Istanbul is a vibrant place, full of history. The city has around 9 million people, which is 2 times the size of the whole of New Zealand's population. It has a varied history, including being part of the Roman, Byantine, and Ottoman empires. I only got a small taste of the city, but the following are some of the sights to visit.
From the ground up, Istanbul is beautiful. The Basilica Cistern is an ancient water filtration system below the old city of Istanbul. Not only a great place to escape on a hot day, it is incredibly beautiful with towering columns partially submerged in water and lit from below with small lights. If filled to the brim, the cistern could hold 100,000 tons of water.
Towards the back of the cistern, there are two columns that have carved Medusa heads at their bases. Along with much historical information, knowledge has been lost as to the reason these were placed here. The Medusa heads are not oriented upwards, one laying on its side, and the other upside down. Some believe this is so as to take away the Medusas' powers to turn a person to stone. This woman had better watch out!
The ceilings are bricks, arching high above the catwalk. People walked around in small groups, taking photos and looking at the columns, reflections, and fish in the shallow pools.
Above ground, I took a look at the Mosaic Museum. While not terribly amazing, as someone who creates mosaics, it was very interesting to see. Just the logistics of salvaging these mosaics from an archaeological site, and moving them to this museum has my head spinning. Not to mention techniques that must be used to maintain the colours and conserve these artworks. These particular mosaics are from the old palace of Constantinople, and come from Istanbul's Byzantine time period.
To round out my educational journey in Istanbul, I went with Mandy and friends to the Archaeology Museum. This was amazing. The number of sculptures and artifacts in this museum is massive. The walkway to the museum is littered with sculptures, columns, sarcophogi, in various states of decay.
The Roman pieces were beautiful. So lifelike and emotive.
I came across some old friends. Interesting to see a small part of the Babylon Gate displayed here, artifacts from Pergamon, and pieces from Ephesus. This made me pause to remember the Pergamon Museum in Berlin and my reservations about these structures being taken from Turkey. Hmmmm.
Lastly, there was a separate building at the Archaeology museum that was dedicated to ceramics in Turkey. The entrance to that building alone was worth a visit.
Beautiful.
From the ground up, Istanbul is beautiful. The Basilica Cistern is an ancient water filtration system below the old city of Istanbul. Not only a great place to escape on a hot day, it is incredibly beautiful with towering columns partially submerged in water and lit from below with small lights. If filled to the brim, the cistern could hold 100,000 tons of water.
Towards the back of the cistern, there are two columns that have carved Medusa heads at their bases. Along with much historical information, knowledge has been lost as to the reason these were placed here. The Medusa heads are not oriented upwards, one laying on its side, and the other upside down. Some believe this is so as to take away the Medusas' powers to turn a person to stone. This woman had better watch out!
The ceilings are bricks, arching high above the catwalk. People walked around in small groups, taking photos and looking at the columns, reflections, and fish in the shallow pools.
Above ground, I took a look at the Mosaic Museum. While not terribly amazing, as someone who creates mosaics, it was very interesting to see. Just the logistics of salvaging these mosaics from an archaeological site, and moving them to this museum has my head spinning. Not to mention techniques that must be used to maintain the colours and conserve these artworks. These particular mosaics are from the old palace of Constantinople, and come from Istanbul's Byzantine time period.
To round out my educational journey in Istanbul, I went with Mandy and friends to the Archaeology Museum. This was amazing. The number of sculptures and artifacts in this museum is massive. The walkway to the museum is littered with sculptures, columns, sarcophogi, in various states of decay.
The Roman pieces were beautiful. So lifelike and emotive.
I came across some old friends. Interesting to see a small part of the Babylon Gate displayed here, artifacts from Pergamon, and pieces from Ephesus. This made me pause to remember the Pergamon Museum in Berlin and my reservations about these structures being taken from Turkey. Hmmmm.
Lastly, there was a separate building at the Archaeology museum that was dedicated to ceramics in Turkey. The entrance to that building alone was worth a visit.
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