Büyü Istanbul

Magic Istanbul

Today I’ll start by saying it is simply impossible to capture 3000 years of history into a short and interesting blog. 

Instead, I will share a number of historical and fun facts to ignite your personal interest in the history of Istanbul, and a number of photos🤗

You may get itchy feet after reading this one. 👣

Let’s start!

Istanbul was established 2600 years ago by Greek fisherman Bizas

Became a main trade location and rich city, which attracted enemies who tried to conquer it 29 times 

Romans came in 6th century, Constantin the Great emperor settled in and built 21km long walls to protect the city

In 1453 Turk Sultan Mehmet conquered the city and changed the name from Constantinople to Istan polis  = in the city 

1453 is the most frequent PIN number in Turkey! 

During the 16th century Otoman Empire was the strongest and ruled over Asia, Europe and Africa. 

Ottomans - one family ruled for 7 centuries, today family members are well and alive living in England.

Ottoman Empire lost the First World war and Istanbul got occupied by British. 

In 1918 Mustafa Kemal Ata Tur ( father of Turks) started the independence war against alliance troops and declared a new Turkey republic on 19/10/ 1923. 

Ata Turk built a democratic state and became a new president. 

Istanbul is the only city in the world spanning two continents, Europe and Asia connected with bridges and underground underwater metro. 

Throughout the history Istanbul was the capital city of 3 empires:

1. Roman 

2. Byzantine ( Eastern Roman) 

3. Ottoman 

Roman Empire was divided into two empires in 390, one catholic ( Latin) and one orthodox ( Greek). Eastern side survived known as Byzantine, while western collapsed in 425.

Istanbul is 270 km long, spreads across 7 hills, has cca 15 m population who legally live here and a large number of refugees from Afganistan and Syria.

Bosphorus channel separates two continents, long 32km.

City highlights - too many to mention, will stick with a few that fascinated me the most!

Blue Mosque - Sultan Ahmed Mosque - Masterpiece of Islam 

Sultan Ahmed became sultan at the age of 14, reined for 14 years and was 14th in the family to become a sultan, died at age of 28. 

Did you know what had to happen for someone to become a sultan? 

For centuries the rein shifted from a father to the oldest son who had to kill all younger brothers to stop them fighting among themselves and threaten his throne. 

Sultan Ahmed introduced a change. The rein shifted from older brother to a younger brother, but instead of killing younger brothers they were caged until ruling sultan’s death.

It took 42 years for one brother to become a Sultan. Since he lived in a cage all his life he wasn’t educated or had smarts to rule and this fact alone was one of the reasons Ottoman Empire collapsed. 

Mosque is used for prayers but also as a place for gathering.

Predominant colour is blue with over 20,000 unique pieces of ceramic hand made tiles.

Built in 17th century with six minarets, unheard of and unacceptable by Mecca mosque administrators. Mecca mosque had six minarets and was the largest, the best, the most powerful. To make a piece with Mecca Sultan sent his people to build additional minaret and Mecca mosque became the number one again with 7 minarets. Today it has 9 minarets in total. 

Turquoise colour comes from the word Turkey - a mix of blue and green colours represented in the Blue Mosque. 

In todays Turkey population is split: 

• 4% Jews

• 4% Cristians 

• 92% Muslims  

Aya Sophia - Church of Holly Wisdom - Masterpiece of Orthodox Christianity

Built in the 6th century and was the world largest Christian cathedral for 1000 years. 

It is the birth place of Christianity being split into catholic and orthodox.

Got converted into a mosque in the 15th century when Muslim Turks conquered the city of Constantinople. It was easier to convert then to build new. 

Post the Turkey independence war and Republic declaration in 1923 Aya Sophia was converted into a museum.

The myth says Turkey people were sad for years, wrote melancholic music and no one could explain the reasons. 

