From Şile To Ağva: A Refreshing Summer On The Black Sea

 

From Şile To Ağva: A Refreshing Summer On The Black Sea

Perched on a promontory high over the Black Sea north of Istanbul, Şile is ideal for a few days getaway. There is a surprise marketplace in the center of town, where you will come across a statue of a young girl weaving the famous Şile bezi cotton cloth. The shops along the avenue are a rainbow of color with embroidered tablecloths, curtains, dresses, shirts and countless other items, all made of Şile bezi, a lightweight, naturally crimped fabric made of natural cotton. It’s perfectly delightful to enjoy the refreshing breeze and gaze at the sea from the rocks at the harbor, where crates laden with fresh fish are carried from the boats direct to the restaurants. Whatever comes out of the sea is immediately offered to the customer. The patch of defense wall on the steep cliff opposite dates back to the Byzantines. Next to the harbor, swimmers frolic on the public beach, where the town’s world-famous beach volleyball matches are played. Acrobatic gulls are the real owners of the palisades overlooking Kavala Park, and the historic Şile Lighthouse complements the scene. Built in 1858, this 20-meter octagonal structure is described as Turkey’s oldest lighthouse in its promotional brochure. Further down the road are the Weeping Rocks, so called because the water seeping through these intriguing rock formations worn down by centuries of wind and waves have been compared to tear drops. A little further on, the area around the windmill at the tip of a green headland is ideal for a walk. Swimming, sunbathing, picnicking, or a fresh fish feast… The possibilities are endless at Şile.

The Nearby Villages
We set out now to see the villages of Şile. Kabakoz, about 10 kilometers outside of town, lies at the foot of a wooded slope. Known since time immemorial for weaving Şile bezi, the town’s people engaged in the craft have dwindled sharply today. Kabakoz’s next door neighbor Akçakese is a former Ottoman village. The newest of its wooden mansions, built by the same masters who constructed the houses at Safranbolu, is a hundred years old. Most of these houses with their columned balconies, symmetric al facades and ornamental eaves have been restored.  And the village’s long beach with its log cabins is reminiscent of the tree houses at Olympos near Antalya. Ağva, too, is not far away, nestled between two rivers that empty into the Black Sea at the end of a road that winds through the woods. Named for the jungle-like vegetation along its coast, Yeşilcay (Green Stream) is a natural harbor, where colorful boats are moored to wooden piers along the length of the river. A wide beach extends from the point where the river empties into the sea. Göksu Çayı meanwhile, so-called because the blue sky is reflected in its waters, is known for its river hotels. According to the local guides, there are exactly 32 hiking trails in the area. The best known are Kalemköy, where you can see Roman ruins, Geredeli with its Genoese harbor, Gürlek Cave at Hacılı, which bears traces of life from the 3d century, and the Genoese defense walls at Hisartepe. Only 15 minutes from Ağva by boat, the coast is chock full of interesting rock formations, tiny islands and caves. You can choose your own private cove and have a dip in the cool waters off these coasts, which are almost always deserted. The best spot for magnificent sunsets at Ağva is obvious. We settle down to wait next to the lighthouse at end of the breakwater. The sun sinks slowly, staining the Black Sea myriad shades of red.

 

By Skylife

Çinar trees at Turkish mosques

 

by ericrossacademic

While visiting mosque and shrine complexes in and around Istanbul I became aware of the importance of çinar trees to urban architecture in Turkey. The çinar (chinar in Farsi,Platanus orientalis) thrives from the Balkans to the Himalayas and has graced the shrines, gardens and lieux de mémoire of all the civilizations of that zone. Çinars are very long-lived trees, up to 700 or even 1000 years. Like the long-lived trees of other climes, such as oaks and baobabs, mature çinars inspire awe. Some are even imbued with the numinous.

Detail of a 16th century Persian miniature showing a Sufi meditating in the trunk of a çinar. (source: front cover of the paperback edition of Henry Corbin’s Histoire de la philosophie islamique, Paris: Gallimard, 1986, The image credit inside the cover does not identify the manuscript. It says only that it is the property of the Reza-ye Abbasi Museum in Tehran)

In the Ottoman heartland, venerable çinar trees grow in nearly every great mosque complex. Even after they die their stumps are left standing and are carefully tended.

This venerable çinar on the grounds of the Şehzade Mosque also appears to be venerated. I saw people walk up and touch it reverentially before moving on. (ph. Eric Ross)

This Google Earth (kmz) file contains placemarks for the places in Istanbul discussed in this post.

Atik Valide complex in Üsküdar

A large çinar grows on each side of the şardivan (ablution fountain) in the courtyard of the Atik Valide Mosque in Üsküdar.

