ISTANBUL'S UNFORGETTABLE WINTER
In early January 1929 one of the worst winters in
Istanbul's history took the city in its grip. A fierce storm blew
up at 2 o'clock in the morning of Monday 7 January, and the constant
sounding of horns as the ships in harbour warned one another was
the first the people of Istanbul heard about the cold weather moving
eastwards from the Balkans. The first snow fell on the city that
morning. On Thursday 10 January the weather forecast predicted that
the blizzards would last at most two or three days. However, on
Saturday evening southwesterly gales commenced, and on Sunday morning
people woke up to find Istanbul under a carpet of snow. Ferry services
were delayed by winds and rough seas for the next few days, returning
to normal when the storm died down on Wednesday 16 January. Until
the following Monday the weather was deceptively mild and sunny.
Then came renewed southwesterly and northeasterly
gales and sleet, showing that winter did not intend to let Istanbul
off so easily. On Tuesday morning people woke up to a white city
again. This time the heavy snowfall continued without respite until
late at night. The newspapers spoke with amusement of the acrobatic
movements of ladies who, grasping walking sticks with nails in the
base, struggled to remain upright in Beyoglu. This cheerful mood
was extinguished by tragedy when a fire which swept through the
district of Kurtulus burnt over four hundred houses to the ground.Wednesday
and Thursday passed relatively snow-free, but on Saturday 26 January
Vakit newspaper reported that an elderly simit seller had frozen
to death in Izmir, an Aegean city that normally enjoys a Mediterranean
climate: 'An unfortunate simit seller froze to death in the severe
cold which has prevailed in Izmir for the past few days. The 60
year old simit seller, whose name was Mustafa, was selling simit
in Esrefpasa yesterday morning, and froze in the extreme cold.
The doctor who examined the body said that Mustafa's
blood had frozen. Mustafa sold simit early every morning in Esrefpasa
to earn a living for his family.'On Saturday 2 February the temperature
fell to minus 3 degrees in Istanbul and municipal officials discovered
the bodies of two people who had frozen to death in the street.The
homeless were the first victims of the merciless winter.On Sunday
a blizzard prevented either ferries or trains from running, and
in some places the snow was over a metre deep. That day the newspapers
reported that hungry wolves had come down from the hills and been
seen in the outlying suburb of Kartal.
Two more people were reported to have died in the
districts of Kâgithane and Sisli.On Monday 4 February newspaper
headlines were devoted to the appalling winter, with its deaths
from cold, trains stranded in snow drifts, ferryboats driven onto
rocks, and sunken rowing and motor boats.
On Tuesday Vakit newspaper declared with the air
of a trailer for a thriller film, 'City Horror-Struck: Snow Continues'.
The populace rushed to buy bread from the bakeries. All the shops
were shut, life in the city was at a standstill, and several buildings
collapsed in gale force winds.Wolves were seen in several parts
of the city, and students of the School of Political Science in
Yildiz killed a wolf one night. Cats and dogs were found frozen
to death.On Wednesday the storm died down and the job of sweeping
the streets clear of snow began.
The council announced that householders and shopkeepers
who did not clear the snow outside their doors would be fined. On
Saturday 9 February the Golden Horn began to freeze, and by Sunday
morning the ice was 8 centimetres thick in places. That morning
Istinye Bay on the Bosphorus froze over, and ice was seen higher
up the strait between Pasabahce and Beykoz.
February continued with periods of mild weather
alternating with southwesterly gales and blizzards. On Sunday 24
February the newspapers reported that ice floes from the Russian
coast were heading for the Bosphorus, and on Friday 1 March the
Bosphorus was overrun by ice. On Saturday 2 March Vakit newspaper
reported under the headline, 'Istanbul Harbour Filled with Ice':
'The previous night large ice floes invaded the Bosphorus, and shortly
afterwards they covered the entire harbour. Since the ice arrived
without warning at night, it was only seen yesterday morning when
it was driven into the bays by the currents. Other ice floes continued
to float down the strait, dividing into several branches off Sali
Pazari. One part floated down the Anatolian shore to Haydarpasa,
one passed Sarayburnu headland into the Marmara Sea, and another
headed towards Sirkeci quay after becoming packed at Galata quay.
The ice floes are mostly between 10 and 50 centimetres thick, but
some are as thick as a metre.
Yesterday some people climbed onto the floes at
Sirkeci quay and walked across them for several minutes.'The following
day the floes began to melt, and within a week the snow, storms
and freezing temperatures made way for milder weather. But the winter
of 1929 still lives on in memories and photographs.
* Cengiz Kahraman is a photographer
Articles
Index
|