One day three years ago the government made a decision to convert Aya Sophia museum back into a mosque and all sadness went away! As long as there is good tobacco, coffee and cats people are happy 😊. 

Today, curtains cover human and animal characters on the mosque walls during pray times.

Basilica Cistern - underground water cistern 

Built 1500 years ago by the Bizantine Empire. 

The same engineers built Aya Sophia. 

It is the largest Roman water cistern in the world, but Istanbul has 200 water cisterns in total. 

Did you know why it was built? 

Following a civil unrest in 532 city was destroyed. They had to find the water that was at a higher level than land and build acqua duct to bring water to suffering citizens. 

They had no resources, had to use recycled materials from destroyed buildings and churches, basilica etc. 

Water was mixed with vinegar or wine to kill the germs and fish was introduced to clean it naturally, like a small pond with eco system 

Ottomans never used it. 

It holds between 80 - 90 000 cubic meters of water. 

Incredible invention and unique in its architectural design, 

Hamam - Turkish Bath

A life time experience that cannot be described in words, you need to experience it to appreciate it, worth every penny. 

Let’s just say, I have never ever felt as clean as I did after the Ottoman treatment that included a whole body rubbing with “kese”. 

There were nearly 300 hamams in Istanbul, 60 of them are still in use and mostly commercialized. There are separate sections for men and women. We visited the oldest Hamam in town called Cağaloğlu built in 1741.

A number of world famous people visited this place: Omar Sharif, John Travolta, Cameron Diaz, Ophrah Winfrey, Steve Irwin, Harrison Ford, Tony Curtis, King Edward VIII and many others and now including Nebojsa and I!

Finally, a few fun facts: 

 4 commonly known words come from Roman times in Istanbul: 

• Carisma

• Justice 

• Nike 

• Porno 

If interested to know the story behind these words ask a question in the Comments Box.

Mosque is a place for praying and gathering. A number of minarets had a meaning in old days: 

• One minaret - built by citizens 

• Two minarets  - built by a royal family

• Four minarets - built by a sultan

 Enough of words, let the pictures bring the magic to life!

Magic Istanbul photo album

Blue Mosque photo album

Aya Sophia photo album

Basilica Cistern photo album

Cağaloğlu Hamam - Turkish Bath

Lezzetli Yemek

Picture tells it all!

Delicious Food

A few days have gone by with thousands steps and non stop walking but no activity can burn the calories of Turkish delicious food.

People are so friendly, prices affordable in comparison to other European countries and food is simply yummy!

From the famous kebabs, to lavish ( type of bread), to mezze platters to die for, to spices and nuts as much as you can take to sweets that blow your mind.

Yes, baklava is the most famous desert but there are tens of different types of baklava. My favourite is the one where everything is made of walnuts and honey, even the actual pastry. Unbelievable!

Lokum is served with a Turkish coffee and it’s a soft sweet made back in a day for the famous Sultan Ahmed after he broke his teeth eating hard sweets.

Rahatlokum (known as Lokum or Turkish Delight) = “to comfort one’s throat” and the variety is enormous! The better ones are made with honey and the ones made with sugar are often the presents for mothers in law.

The very first ever Lokum store was opened in Istanbul in 1777 and it still runs selling the very best Lokum in the world. Did we buy any? Of course, and after trying who knows how many my pick is double pistachio and rose.

Turkish coffee is served to guests only and always with a piece of Lokum. If guests start by eating a Lokum it signals they are hungry and a host will bring food. It’s a test for guests and a little secret not many people know about.

Did you know about the famous Turkish viagra? It comes as a tea and as a desert (walnuts with honey), and it apparently works !

A few of our favorite dishes so far:

Yaprak dolma - vine leaves rolled with rice and spices filling served with yogurt Iskender kebab - local kebab (Iskender = Istanbul) Kofte - mince meat balls cooked in tomato sauce with different spices, yum!

