Istanbul, July 7 2022

You think of all the great cities that in their time represented the pinnacle of human civilization. Consider Rome, Babylon, London, Athens, New York.  I submit that none of them held that crown the way the city founded first as Byzantium, then Constantinople, and finally Istanbul did.  It was the world center of commerce, art, wealth and religion for over 1000 years.  Although today it is the 15th largest city in the world, it is a shadow of its former glory.

The Roman emperor Constantine the Great (and he truly was) sought to meet the needs of his over expanded and now Christian empire by splitting it into two political/administrative halves and then anchoring the newly partitioned east with its own capital. On top of the small town of Byzantium, he built a city to rival Rome and in fact renamed it New Rome. The unimaginative name naturally didn’t stick and it was soon called Constantinople by his adoring subjects. Situated as it was, the new site covered all the bases, a deep protected harbor, easy access by land and sea, and best of all it was a near perfect fortress.

Turkish tea and a baklava, easy to find and tough to beat

Long captivated with the historic place, I was more than a bit nervous about trying to make a trip there.  Over the years headlines start to etch fears in your mind; a muslim country, that loose canon Erdogen, run-ins with Greece and the EU.  I did a bit of research, calmed my nerves and rationalized that it would be just a short trip, my risk profile is a bit different in my old age, and besides just how much trouble can I really get into.  Now having decided it was a good time to go, I then managed to convince Candy.


On arrival, the airport is one of the nicest and newest in the world, but not very close to the city center.  We stayed at the Doubletree Old Town and it turned out to be a good choice being situated on the main artery named Ordu, which runs directly through the historical center.  A tramway operates down the middle of the boulevard all the way to the Hagia Sophia/Topkapi Palace area and makes for a cheap, easy, commute.  It is however crazy crowded.  Overall, people are courteous and friendly and try to help the tourists, but the language is a challenge as few people speak English away from the hotel front desks or the restaurant hosts.

Our first day there we booked a tour guide on Tours by Locals, which was a good move.  This worked out quite well and our guide Duygu was knowledgeable, spoke good English and shared much about herself, her country and her passion for Istanbul.  Most importantly she put us at ease with the new cultural environment.

Leave your shoes at the door and step inside the magnificent Hagia Sophia

Our tour took us first to Hagia Sophia, which is the city’s main sight and at the very heart of everything.  This giant domed Roman building was constructed as the first great christian church.  It survived the millinieum switching from a church to a mosque after the muslim conquest, then to museum and just recently back to a mosque. Muslims are very adverse to christian displays but much of the original mosaic and craftsmanship in her walls remains.  In fact there is a large artwork high up near the dome that colorfully depicts the Virgin Mary.  It was none the less allowed to be displayed with the compromise being to cover it during muslim services.  A retractable curtain was installed for that purpose.  It seems to have broken in the “covered” position and is beyond the priority or ability of the government to repair.  Another development with recently converting back to a mosque is that some areas of the building are now off limits, much to the frustration of the tour guides.

The Virgin Mary once prominently displayed and now peaking behind a blind

Blending in with the locals

The original Byzantine floor

A few of the main tourist sites were unfortunately under repairs; the cisterns, the interior of the Blue Mosque, the Chora Church, but that didn’t put much of a dent into our plans.  After the Hagia Sophia, we walked to the Topkapi Palace which is both vast, and spectacular.  The palace grounds are very well kept and clean and it’s shear size thins out the tourist crowd.  Then we took a long walk through the Hippodrome, the center of Byzantine life much as the Colosseum was to Rome.  It is an open piazza now and except for it’s shape and the obelisks that decorate it’s center line, there is little left of the structure, much like the Circus Maximus in Rome.

One of many ornate buildings at the Topkapi Palace

An original palace Sycamore tree, a sacred symbol to the Ottomans

The Palace Library

The Quran is read aloud 24/7/365 year after year non stop

One of the Palace main gates


Dinner in Istanbul is easy, and the food is great.  Whether it’s street food, inexpensive little lunch places or fine dinning that offers traditional Turkish cuisine, the menu’s are exciting and the tastes are both wonderful and unique.