Courtyard of the Atik Valide Mosque in Üsküdar, showing the çinar trees framing the şardivan. (ph. John Shoup)

The Atik Valide (aka Eski Valide) complex was built in the 1570s for valide(queen/regent/queen mother) Nur Banu (d. 1583). It was designed by Mimar Sinan and is a fine example of Sinan’s famed mastery of site.

The huge complex occupies the crest and southern slope of a hill. The upper part consists of the mosque (at the very top of the hill), a medrese (college), two other schools (a darül kura and a darül hadis), a tekke (Sufi lodge), a cemetery and a library. The lower part consist of an immense caravanserai, a tabhane (hostel), a darü şifa (hospital) and animaret (kitchen & dining hall). The hamam (bath house) is at the bottom of the slope, where the water pressure is highest (Sinan began his career as a hydraulic engineer). Sinan also took advantage of the slope in other ways. Many of the utilities of the lower part of the complex are housed in vaulted chambers beneath the schools of the upper part. Themedrese is high enough above the street to its west that its dershane (classroom) is built on vaults above it. This is also the case of the dershane of the tekke on the slope to the north. According to legend, the hollow trunk of an old çinar in the courtyard of the tekkewas used by a Sufi master for khalwa (spiritual retreat).

Plan of the Atik Valide complex in Üsküdar, Istanbul

Valide Sultan Nur Nanu clearly had commerce on her mind. Her complex in Üsküdar catered to Anatolian and Asian merchants. Parts of it are still used for warehousing though much of the lower part of the complex is in poor condition and deserves to be rehabilitated. The upper part however, and the mosque with its large front porch and its ample courtyard in particular, remains as enchanting as ever. The portico around the courtyard is pierced by large windows which allow views out over the rooftops. It is a fitting monument to this valide, one of the most powerful women of her day.

Eyüp Sultan

Similar to that of Atik Valide Mosque in Üsküdar, and perhaps its inspiration, is the courtyard of Eyüp Sultan, Istanbul’s most popular shrine. The courtyard lies between the mausoleum of Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, a companion of the Prophet who is believed to have died during the siege of Constantinople in 670, and the mosque to its south. Several greatçinars, some living, some dead, shade the courtyard.

Stump of a çinar rising in front of the mausoleum of Eyüp Sultan. (ph. Eric Ross)

Another ancient çinar in the same courtyard. (ph. Eric Ross)

Entrance to the mausoleum of Eyüp Sultan. (ph. John Shoup)

The shrine is the nucleus of an immense cemetery which covers the slope of the hill to its north. Eyüp Sultan has been a favored burial ground of the city’s great men and women since Sultan Mehmed conquered it. The lower part of the cemetery, adjoining the mosque-mausoleum complex, is marked by their charitable institutions.

Plan of Eyüp Sultan shrine and cemeteries, Istanbul

The Eyüp medrese (or dârül kurâssi) was a gift of my favorite Ottoman statesman, Sokollu Mehmed Paşa (1506-1579). Apart from being a brilliant statesman–he served the aforementioned Valide Sultan Nur Banu–the man had great taste. He commissioned much of Sinan’s best work. At his funerary complex in Eyüp (which Sinan may have designed) the medrese is linked to his türbe (mausoleum) by a short portico.

View of Sokollu Mehmed Pasa’s funerary complex in Eyüp, showing the portico between the medrese (left) and his mausoleum (right). (ph. Eric Ross)

The imaret at Eyüp was established by Mihrişah Valide Sultan in 1792. Since then its immense kitchen and dinning hall has accommodated countless numbers of pilgrims and poor people. The beautiful sebil (fountain) and the valide’s exquisite türbe on the corner frame the imaret to form an elegant façade along this path to the shrine. It has recently been meticulously restored. (see this site)

View of Mihrişah Valide Sultan’s mausoleum, on the corner of her imaret complex. The imaret’s sebil is visible behind it, across from the multi-domed funerary complex of Hüsrev Paşa (ph. Eric Ross)

The shrine and cemetery of Eyüp Sultan are shaded by mature çinars. It is a beautiful place and makes for a great outing.

(ph. Eric Ross)

(ph. John Shoup)

Topkapı

Aged stumps of great çinars like the ones in the courtyard in Eyüp Sultan can be found at many historic sites. The second court of Topkapı Palace has several of them.

Çinar stump in the Second Court, Topkapı. (ph. Eric Ross)

Another çinar in the Second Court. (ph. Eric Ross)

(ph. Eric Ross)

Koca Mustafa Paşa

There are some interesting trees at the Koca Mustafa Paşa shrine. This place started out as a shrine to Saint Andrew in Crete (d. 766), who was buried next to a church already consecrated to Saint Andrew. It had a monastery and a nunnery. It remained in possession of Christians until 1486, when Koca Mustafa Paşa (d. 1512) converted the church into a mosque. The monastery was turned into a tekke for the Halvetiye (Khalwatiyah) order whose great sheikh at the time, Sünbül Efendi (d. 1529), was buried there. The shrine has since served as the home of the Sunbuliye branch of the Halvetiye and many of their sheikhs are buried there. The complex also includes a medrese, southwest of the mosque, for the study of exoteric religious science. It was built by Defterdar (treasury minister) Ekmekçizade Ahmet Paşa (d. 1618).

