Meeting history - a walk along the city walls
This may not be on the top 5 list of a tourist, but being a bit of a historian, I decided that I wanted to walk along the city walls. The wall as such is a monument in its own right and secured the survival of Constantinople for 1000 years. And Church of Our Holy Saviour in Chora is a top site. It's very hidden and was under reconstruction. Still they ask 15 lira entrance fee, however what you see is worth the money. Shortly before it died away, there was one last explosion of creativity, a symphony of colors. It is an amazing church and it should be on everybody's to do list.
Some of the original gates are still in use; at some places the wall was removed to give place to highways and some stripes are being reconstructed, though some specialists don't seem to be too happy with the methods applied. At last that made it clear why Constantinople survived every attack - until the cannonballs (topkapi) of Mehmet the Conqueror.
Day 4-7 -- museums
In many places they have one day with all museums closed. Istanbul. Some museums are closed on Mondays, others on Tuesdays or on Wednesdays, so you can every day go to one museum or other.
Some are world famous - like the Topkapi Collection - but the entry fee is also five star. Even relatively unimpressive sites like Hagia Eirena cost 15 Lira, so it is absolutely recommended to buy a Museum Pass which gives access to state museums (and saves time to queue before Hagia Sophia or Topkapi.
It showed that it was a good choice to use the museum pass from Tuesday to Thursday, as the weather started to get bad.
As Topkapi is closed on Tuesdays, I started with the Istanbul Museum of Archeology. The concept of the museums in Istanbul is problematic. It seems by the way that all museums are under reconstruction at the moment.
So in this museum they heap lots of things together and put labels like "Box, late Ottoman Period" on it. It is as if they don't know which story to tell with their exhibits or what is the specific about that item from that period. We see lots of items without learning what is the specific trait about them. We see mainly a collection of artefacts and leave the museum confused and quite unenlightened.
Of course in Aya Sofya the room gives a structure, the room tells a story. Or maybe no story as the barren cross from the iconoclast period in Hagia Eirene.
Also in the Mosaic Museum the artefact tells it own story - or for once it is nicely explained. I wished all the mseums in Istanbul followed the concept of this museum.
I was looking forward to Topkapi, but got quickly bored. Handicraft, exposition of skills, etc. Yes, lots of luxury things and relics from the early time of Islam, like hairs from the beard of Mohammed. And I was surprised that a state-owned museum in a secular state tells the story of a religion in the terms of the religion. In the Vatican we don't expect critical distance to the exhibits. But in a secular state? Really!
Best was the Harem section in the Topkapi museum. This one gave an idea about life in that place and was only putting things together. But even better I liked the Kitchen. These showed that the placed once was used and that real people lived there.
The Museum of Turkish and Islamic Arts has also a problematic concept. Actually it explains the history of Islamic Empires, but is not very explicit on what is the particular about the art they have created. Of course it correct to connect history and art, but what was the specific contribution of each empire. The ethnographic section was closed when I visited the museum. One staff member said it was somewhere else, another one said that it was not accessible. Strange, people like to give information, even though they are not always very helpful.
The Museum for the History of Science and Technology in Islam follows a slightly different approach. It depends very much on text, so there is a lot of information. Even an embarras de richesse for someone who is not familiar with the matter. There are certain highlights and the museum tries to point them out to the inquisitive visitor. They make a great effort to praise those scientists in western countries who communicated the efforts and achievements of the Islamic world in the west. The museum is very comprehensive. So you either concentrate on some subject or leave the museum with the impression that there was a lot. However there is no sufficient explanation why the former outburst of science and technology now is completely dried up.
On my seventh day I chose to see the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, on recommendation by a local in the knowing. This was a good recommendation after a concentrated infusion with history it was good to see that there actually is modern culture also. All of the people who found their way to Istanbul Modern were completelu unknown to me. It is however a good idea to return to the present time, so I was thankful to get this recommendation.
