WHERE ISTANBUL'S HEART BEATS
Istanbul is a city of such mystique and magnetism
that it is impossible not to be captivated by it. Ergün's illustrations
reflect this charm with a magic of their own. Both of us believe
that the city is gradually and insensibly habit-forming, making
life without Istanbul inconceivable.
When I speak of the heart of Istanbul, I refer to
Sultanahmet and the headland on which Topkapi Palace stands within
the historic walled city, which is where the city's pulse throbbed
for centuries. One sunny day we made our way there, and first visited
the cistern known in Turkish as the Sunken Palace, and in Byzantine
times as the Basilica Cistern.
The Byzantines built numerous huge cisterns to provide
water for the inhabitants of the capital when it was besieged, and
the Basilica Cistern was constructed in the 6th century by the emperor
Justinian to supply the palace primarily.
The Ottomans discovered this cistern a century after
conquering Istanbul in 1453, and used it for watering gardens. As
I was telling Ergün this, he took over and finished the story
for me, explaining that the raised walkways along which we were
strolling dated only from the 1980s, and that previously it had
only been possible to explore the cistern by boat. As we emerged
into the sunlight, my eye was caught by the Milion Stone, which
during the time of the Eastern Roman Empire marked the centre of
the world, and was the starting point for measuring distances. How
satisfying, I thought, to have resolved the question of the centre
of the world once and for all.
By this time we had arrived in Sultanahmet Square,
which was the Hippodrome of the Byzantines and known to the Ottomans
as At Meydani (literally Horse Square). Construction of the Hippodrome
commenced in the year 196, during the reign of Septimus Severus.
It stood right next to the Great Palace, where the
Byzantine emperors, who appeared in public on no other occasions,
would watch the chariot races from a balcony known as the kathisma,
while the common people gathered in the hippodrome and cheered on
the contestants.
 Originally
there were four competing teams, but in time the Whites and the
Reds declined in importance, leaving the Blues and the Greens, which
at the same time represented political and religious factions. The
Blues were supported by the poor sector of the populace and upheld
the doctrine of monophysitism, while the Greens supported by the
rich took the part of orthodox doctrine.
In this way the Hippodrome became an arena where political and religious
struggles were played out. In 532 the Nika rebellion led by the
Greens and their supporters was crushed by a strategem orchestrated
by the Empress Theodora, and thirty thousand rebels were trapped
in the hippodrome and slaughtered.
In 1204 the hippodrome was razed by the Fourth Crusaders,
leaving only the Sphendone Wall, which is still standing, a few
columns and the obelisk. But the hippodrome had still not had its
fill of competition, pomp and blood. The Ottomans used the area
as a field for the equestrian game of cirit (jereed) and splendid
festivities celebrating the circumcision of royal princes.
The fountain at one end of the square was a gift
of the German emperor Wilhelm II to the sultan at the end of the
19th century. So where is the blood in all this you might ask. The
first janissary rebellion took place here in the early 17th century
and ended in the death of the young Osman II. The janissaries marched
from the district of Fatih and gathered in the hippodrome. A century
later, during the Tulip Era, the janissaries again gathered here
in rebellion, and were only appeased by the execution of Grand Vezir
Ibrahim Pasa.
Moving on into the 20th century, it was here that
the woman novelist and activist Edip Adivar delivered her celebrated
speech in May 1919 on the eve of Turkey's War of Independence.
From here we made our way to Sultan Ahmed Mosque,
the Blue Mosque as it is popularly known on account of its beautiful
tiles. This was built between 1609 and 1616 by the architect Mehmed
Aga, second only in genius to Sinan.
 The
mosque has six instead of the usual four minarets, a fact that was
decried by some quarters at the time as a disrespectful assertion
of superiority over Mecca. During Byzantine times this was part
of the Great Palace, which covered an enormous area stretching from
Haghia Sophia to the Hippodrome and right down to the sea. The palace
was badly damaged during rebellions in the 5th and 6th centuries,
but rebuilt and enlarged with various new buildings until the 10th
century.
In the 12th century, as Byzantine power declined,
the palace began to lose its former splendour, and the Fourth Crusade
of 1204 marked the beginning of the end. The crusaders, led by the
Venetians, sacked the city, destroying both the Hippodrome and the
Great Palace. In the Mosaic Museum east of Sultan Ahmed Mosque can
be seen the the famous mosaic pavements, last surviving traces of
this vanished palace.
Following the conquest Sultan Mehmed II (1451-1481)
built a palace in Beyazit before commencing construction of a new
palace on the promontory overlooking the mouth of the Bosphorus.
This was Topkapi, which was to be home to the Ottoman dynasty for
four centuries, and additions were made over the years until Sultan
Abdülmecid (1839-1861) moved to a new home. We now made our
way there. The main portal of Topkapi Palace was constructed by
Mehmed II. It leads into the first courtyard, to the left hand side
of which is the church of Haghia Eirene.
This Byzantine church was used as an armoury during
Ottoman times, and today is an atmospheric venue for concerts. Beside
the church a narrow road leads downhill to the Archaeological Museum,
housing one of the most remarkable collections in the world. However,
we carried on into the second court of the palace, eager to see
the Imperial Harem, although disappointingly only the halls of the
sultan and sultan mother, and the quarters of the black eunuchs
and concubines are open to the public.
The portal leading into the third court is the Gate
of Felicity, which as our illustrator remarked commanded awe and
respect even from rebels, and explained that apart from the uprising
in which Osman II was killed, no one had the audacity to pass through
it into the private part of the palace without authority, even at
times when the empire was at its weakest. As he was talking, I demonstrated
my own daring by walking straight through it!
When we left Topkapi Palace and stood in front of
Haghia Sophia, I was filled with admiration for the architects.
The church was constructed in 537 for the Emperor Justinian by two
scientists, the mathematician Anthemius and geometer Isidorus, and
has withstood numerous wars and earthquakes.
It was converted into a mosque in the 15th century,
and is now a museum. That brought our fascinating tour to an end,
and to round off the day we strolled to a café in Sultanahmet
Square. I read a book while Ergün carried on sketching the
scenes around him. Then we puffed on a water pipe and sipped sage
tea as twilight fell. l
By GRESI SANJE*
* Gresi Sanje is a freelance writer
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