Layout of Koca Mustafa Pasa complex. (Source: Yürekli, Zeynep (2003), “A Building between the Public and Private Realms of the Ottoman Elite: The Sufi Convent of Sokollu Mehmed Pasha in Istanbul,” inMuqarnas, vol. 20. p. 171)

Plan of the Koca Mustafa Paşa shrine complex. The neighborhood to its north preserves Istanbul’s traditional urban fabric while residential neighborhood to the south results from mid-twentieth century urban renewal.

The transformation of the church into a mosque required the re-orientation of the building. The mosque opens north, through an add-on porch , whereas the church was entered from the west, through a narthex which no longer serves that purpose.

The courtyard between the mosque and the tekke is dominated by the stump of an ancient Cyprus tree. Half-fallen, the stump emerges from a wooden kiosk and is prevented from collapsing altogether by some metal braces. Inside the kiosk is an iron chain hanging from the trunk which, according to the legend, was used to determine the truthful party in disputes.

Ancient cyprus stump in the courtyard of Koca Mustafa Paşa. (ph. Eric Ross)

Directly in front of the mosque’s porch is another tree shrine. It marks the grave of Sidika Hatun, a Byzantine princess who converted to Islam.

Tree-tomb of Sidika Hatun, Koca Mustafa Paşa. (ph. John Shoup)

I am in great admiration at the respect shown for trees, and especially mature trees, in Turkish cities. Bursa (topic of my next post) has adopted the çinar as a civic symbol. Every single çinar in that city, and there must be thousands, is registered with its department of public works.

This çinar, in Bursa’s Yıldırım complex, is registered with the municipality (ph. Eric Ross)

Even after they die their trunks are left standing, protected, and thus continue to exist in the cityscapes and architectural complexes. Such respect is in stark contrast to what I have grown used to in Morocco. Here, trees of all ages and species are regularly and mercilessly hacked back by municipal authorities. This includes the trees in and around historic sites.

No trip to Istanbul is complete without a visit to Mimar Sinan’s tomb. I go there to thank him for having adorned our world with so much beautiful architecture.

The tomb of Mimar Sinan occupies a triangular lot next to the Süleymaniye Complex. Its octagonal sebil occupies the corner of the site. Behind it is the architect’s tomb and a little garden, sheltered from the streets on each side by a stone screen. (ph. Eric Ross)

Bibliography

There are lots of books about Mimar Sinan. By far the most complete study of his art and era is:

• Necipoğlu, Gülru (2005), The Age of Sinan: Architectural Culture in the Ottoman Empire, London: Reaktion Books.

Here are a few others:

• Egli, Hans G. (1997), Sinan: An Interpretation, Istanbul: Ege Yayınları
• Pierpont, Ann (2007), Sinan Diaryz: A Walking Tour of Mimar Sinan’s Monuments, Istanbul: Çitlembik Publications.
• Rogers, J. M. (2006), Sinan, I. B. Tauris/Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies (Makers of Islamic Civilization series).

In memory of Kemal Satir

Shortly after having posted about çinar tress Filiz Satir, a writer based in the State of Washington, contacted me. She had recently lost her father, as had I, and was searching for a photo of a çinar to adorn his gravestone. I was enchanted by the cross currents in our fathers’ itineraries. Both men were engineers. In the mid-1950s Kemal Satir (1927-2011), an electrical engineer, emigrated from Turkey first to Canada and then to the USA. At the very same time, my father’s company transferred him from Canada to Turkey. Both men then began raising their young children in their new country.

Filiz has brought the çinar to mark her father’s grave in two ways: first by engraving its image, and secondly by reading this poem by Arif Ocakçı Ocakbey:

Ulu Çınar

Çınar ağaçları.
Uzun yaşar.
Sevgisini göklere.
Acısını toprağa.
Güzelliğini yeşilini.
Yaprağa verir.
Sende öyle ol.

Çınar ağaçları.
Çok heybetli olur.
Göklere bakar.
Güneşle dost.
Işıkla, sarmaş dolaş olur.
Sende öyle ol.

Çınar ağaçları.
Bir sevda taşır yüreğinde.
Yüreğinin başında.
Kuşlar konar dalına.
Sende öyle ol.
Barışı sevgiyi.
Taşıyarak öl.

Çınar ağaçları.
Sevecen umutlu olur.
Kollarını açar.
Göklere durur.
Bir tarihi barışı yazar.
Bir sevgiyi yaşar, yaşatır.
Sende öyl ol.

