisfaction, even of self-fulfilment, at the end of the day.
I was deeply impressed with her response, and inquired as to what the other members of the family were doing. The sister replied that they had one other sister, but she doesn’t do anything, and she doesn’t have to do anything because “she is married to a very rich man.”
“Ah! Well, in that case she is very much like me then. You see, I don’t do anything either, because I am married to a very rich wife.” My rather spontaneous comment not only surprised me, but was also greeted by the sisters with an incredulous smile. I, therefore, quickly clarified that my wife was not very rich in financial terms, but as a person she had a heart of gold, and a wealth of talent and good qualities, like kindness and sympathy for the poor and the needy, and possessed a nature that was both sweet and loving.
I don’t know about my wife, but I think the sisters were impressed!
The Turks are a very friendly people. Wherever they met us in the streets, or, in the hotel lobbies — they would greet us with great cordiality. It was also gratifying to note that whenever they mentioned Pakistan, they almost invariably mentioned the name of “President Musharraf”. Thanks to our President (and his earlier association with that country), a fund of goodwill for Pakistan exists in Turkey. We need to build on this.
Regretfully, our short visit to Turkey came to an end all too soon. We also stayed for a week at Yalova, an important port and a holiday resort on the Sea of Marmara, which is only one hour by ferry from Istanbul. Yalova is located in an agricultural district, and has extensive areas under apple orchards and vineyards. This area is also famous for its hot spring and has a number of spas — perhaps, more about this later.
Turkey’s largest city is the backbone of the artistic beauty of the world 
