Back to Istanbul

We spent the whole day in the bus, heading back to Istanbul, except for when we hopped out on the ferry to cross back from Asia to Europe.

Goodbye, Asia

Also had an excellent lunch at a restaurant I didn't catch the name of in a town I can't remember. It was the last day of Ramadan and there were lines at every ATM. Ahmet said it was a special day; people got paid early so they would have money for the coming holiday.

I read Get Shorty and enjoyed it.

Hot springs, white cliffs

Before I left Australia I showed my boss, whose husband is Turkish, where I was going in Turkey.

"Pamukkale," she said. "Huh."

"What's up? Not good?"

"No, no," she thought about it for a moment. "I'd be interested to see what you think of it."

"Why?"

"Well, it's nice. But when we were there it was just full of... Russian bogans."

"Oh," I said.  "Boganskis?"*

"Sure. Boganskis."

Hierapolis (modern day Pamukkale) was famous way back when for the pools of Aphrodite, the hot springs which were supposed to have healing qualities and provide the gifts of youth. In those ancient times, gullible people, called by the promise of such bollocks, flocked there to swim in the legendary pools.

In that regard, not much has changed.

I was in it for the ruins

The choice to drive out on a blazing summer day and swim in hot pools left this Australian tourist a little baffled, but there's no accounting for the actions of boganskis, who had arrived in the hundreds (thousands?). They marched up and down the white cliffs in tiny bathing suits and kilograms of gold jewelry, waiting for the healing waters to kick in.

The cliffs were stunning

Unrestricted tourist access in the 80s and 90s has blackened the top of the cliffs, and people are no longer permitted to walk out much further than the top level of the cliffs. But in the blazing sunlight the white faces shone with a dazzling brilliance.

The effect was ruined somewhat by the hundreds of people who had come for no other reason than to sit in the man-made pools and sunbathe.

Lucky for me there was more excellent Greek and Byzantine architecture to see, including the Necropolis on the far side of the site.

And a round tower! Well, some of a round tower.

Hierapolis was huge; the city sprawled across the top of the hills about the cliffs. A minibus offered a quick drive from one end of the site to the other, and it was a welcome relief from walking in the heat.

We were driving at the time so I don't know what this is.

The Necropolis itself was well worth seeing. I had no idea that Roman graves were so elaborate, and they were particularly interesting after seeing the burial rites of the Scandinavians, whose only lasting burial ornamentations seem to be cairns and barrows. I saw more runestones for sons and families who died in other countries than I did markers for the local dead.

The Necropolis goes all up and along the hillside

I was, to be honest, a little under the weather that day, and I appreciated the opportunity to down a powerade and head to our hotel early for our tour's last night on the road.  The whole next day would be spent heading back to Istanbul.



(not Constantinople)



*I've written this account like I came up with the portmanteau 'Boganskis,' when in fact this honour belongs to my mother.

More things taken by Germans

In Berlin I visited the Pergamon Museum. The primary attraction of the museum are a pile of statues taken from the Temple of Zeus (and the stairs, pillars and altar) from Pergamon in Asia Minor. I never gave much consideration as to whether I would see the place from whence they came.

The view from Pergamon

The same day we went to Troy we took the long, winding road up to Pergamon, high above the countryside. Pergamon was built as a center of religion and culture, rather than commerce. It's position made it difficult to get to, but it had rich patrons and attracted the elite of Asia Minor.

The view of no river

Like the other ancient cities we visited, Pergamon suffered a number of earthquakes. These, combined with the silting of the Caicus and the growth of Ephesus, led to its demise.

Pergamon was the first place I have seen a proper Acropolis. Though the altar was taken by the Germans, the layout of the Acropolis is still clear today. I was interested in the way the marble structures were built; the foundations of the building were of heavy stone, with a marble facade, and not of solid marble slabs.

Once I saw this, it seemed obvious. Who would build foundations out of marble?