Çınar ağaçları kolayca ölmez.
Yüzyıllarca yaşar durur.
Zamana meydan okur.
Kötülüğe meydan okur.
Yiğit bir asker gibi durur.
Sende öyle ol.
Adın gibi ulu ÇINAR OL.

In memory of Kemal Satir, on the one-year anniversary of his passing. Read among family at his grave, August 11, 2012.

Filiz Satir has translated this poem into English. I post it here with her permission, and in memory of her father.

Noble Chinar 

Chinar tree lives so very long.

Sending its love to the skies

and pain into the earth.

A veridian beauty, bearing leaves.

So you should be.

Chinar tree, a stargazing

fan of the heavens,

a fast friend to the sun.

He embraces the light.

So you should be.

Chinar tree is home to birds

perching on its branches.

With a canopy spreading love far

and wide, he is a devotee of peace.

So you should be.

Chinar tree, compassionate

being, whose open arms end

where the skies begin. History’s

record keeper, inspiring love for life.

So you should be.

Chinar does not easily die.

He lives hundreds of years

before the end comes.

He defies the passage of time,

defies ill will and wrongdoing.

Like a brave solider,

Chinar stands strong.

So you should be.

Be as the Noble Chinar.

The venerable Anit Cinar in Iznik (ph. Eric Ross)

Turkish Felt Art

The history of felt is far older than weaving, going back to the Uighur period in Central Asia and to the Hittites in Anatolia. Relief carvings found at the Hittite cities of Bogazköy and Yazilikaya depict people wearing felt caps and clothes, and fragments of felt dating from the 4th or 5th century BC was discovered at Pazirik in Central Asia, showing that the ancient Turks had also known how to make felt. On the evidence of findings in tombs archaeologists know that felt played an important part in the lives of the Scythians, Sarmatians and Malkars of Karaçay.

The Türkmens traditionally lived in tents made of white and black felt symbolizing wealth and poverty, and the Kazakhs lived in felt tents known as kiyiz üy. Felt is variously known throughout the region as kidhiz, kidiz, kiz, kiiz and kiyiz. Felt making was widespread among the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks, and these craftsmen played an important role in the mystic trade organizations known as ahi. The uncle of the famous 13th century mystic Haci Bektas Veli was Keçeci Baba (Father of the Felt Makers), who lived in the village of Keçeci in the district of Erbaa in Tokat. Although felt is mainly made by machine today, some continues to be made by hand in parts of Turkey. .

The last remaining felt makers are to be found in such Turkish provinces as Afyon, Sanliurfa, Konya, Balikesir, Izmir, Kars and Erzurum. One of their most interesting products is the stiff felt cloak known as kepenek worn by shepherds. These distinctive garments protect the wearer from heat in summer and from cold and wet in winter. Indoors, plain felt blankets made of white wool are spread over cushions for sitting on in winter, and felt mats are laid over both seats and beds. Colourfully embroidered felt saddle cloths are spread beneath horses saddles to soak up the sweat. Felt was once an indispensable part of daily life, also used to make saddle bags, shoes, headgear, mats, prayer rugs, and many other garments and household objects in various colors. In the eastern province of Agri you can still see men wearing the traditional kullik, a conical brown or white felt cap made from lamb’s wool. .

DESIGNER FELT AS PART OF MODERN LIFE

Felt is the new favorite of the designing world. A natural, warm material, it is the plainest form of wool, and for the past few years it has been presented in the trendy salons of European design fairs in a multitude of forms extending from decoration to jewelry. In all of them the feel is familiar, but the colors are now much bolder and more energetic. Felt originated in Central Asia and came to Anatolia in the 3rd century when some Turks migrated westward. As the years went by it became part of the Anatolian way of life, in the nomadic floor cloths and yurts and in the distinctive cloaks worn by shepherds.

But during the past year an exhibition of the material was held at Topkapi Palace by Selcuk Gurisik, a designer in love with felt. The idea behind the exhibition was to “achieve communication between the object and the spectator while changing his or her way of perceiving,” and it featured combinations of felt with silk, wool fibers and even denim, the felt sometimes taking on a new personality thanks to an Ottoman technique of cutting known as kaat’i. He is also the creator of the permanent felt exhibition in the British Museum.

Another designer who has lifted felt to new heights is Belkis Balpinar, who for years has devoted herself to Anatolian carpets and kilims. She first brought her felt work together last month at Galeri G-Art in an exhibition with the title ‘Relativistic Planes.’ Like Gurisik, Belkis Balpinar has worked with the venerable feltmaster Mehmet Girgic in developing her approach to this material. She draws her designs on the computer and then transfers them on a scale of one-to-one with the help of Fine Arts Academy graduates who work for the master, and she says of felt that it is a “perfect canvas for understanding and expressing oneself.”