We followed up the first full day of touring with a cruise down the Bosporus and a visit to the Mosaic museum to see what remains of the Roman palace.  We visited, in the rain, the north west part of town and the Church of St. George.  This church is inconspicuous and well guarded by the Turkish police.  There have been a number of incidents with terrorist attacks there.  A small church, once inside it is quite a sight and holds a surprising treasure of art and artifacts.  This church is the center of the Eastern Orthodox religion.  It’s mind boggling to think that it is to the Easter Orthodox christians what St. Peter’s is the Catholics.  The day made for a lot of walking around the center which is much more hilly than I’d expected. It turned into good workout.

Aya Yorgi, The Church of St. George

Back wall of St. George

The pillar of Christ’s scourging brought from Jerusalem

The food in Istanbul is fantastic. Turkish cuisine is both unique and diverse, from the Shwarma stands to fine restaurants, and the deserts are addictive. We tried to sample a lot of different dishes and loved everything. Shopping is extensive as witnessed by walking the city blocks of the enclosed Grand Bazaar, which is a must to see. Yet for us despite the number of shops, most were repetitive and there wasn’t much that we wanted to take home.

Winding through the very old Grand Bazaar

For lunch, don’t miss the Pudding Shop for great Turkish food

Ottoman cuisine at Deraliye, recommended

Dinner at the Arcadia Hotel rooftop, view outstanding, food just ok

The Roman (Byzantine) city was a remarkable fortress utilizing it’s position as a peninsula against the Bosporous Strait and its construction of surrounding walls, much of which still stand.  Repeated attempts by superior armies would fail to crack her skin.  The 1203, Crusaders flying their flags marked with the cross arrived.  It was a strange mix of events that is still hard to make sense of.  Arriving to help the citizens restore power to what they thought was the rightful and popular heir to the throne, they wound up in a fight.  Then a compromise and a partnership and then a fight again.  With some dumb luck, and Venetian bravado they gained access to the city and then in a wild blood frenzy laid it to waste.  There may never have been a greater act of savagery than what Constantinople was then subjected to.  Art was stolen, or simply destroyed.  Men, women and children were slaughtered and raped wholesale.  Clerics were cut down in the churches and much of the city burned.  All this not by some barbaric horde from the cold north, but by the Pope’s army, called together by him in the name of God to save Christianity.  He was of course upset by the events and excommunicated the lot of them. That is until he realized they could still make it to the Levant and save Jerusalem, and so he changed his mind. 

The floor mosaics from the Byzantine Palace

A section of the curved extreme of the Hippodrome


Constantinople never recovered from the Cursader’s sack. She would regain her position as a Roman/Greek nation but she was mortally wounded, never able to fully rebuild her army, her economy or her navy.  This condition, combined with advances in siege artillery in the 15th century would leave her vulnerable and when the greatest military force of the time, the Ottoman Turks, came calling in 1453 it was just too much.  She resisted Mehmed’s assaults valiantly but finally succumbed. Her last and valiant emperor Constantine XI died in hand to hand combat.  The ensuing sack, ultimately erased all but the Hagia Sophia and the cities great, now damaged walls.

Three walls with a 20 ft deep moat in front that now serves as gardens

The damaged battlements survive as witness to the assault

A tower adjacent to the “Crooked Gate”, where Constantine XI was last seen inspecting the his troops the night before the Turkish assault

I visited the walls one afternoon taking a cab (be careful as there is no logic or structure to what they charge) and then hiking along their outer side.  There is no organized tourism around this historic site, although the Turkish government is trying to restore a large section.  Even the city guides I inquired too didn’t provide tours or suggest any options.  Spending some hours hiking along I could see what an engineering marvel the walls were, why they worked so well and for so long, and where the evidence of the damage from the Turkish siege was still very apparent.

The moat now filled in

Some cities you visit and you feel satisfied that you’ve taken a big bite of what it has to offer.  That maybe you’ll come back only if an opportunity presents itself.  For me, our four days in Istanbul was just a tasty nibble. This city is like Rome, there is so much to see and experience you know it’s going to take more than a few visits, and I’ll be looking forward to them as much as I did the first.

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Israel, July 22 2022

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Ireland, May 23 2022