History served up like cake

Hm. Istanbul. Where to start.

As we left the airport it was different from other places I had been in Europe. The press of cars, sound of horns, the power of the sun. We rounded a corner on the highway and came in view of the old Byzantine sea wall and I had my Toto moment (we're not in Kansas, not the rains in Africa).

Two days of travel had left me pretty wiped. I explored the streets around the hotel (small, unevenly paved, confusing) but it was too hot to venture too far in a new city.

The organised tour I was on started the next day with a walk through the prominent sites in Istanbul's Old City. Our first stop was the Hippodrome.

*Insert your own overcompensating joke*

Ahmet, our guide, explained that this was where they used to race chariots in Byzantine Constantinople.

"Rad," I thought, "I can put the hippodrome in my novel."

Then he told us about the unfortunate outcome of the Nika riots.

"Great," I thought. "I can use the ruined hippodrome in my novel."

Where the hippodrome once stood is now Sultan Ahmet square, and it's still home to three Byzantine columns; the oldest of them, the Egyptian column, looks like it could have been put up last year. All three are dug into the ground, their bases around two meters below street level, because the city was much lower fifteen hundred years ago. Most of what Istanbul is built on is Constantinople, layer upon layer.

Also in the square is the Kaiser Wilhelm Fountain.

Looks German

The fountain was a gift from the Kaiser to the Ottoman Emperor. We were in the city for Ramadan, the one month of the year that the water in the fountain is operational.

Next stop: the Sultan Ahmet Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque.

Doesn't look blue. Is this a language thing?

Named for the tiles which adorn the walls and ceiling, the Blue Mosque does have a funny language story behind it. Sultan Ahmet, who wanted it built, specified to the architect that he wanted a mosque with gold minarets. But the word for 'gold' and 'six' are very similar and the architect started work soon afterwards on a mosque with six minarets.

Oh yeah. That's pretty blue.

Lucky for him, the Sultan was quite taken with the idea.

We crossed back over to Topkapi Palace, the seat of power for the Ottoman Emperors for over 400 years.

Looks like a palace. But does it smell like a palace?

All of the things I wanted to photograph in the palace, like the armoury and the treasury, did not allow photography. But there were some great views outside.

Also, it rained.

Just outside Topkapi some ruins were being excavated; the remains of the Great Palace of Constantinople, the Byzantine palace.

Now the site of a luxury hotel.

We had some lunch and made our way to the Hagia Sophia, just as the sky blackened again. We just made it inside as raindrops the size of golf balls started pelting the city.

Ahmet took a moment to tell us a bit about the history of the church; about how it was rebuilt twice and has been standing in its current form since 537. About the columns inside, taken from the Temple of Artemis. How it was a church, then a mosque, and now a museum.

How it represents the development of Turkey.

It is... impressive

The conversion from cathedral to mosque has left some of the most amazing and beautiful sights. Because the Ottomans plastered over the original mosaics, they were largely preserved and can be seen today, though in many places the plaster remains, making both parts of the building's history are visible.

Each one had six wings...

This was another one of the "I am so glad I went on this trip," moments. How could I have sent Ragnar to Constantinople for almost eight years and not mention the Haiga Sophia once? Not even once? After seeing the stave churches where Christianity was practiced in Norway, this would have blown his tiny viking mind. And I haven't even mentioned it once.

Our last stop wasn't on the 'official' tour route, but Ahmet thought it was important for us to see; the Basilica Cistern.

Coooooooool

Another Byzantine structure, the cisterns all around the city provided Constantinople's water. Without a nearby mountain range to supply fresh water, the Romans built aqueducts (some still standing) to bring water and fill the cisterns (I haven't been able to find out where from - anyone know this?).

Where once it held 100,000 tons of water, it now has a fish pond.

All that took about eight hours and I was exhausted. We had an early start the next morning, heading for Gallipoli.