Kuleli Military High School

 

 

Kuleli Military High School is the first military high school in Turkey, located in Çengelköy, Istanbul. It was founded on September 21, 1845 by Ottoman Sultan Abdülmecid I.

 

Kuleli Military High School was established on September 21, 1845 under the name of "Mekteb-i Fünun-ı Idadiye" at Maçka Barracks now used by Istanbul Technical University. Due to its renewal, it completed its first year at the “Mizika-i Humayun” and “Çinili Köşk” which was used as “Baltacılar Apartment”. The building was designed by Ottoman Armenian architect Garabet Balyan.

Then after the renewal of “Maçka Barracks”, “Mekteb-i Fünun-ı İdadîye” started its second education year with a ceremony at the presence of Sultan Abdülmecid on October 10, 1846. In 1868, all military high schools were decided to be combined. At that time, four military high schools, including Kuleli, were combined under the name of "Umum Mekteb-i İdadî Şahane" and transferred to Galatasaray Barracks. When the combination of military high schools turned out to be a failure, it was decided that the schools should go on their own education system separately. For this reason, “Mekteb-i Fünun-ı İdadîye” and “Deniz İdadîsi” (Naval High School) moved to Kuleli Barracks in 1872. After that time the school came to be known as "Kuleli İdadîsi".

 

Because of the war between the Ottoman Empire and Russia in 1877-1878 (Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)), the school was decided to be a hospital. So Kuleli moved to Turkish Military Academy building in Pangaltı. When the war ended, it returned to its building in Çengelköy with "Askeri Tıbbiye İdadisi" (Naval Medical High School)(1879). The hospital on the ridge outside the school was evacuated and given to the Military Medical School because of the over-population in the school. Then the hospital moved to Beylerbeyi. Later, "Askeri Tıbbiye İdadisi" was transferred to Haydarpaşa (1910).

 Kuleli Military Barracks when used as an orphanage for victims of the Armenian Genocide
During the Balkan War in 1912-1913 (First Balkan War), Kuleli Barracks was converted into a hospital again. Some of the students were sent to Kandilli High School for Girls at Adile Sultan Palace and some others to the buildings next to Beylerbeyi Palace. At the end of 1913, the school moved back to its own building. During World War I, the school moved to Rum Orphanage on Büyükada for some time.

 

Kuleli İdadîsi first moved to a military camp, consisting of tents only, near Sünnet Bridge in Kağıthane, then one month later to a police station in Maçka. Because of the British interest there, it was transferred to the old Gendarme School near Beylerbeyi Palace (December 26, 1920). Kuleli Barracks was given back to Turkish troops at the end of the Treaty of Lausanne as a result of the great victory in the “Büyük Taarruz" (The Great Offensive) on August 26, 1922. The British evacuated the Kuleli Barracks and thus the school moved to its glorious home after a 3-year period on October 6, 1923.

 

The school became a civilian high school by "Tevhid-i Tedrisat" Bill (a law that combined all education) passed in 1924 and renamed as "Kuleli Lisesi" (Kuleli High School). At the end of the same year, it became a military high school again. Also it took its present name in 1925 as "Kuleli Military High School”.

 

In the Second World War, Kuleli was transferred to Konya in May 1941 according to the mobilization plans. Kuleli Barracks was converted into a 1,000-bed military hospital and the Bosphorus Transportation Command moved there as well.

 

After the Second World War, the school moved back to Istanbul on August 18, 1947 and has been in its historical and sacred home ever since. Kuleli Military High School had applied the curriculum of Ministry of National Education for science until 1975-76 academic year. At that date, it started college system and the education period was increased from three years to four years, with the addition of Prep Class.

 

Hidden treasures from Kurtuluş to Tarlabaşı

 

If you happen to pass by Kurtuluş, please feel free to get lost in the streets!

Instead of the glittering in the limelight, you would feel the sorrow to be sunk into oblivion and enjoy the delight of touching the time.

Istanbul has such districts that, when you take a look at them, you cannot anticipate that they had been an important part of the city once. Having lost their glimmer and dynamism, they remain silent in their own shell. As if they haven’t hosted any fairs and carnivals and blended religions and people of every kind... They stand still like a naughty child, hidden in a nook corner after doing something wrong.

However, if you look carefully, you will see that various sects of the same religions and people from different countries have adopted these streets. Such that these districts had   brought together people of different religions, ethnicity and nationality… Despite some problems due to this diversity, they are special enough to host new urban transformation projects... Help yourself through the pages of In İstanbul and lets witness the dedicated history of these districts.

