It was raining when we reached Istanbul –so immediate reaction to the city was waterlogged and the lack of full sleeves and jackets in the carried wardrobe was more of a concern- but aside of that
The road from the airport to the city runs parallel to the Mermera sea- and there is only a small white wall dividing the road from the sea. And the sea — may have mentioned it earlier — but a mesmerizing blue- not patches of blue and green ( as is the wont of seas on Indian shores) but the same deep blue stretch of sea all through- WoW- can still picture it- the ships and tankers that we saw out on the sea closer to airport were replaced by cruisers, joy boats and motor boats ( some amazing sleek and sexy — dripping big bucks !!) as we neared the city and the sea merged with the Bosphorus river ( the risve dividing the Asian and the European part of the city .
The city district we hit first was the Sultanahmet district — the oldest part and the heart of the city- thi sis where all the world famous parts of turkey are present
The Blue Mosque ( huge- pretty from outside as well as inside) — has 6 minarets ( the most- usually mosques have 2–4 ) As the 6 minarets resulted in a hue and cry — as at that time the mosque at Mecca even did not have it the king at his own personal expense got an extra one made at Mecca ( picked up through the net) — the area where devotees wash their feet was systematically designed- with small marble stools in front of each tap and a shallow drain running through so that there is no watery mess in the area.
The Aya Sophia ( initially a Christian church then a mosque and now a museum) is facing the Blue Mosque ( separated by a garden with a fountain in the centre) is a must do if in Instanbul — — a huge inner courtyard — made with huge round granite pillars easily 20 feet + in height- seemingly crafted from a single stone. Some walls were made of granite, others of a mesh of various kinds of marbles ( the different slabs of marbles placed side by side on the wall seemed as if they were being displayed for customers to select ) and some of stones used is those times ( the aya Sophia was built , burned down, rebuilt, burned down and then rebuilt for the third time- so the current structures has parts from each of the three times it was built) — story is that the angel Gabriel came to the son of the final builder at lunch time and asked him to call back the workers to work while he ( the angel ) kept guard- the dad — when the son related the same to him did not let the son return back to the site of work and thus rumour is that the angel still guards the palace — — there is a mosaic mural — high up on the dome of the angel . other murals are of Jesus with his apostles, the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus and a few others — all mosaics are crafted in these tiny pieces of ( stone, or glazed marble- or something) — much like the cross-stitch patterns we make-and the golds and blues and reds used are still rich in shade and hue. The Jesus mosaic covered the entire wall ( tho’ only part of the mosaic still remained) others were slightly smaller in size. Apart from the mosaics there was carvings on the tops of all the pillars and on the walls were etchings and work –much like the work on the walls of the Taj Mahal — similar motifs — but with an Arabian touch to them. Cannot describe the beauty
There was a balcony running all around the central courtyard which was accessed by a narrow door which led to this steeply rising cobbled circular passage- which kept going round and round till we reached the top- and then the views of Instanbul outside and the perspective from above of the central courtyard on the inside.
The 3rd famous monument here was the Topkapi Palace– a huge castle where about 300 kings resided during their respective reigns over Turkey- made up of 4 courtyards and a harem — the Harem rooms had intricate carvings and mosaics ( like those on palaces of the Mughal times and that room in Samode- if you remember) of blue, green , red etc on marble or ceramic tiles. The rooms used by princes and the sultan used a lot of gold — again one room led to the other with open courtyards in the centre and small gardens between the different buildings — similar to how it is in the Red fort or the Agra forts we have seen. The difference being that our forts
Used red stone while these used a grey one ( the kind seen in british castles) or marble and ceramic tiles.
Another difference was the presence of ornate or carved faucets with sinks under them which were present in all rooms or right outside them — through out the palace- showing the obsession with cleanliness these guys must have had!
There was a treasury room ( a separate building with multiple rooms –housing the treasures of the sultans) Of course there was this huge line in front of it. Our only interest was in seeing this huge diamond called the3 spoon Diamond ( apparently a beggar had found it in its unpolished state in a dump and had exchanged it for three spoons) — so we in our typical Indian fashion — figured out which room the diamond was placed in (was the last room — next to the exit) so we just entered from the exit door and saw the diamond and the other jewelry on display and concluded the tour J . The jewelry was magnificent — the emeralds and rubies — as huge as were in the Nizam of Hyderabad’s jewels but the craftsmanship and gold filigree used was much more delicate and finer than in the Nizam’s.