There was much left to see, enough for another visit. I didn't experience many things, almost never I went out during the evenings, I didn't explore the local alternative scene, I didn't try many different local food specimens -- a selection is necessary with a limited budget and limited energy and most of all, the ever present riskof bad weather and wet feet.
One time is not enough for such a multi-facetted city.
This may not be on the top 5 list of a tourist, but being a bit of a historian, I decided that I wanted to walk along the city walls. The wall as such is a monument in its own right and secured the survival of Constantinople for 1000 years. And Church of Our Holy Saviour in Chora is a top site. It's very hidden and was under reconstruction. Still they ask 15 lira entrance fee, however what you see is worth the money. Shortly before it died away, there was one last explosion of creativity, a symphony of colors. It is an amazing church and it should be on everybody's to do list.
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| Chora Church - one last outburst of creativity during the Byzantine Empire |
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| A gate from the Theodosian Wall |
In many places they have one day with all museums closed. Istanbul. Some museums are closed on Mondays, others on Tuesdays or on Wednesdays, so you can every day go to one museum or other.
Some are world famous - like the Topkapi Collection - but the entry fee is also five star. Even relatively unimpressive sites like Hagia Eirena cost 15 Lira, so it is absolutely recommended to buy a Museum Pass which gives access to state museums (and saves time to queue before Hagia Sophia or Topkapi.
It showed that it was a good choice to use the museum pass from Tuesday to Thursday, as the weather started to get bad.
As Topkapi is closed on Tuesdays, I started with the Istanbul Museum of Archeology. The concept of the museums in Istanbul is problematic. It seems by the way that all museums are under reconstruction at the moment.
So in this museum they heap lots of things together and put labels like "Box, late Ottoman Period" on it. It is as if they don't know which story to tell with their exhibits or what is the specific about that item from that period. We see lots of items without learning what is the specific trait about them. We see mainly a collection of artefacts and leave the museum confused and quite unenlightened.
Of course in Aya Sofya the room gives a structure, the room tells a story. Or maybe no story as the barren cross from the iconoclast period in Hagia Eirene.
Also in the Mosaic Museum the artefact tells it own story - or for once it is nicely explained. I wished all the mseums in Istanbul followed the concept of this museum.
I was looking forward to Topkapi, but got quickly bored. Handicraft, exposition of skills, etc. Yes, lots of luxury things and relics from the early time of Islam, like hairs from the beard of Mohammed. And I was surprised that a state-owned museum in a secular state tells the story of a religion in the terms of the religion. In the Vatican we don't expect critical distance to the exhibits. But in a secular state? Really!
Best was the Harem section in the Topkapi museum. This one gave an idea about life in that place and was only putting things together. But even better I liked the Kitchen. These showed that the placed once was used and that real people lived there.
 |
| Lots of things to look at in Topkapi |
The Museum for the History of Science and Technology in Islam follows a slightly different approach. It depends very much on text, so there is a lot of information. Even an embarras de richesse for someone who is not familiar with the matter. There are certain highlights and the museum tries to point them out to the inquisitive visitor. They make a great effort to praise those scientists in western countries who communicated the efforts and achievements of the Islamic world in the west. The museum is very comprehensive. So you either concentrate on some subject or leave the museum with the impression that there was a lot. However there is no sufficient explanation why the former outburst of science and technology now is completely dried up.
On my seventh day I chose to see the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art, on recommendation by a local in the knowing. This was a good recommendation after a concentrated infusion with history it was good to see that there actually is modern culture also. All of the people who found their way to Istanbul Modern were completelu unknown to me. It is however a good idea to return to the present time, so I was thankful to get this recommendation.
There was much left to see, enough for another visit. I didn't experience many things, almost never I went out during the evenings, I didn't explore the local alternative scene, I didn't try many different local food specimens -- a selection is necessary with a limited budget and limited energy and most of all, the ever present riskof bad weather and wet feet.
One time is not enough for such a multi-facetted city.
 |
| Installation in Istanbul Modern |
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