A burnt Tatavla (Byre), a settled Kurtuluş

Kurtuluş District, which had become a settlement area during the reign of Kanuni the Lawmaker, by populating of the immigrants from Chios, was once known as “Tatavla”. The name “Tatavla” was derived from “Ta Tavla” the Greek corresponding for “Byre”. The reason for this was that the barns and the meadows of the palace were situated there. After the great fire in 1929, the district was given the name “Kurtuluş”

Kurtuluş, in historical records, is mentioned, until the mid-19th century, as a poor Greek district. From this date to the mid-20th century, the richest and the most crowded Greek groups had lived in this area. Despite the marks of these riches are faint nowadays, the district has the airs of “she’s beautiful although she’s old”.

As Orhan Türker tells in his book “A Corner from the Ottoman İstanbul: Tatavla”; although the Turks and other minority groups had started to settle in Kurtuluş, the dominance of the Greeks had continued until the 1950’s. Most of the Greeks of Kurtuluş who had suffered the 6-7 September incidents, were deported according to the law enacted in 1964. A rapid social and ethnic transformation had taken place during the 70’s, 80’s and the 90’s. The old buildings of Tatavla changed hands and jerry-built buildings have taken their place.

One of the unforgettable elements of the Tatavla’s history is “Baklahorani”. Baklahorani is the festival day the Greeks of İstanbul organise on the last Monday before the lent. It was a day when all the Greeks gathered, organised feasts and carnivals and got ready for the lent. Unfortunately, these festivals, which had continued until 1945, are no longer organised since the Greek population is at low ebb nowadays.

Kurtuluş behind the veil: The Churches

An other important aspect of Kurtuluş is that it is a district that shelters all the sects of Christianity. The diversification caused by the settlement of different religions and different sects to a small district takes its effects even now. Most of the Greeks being Orthodox, Kurtuluş lodges mostly the orthodox churches.

The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is an important exception... Monsignor Hillerau the İstanbul Representative of Pope had the famous architect Gaspard Fossati built the cathedral in 1845. Another important feature is that the cathedral has an underground cemetery for the nuns and the believers of the Holy Spirit. No burial has taken place since 1927 in the cemetery which contains the grave of the famous musician of the palace, Guiseppe Donizetti.

Another important church of Kurtuluş is the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Dimitiros. The church is situated at today’s Kurtuluş Square. There is a myth about this church in one of the everlasting legends of İstanbul. Rumour has it, when a small church in Kasımpaşa had been turned into a mosque after the conquest of İstanbul, the icon of Agios Dimitrios had been moved to the Saint Athanasios church on top of the hill, and the church was known as Agios Dimitrios from that time on.

According to the rest of the story; the icon had not only given its name to the church, but also the neighbourhood was called Saint Dimitrios or Saint Dimitry from time to time. The primary construction date of the church is unknown. It can be traced back to the 16th century in the travellers’ notes and in the city plans. The building which is open to service today has been saved by the repairs and annexes in 1726, 1782 and 1798. It is forbidden to take photos in the church. But you may visit the church if you wish to listen to the hymns and to have a spiritual journey with the smell of the incense.

Evangelistra Church is another Greek Orthodox Church in Kurtuluş. According to its epigraph, the church, completed in 1893, was built in place of an old wooden building in sixteen years. At the northwest of the church there stands the Holy Spring of Panayia Teotokos. This church, as all other churches dedicated to mother Mary, is full of icons depicting the affection and fidelity of a mother. Its interesting feature, however, is that, in front of the church, a flea market, where you may find lots of stuff, sets up from time to time. In this market, you may come across all kinds of stuff, from a book in French with its frayed and faded pages to a guitar with broken strings; from a mirror with worn out glazing to floor lamps that you cannot know their age...

One of the oldest Apartment Buildings of İstanbul; the Heyula Apartment 

 

When the apartment building craze became widespread all around the world, an apartment had risen in Elmadağ. This apartment was preferred by the rich people of the period who were bored of the mansion life and who were somewhat trying to keep up with the trend of the times. As there was no concern for the panorama in those days as there is now, the rooms for the servants were at the top floor. Even staring at the Heyula Apartment, as magnificent as its name, makes you feel envious... Perhaps, the reason is that the apartment reflects the delicacy and classiness of the period it was built.

If you pass by Tarlabaşı...

If you pass by Tarlabaşı, please show some courage and step into its streets and discover what secrets Tarlabaşı conceals for all its unkempt appearance. Your discoveries will both amaze and excite you. For instance, do you know that the both Chaldeans and Melkites, who are disembarked nowadays, have churches here?

The Chealdean and Melkite (Saint Pantelemion) churches of the Catholic belief are striving to remain standing despite their diminished community and battered appearances.  Two other churches of Tarlabaşı, which belong to the other sects, are the Greek Orthodox “Saint Constation – Saint Helen Church” and the Protestant Armenian “Aynalı Çeşme” church. A female chaplain administers the Aynalı Çeşme church, a situation which we are unaccustomed to. Although its community is not so many in number, it is accepted as one of the most important parts of the district.