Acropolis: Note the change in colour of the stones

But the decorative sections, the pillars and carvings, were all done in marble.

It took us, in our bus, a long time to wind back and forth across the mountain to reach the city; I can only imagine what a hassle it would have been in ancient times. Nevertheless, the view from the top was stunning. If the day had been less hazy, we might have seen to the sea.

Pillars and the marble facade

It was an eight hour day, with a lot of time spent in the sun and the heat, and we were all exhausted when we reached Kuşadası. The most impressive ancient city, Ephesus, had to wait for the morning.

Horses for courses

There are about nine layers of Troy buried where Troy used to be. The one Homer wrote about is the seventh Troy (that's seven up, not seven down). There were a couple more built on top, Roman cities which decreased in importance as Constantinople became a power.

Walls at Troy, made of stone

The seventh layer was also the largest, and showed evidence of slaughter and fire. Other cities were destroyed by earthquakes and cultural change as people migrated from the east. Each layer shows different building materials and technology as the people living there progressed.

The view from the site of Athena's Temple. There used to be water visible from here.

The surrounding country side has also changed, primarily due to the silting of ancient waterways. Troy once sat overlooking the Hellespont, and it was this position which gave it power over trade in ancient times.

I took a lot of photos of wells

The size of the walls, at all levels of the site, is emphasised by the support structures - the huge foundations, gates and ramps which allowed daily life to go in in and around the walled city. It was again testament to what mankind can achieve with nothing more than math, determination and limitless free labour.

Slavery!

All the ancient cities we visited were places of trade and culture. The culture was demonstrated by the amphitheaters, where people could meet to discuss politics or matters of importance and so on.

People, not slaves.

And of course, no visit to Troy would be complete without viewing the Schliemann Pit, the spot where German 'archaeologist' and treasure-hunter, Heinrich Schliemann, dug through layer after layer of Troy until he found the treasure he was certain was left in the stories of Homer's stories. These jewels were, as it happens, from the second Troy, and therefore predated Homer's Troy by several thousand years.

Really it's just a huge hole.

But that's okay, because he found items of vital historical importance. Which he took back to Germany. And his wife took to Russia.

Our guide told us that Turkey has asked Russia if they could have the treasure from Troy back.

Russia said, "No."

The Hellespont

Troy was able to control trade between the ancient nations through its position on the Hellespont. Even in its decline the Byzantine Empire remained rich by controlling the strait. Russia and the Ottoman Empire fought over trade in the channel (by then called the Dardanelles) and the passage of German ships from the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Mamara prompted England's campaign against the Ottomans in the First World War.

I wanted to have a look.

Obligatory photo of the Sphinx

The tour bus took us to a number of sites relevant to the ANZAC Gallipoli campaign. There were three or four busloads of people there that day so it was not as contemplative as it could have been. Nevertheless I was interested in seeing the places I've heard about since I was in primary school.

ANZAC cove mid summer. Thirty eight degrees in the sun.

It was immediately obvious how terrible a landing at ANZAC cove would have been. The hills sit hard against the water, the rise is almost verticle, and Turkish troops already in place had a commanding view of the landing site.

We walked along the beach and took in a couple of the cemeteries and monuments. The most powerful of these was the Atatürk quote/monument on the beach.

The view from Walker's Ridge

After we we had toured the sites we drove down to the ferry which would take us across the strait. The ferries cross near Channakale. This part of the Dardanelles has been of crucial strategic importance for thousands of years (since Troy! Troy!) and the area is littered with ruins and castles.

Castles!

The crossing takes about 20-30 minutes by ferry - straight across from Europe to Asia. The town itself looked like a lot of fun as we came in from the water, but we didn't have time to wait there. There was just enough time for one cheesy stop.

After making the film Troy, Warner Brothers gave the horse they used in the film. I was impressed by the scale of this regifting.

Still hot

Given what happened the last time someone accepted this horse as a gift, I'm surprised they took it. Maybe they didn't see the movie?

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.