Testi kebab / meet and veggies cooked in pottery dish that needs to be broken up before eaten Gozleme - flat savory pockets usually filled with salty white cheese, spinach or minced beef.

Pide - another type of bread

Lavish - type of bread, tin dough tiled and slammed against hot wildfire oven that looks like a big rugby ball and empty inside!

Borek - all different fillings, spinach and feta cheese is my preferred choice Simit - student street food, round sesame with cream cheese is my pick!

Manti - Turkish ravioli served with a yogurt and tomato sauce, delicious 😋

Kunefe - Kadayif traditional Ottomans desert with cheese in a middle served hot

And the list goes on….feeling hungry? Yep, we are, it’s time to try something new and then walk and walk more!

 A few travel tips:

If you like wondering around the city and learning about it then Guru Walks are a great choice. They are available worldwide, free of charge and based on a donation of your choice. Run by local qualified tour guides who share a lot more information about their country, rituals, tradition and tricks and tips. Highly recommended, we have used them when travelling around South America and now again in Istanbul.

Download the Guru Walks app and off you go!

eSIM card

Thank you Petra for introducing us to this new tech invention! We are using FlexiRoamX app. So simple, no changing of SIM cards and worrying about it. Choose a plan and start Googling!

Istanbul Card

A great way to see more by using Metro, ferries, buses, anything really and a good break from constant walking.

Although Turkey became capitalist country in 1950s, it has retained a number of socialist aspects to life. An example is BELTUR - government funded restaurants in top locations serving delicious food at affordable prices.

My next blog comes soon and talks to history of this area and amazing monuments we’ve visited in this short stopover before we get to Bosnia.

Baklava

Sweet viagra!

And more Baklava

Lavish bread my favourite!

Merhaba

Photo shoot at Grand Baazar

Hello from Istanbul - Queen of Cities!

I expected to be fascinated with this big and vibrant city that spans two continents, Europe and Asia. Expectations are beyond being met! Wow, wow, wow!

We landed at 5am, got to the Sultanhan hotel, enjoyed the traditional breakfast and a strong Turkish coffee, so nice! By 10am we were already out wondering the streets of the old town.

I am soaking it all in and there is plethora of things to visit and explore. We went to the Grand Baazar with 61 streets and over 4000 shops. There is something there for everyone, from spice shops, souvenirs, teas, clothing and leather stores, shoes shops - I have never seen this many shoes shops in one place! Everyone was trying to sell me a leather jacket and golden jewellery and although they are famous for being great salesman, I’ve got a compliment for being equally a good saleswoman, ha!

Honeycomb with fresh mozzarella cheese is my favourite gourmet discovery today!

Guru walks are booked for the next few days, my brain is working hard being super curious about it all.

My First Blog

Ready to see the world!

In the next few weeks, a big milestone will kick in for me, 25 years of service with IAG New Zealand! Who would have thought a young woman, new to New Zealand, with no English, no insurance background, and a desire to learn and try new things would land in insurance and then make it her career?

It's safe to say, it has been a phenomenal experience, a roller coaster full of ups and downs, lots of big jobs done well, with many mistakes made along the way that led to growth and more growth.

After what’s been an amazing experience, I feel grateful and privileged to be able to do something uniquely special for my family and I. My husband Nebojsa and I have decided to take a well-deserved career break and do what we love doing the most – travel. I will return to work on 1 May 2024.

This trip will allow us to spend quality time with our loved ones who live overseas, give us new experiences as we explore a few countries and most importantly, give us the opportunity to celebrate life. This is our shout to ourselves for making it work in a new country, after coming from nothing to nothing and with nothing, raising two lovely human beings, Petra and Miroslav and making it work.

As we embark on our new adventure, I will be writing short travel blogs to capture memories, share experiences and show the beautiful world. Since I have never done anything like this, I am feeling anxious and excited, one and the same emotion just a different perspective. Safe travels to us!

Đorđević family - Petra, Nebojša, Draženka and Miroslav