To be informed about the history of Tarlabaşı district we should get back to 1535. Tarlabaşı had started to be a residential area due to the settlement of ambassadors of the diplomatic missions, of the workers and servants of the Levantines and non-Muslims community of Beyoğlu. When we look close to our near-history we notice that, with its changing socio-cultural composition, Tarlabaşı is not a desirable settlement area. It is waiting for a bonny appearance as the old days through the “Urban Transformation Project”.

A Polish Poet in İstanbul; Adam Mickiewicz

Adam Mickiewicz, was sent to İstanbul in 1855, to organise the Polish troops who would fight in the Crimean War. But he died before accomplishing his mission due to an epidemic. The house Adam Mizkiewicz had once lived is at close quarters to Kasımpaşa. This house, in which he had lived for a while and had breathed his last, was turned into a museum in 1955. In this museum, the documents about his life and poems, his photos and busts are being exhibited. The basement floor of the building is organised as a symbolic grave for the poet, who was in fact buried at Krakow.

Spots
•    The name “Tatavla” was derived from “Ta Tavla” the Greek corresponding for “Byre”. After the great fire in 1929, the district was given the name “Kurtuluş”
•    Another important church of Kurtuluş is the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Dimitrios. The church is situated at today’s Kurtuluş Square.
•    The Chealdean and Melkite (Saint Pantelemion) churches of the Catholic belief are striving to remain standing despite their diminished community and battered appearances. 
•    The house Adam Mizkiewicz had lived once is at close quarters to Kasımpaşa. This house, in which he had lived for a while and had breathed his last, was turned into a museum in 1955.

Written by: Türkmen İşcan

The Eyes Of Kadiköy, Land Of The Blind

 

Like Istanbul on the European side of the Bosporus, Kadıköy (ancient Chalcedon) on the Anatolian side was built on seven hills. And the most fashionable of them all is Moda, whose choice location and elegant appearance have endeared it to its residents forever.

Fairy tale, legend, myth - Istanbul is the mother of all stories. For Istanbul was in turn the capital of the most mysterious empires of the East: the Byzantine or Eastern Roman, and the Ottoman. A land of Greek, Anatolian, Roman, Arab, Persian and Turkish traditions. One of those legends, which harks back to ancient Greece, is of special interest to today’s Istanbullu’s. Once upon a time - some 2,680 years ago, let’s say - a soothsayer told a group of homeless Megaran refugees from Caria, “There is on the face of the earth a land of the blind, and opposite it a hill. The hope you seek is there.” He showed them the way, and they came in boats to this splendid spot, which was completely unknown at the time, and, like everybody else, were left spellbound by its beauty. Yes, they had found Istanbul, ‘paradise on earth’. But when the fog lifted on the opposite shore, they noticed some settlements there and were astonished. “When such a paradise as this exists, whoever settled across the water without seeing the beauty here must be blind!” And they named that place ‘the land of the blind’. As a Kadiköy native myself, while I regard the Chalcedonians as my distant ancestors and smile every time I hear their story, with which I have to agree, I always think of the 17th century traveler Evliya Çelebi, who said: “The truly blind are those who settled there, on the opposite shore in other words, without seeing the beauty of Kadıköy.”

MODA IS THE NOSE ON KADIKÖY’S FACE

Moda, which once raised enough fruits and vegetables to supply all Istanbul, is a headland that protrudes from the profile of Kadıköy like a nose. For those who find this description insufficiently romantic, one might also say that Moda is the most fashionable hill of Kadıköy, which sits like Istanbul on seven hills. Personally, since I’ve never run into an Istanbullu - apart from the experts - who can count Istanbul’s seven hills in one breath, I leave for another time the seven hills of Kadıköy and the question of the cave people, who, according to recent archaeological finds at Fikirtepe, apparently inhabited the area long before the original settlement.

A Kadıköy ‘fixture’, Moda was a Phoenician trading post in the 3rd millennium B.C. according to researcher Ebru Özbaran, and I can only take her word for it. The Moda that I know began to modernize only in 1910 - following Beyoğlu (Pera), the Bosporus and the Princes’ Islands - in the post-Tanzimat Ottoman Empire, where eating, drinking and being entertained like Europeans became the mode, or ‘Moda’. Popular with Istanbul’s non-Muslim communities, the district put down foundations where Westernization would not be considered out of place.

Like old established families, settlements with a rich past also have colorful histories, and therefore I will talk a little about some Moda ‘fixtures’: Moda’s first distinguishing characteristic is the Moda Yacht Club (the former English Club), once seen and admired from the sea by Ataturk, who declared, “Let a yacht club be built here!”, and where England’s Prince Edward, the Shah of Iran Reza Pahlavi, and Iraq’s King Faisal once stayed and which in its heyday hosted a string of illustrious guests from Nadir Nadi and Falih Rıfkı Atay to Münir Nurettin Selçük and Nejat Eczacıbaşı.

ICE CREAM VENDORS SQUARE, TEA GARDENS… EVEN LOVE GOES BETTER IN MODA

 

Its tea gardens and ice cream establishments are what make Moda popular with young people today. And a Moda summer in which they shared young love is definitely among the memories of every young person from Kadıköy. For those who have not experienced it, summer is almost upon us and there’s still time to make a reservation! Moda’s tea gardens are magnificent in summer. Like a bit of paradise salvaged from Istanbul’s mad rat race and traffic panic, with a view that includes the Marmara Sea in front of you, Fenerbahçe lighthouse on the left, a few of the Islands, Haydarpaşa on the right, and even the tip of the Historic Peninsula, the tea gardens offer beauty to make a person faint with joy. If you’re in love, your head is turned in any case, and Moda will do you good. And if you aren’t, well, you might get lucky. It’s not for nothing they say, ‘If places this lovely still exist in the world, then there must be love as well’. Go at your own peril!

Don’t be deceived by the diminutive size of ice cream vendors’ square. Not only can you find every flavor here, you should also know that people even come from out of town to taste ‘Dondurmacı’ Ali Usta’s concoctions. You can drink good sahlep (a hot milk drink flavored with cinnamon) here in winter too.  I can’t vouch for the boza (a fermented millet drink also drunk in winter) since I’m not fond of it.

Neglected for many years and abandoned to its fate, the historic Moda ferry landing was restored in 2001 by the Chamber of Maritime Commerce, with the support of the Kadıköy Municipality, the Moda Volunteers (STK) and Moda’s most famous native son, musician Barış Manço. Today it has again taken its place as an important part of the Kadıköy scene and rejoined the city’s maritime transport system with two ferries a day. Its terrace, built in 1917 by the well-known architect Vedat Tek, served in those days as a rooftop nightclub. Like a decorative ornament with its exquisite architecture, the Moda ferry landing is an icon of the district today, and when you go up to the top level to sip your tea you can’t help but feel you’re riding atop a ferry. As a Moda native myself, I regret to point out that the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has for a year now banned the sale of alcoholic beverages at the cafe on this magnificent landing in a way completely out of keeping with Istanbul’s millennia-old climate of tolerance, in which I have always taken such pride.

Speaking of food, it is imperative that I mention Koço Restaurant, whose name is synonymous with Moda, because without Koço there would definitely be something missing here. Even though its original Istanbul Greek owners sold their ‘meyhane’ years ago and emigrated to Greece, the new owners strive to maintain the Koço tradition as it was handed down to them. And the experience of the venue is enriched by knowing that Turkish literary greats from Haldun Taner and Cemal Süreyya to Mina Urgan and Fazıl Hüsnü Dağlarca all made merry here in their day. For my generation, however, who were too late for all that, the mezzes are the most appealing aspect of the authentic Mediterranean-style dinners served in the Koço garden, where the conversation flourishes until midnight in summer.

 

MODA’S ILLUSTRIOUS

Once lined with row houses with jutting cantilevered balconies and vast truck gardens, Moda strikes those who miss that old airiness and vegetation as a trifle sad today.  But even tough I have to agree, its children’s playground, bursting with the sounds of little voices, where young people selling baubles and beads line up under the stately ancient trees, still makes me happy. Maybe it’s due to a good feeling left from the days when my son was growing up in that park and I was trying to write while lying on the grass, but the children’s playground in front of the Moda tennis courts, with a bust at the entrance of Turkey’s sixth president, Fahri Korutürk, himself a Moda native, has always put me in a good mood.

 

MODA’S CEVDET BEY AND HIS SONS

 Turkey’s first and only certified pastry chef and the owner of the Elif Pastry Shop, Uncle Cevdet Bey of Moda was a man of whom it was said, ‘His life is a novel!’ Were they suggesting that Orhan Pamuk write a sequel, Cevdet Bey and his Pastry Shop, to his novel about Cevdet Bey of Nişantaşı? Who knows? But I do know another character in Moda just waiting to have a novel written about him. The owner of the Yeni Moda Eczanesi (New Moda Pharmacy), Melih Ziya Bey. To start with, all the furnishings and accessories in this pharmacy date back to before 1902, and most of them are still in working order. In other words, his place is a virtual museum-pharmacy.
While it may have lost a little of its former greenery, cultural richness and unique flavor, Moda is still Moda. And exacerbated by the red tram that was recently reintroduced with a whiff of nostalgia, Moda too, naturally suffers its share of the growing parking problem and traffic congestion that plague every part of Istanbul. Yet the old Istanbul Moda, where ‘neighborhood culture’ still survives and many residents still know each and greet each other by name, is still ‘in mode’. If you don’t know it, come on over. We’ll be expecting you. And if you do, then stop by for a cup of coffee so we can renew our friendship.

 

By Skylife