On Tuesday, April 25th, Ece returned to school; Nagihan opted out of touring (gracefully); so I struck out on my own to take the ferry across the Bosphorus (aka, the Strait of Istanbul...waterway separating the 2 sides of the city) and continue the touring explorations on my own.
I utilized my usual strategy of seeking out a young person for assistance...this time, I nabbed Alex, a lovely young man whose English was quite good, owing to the past three years of English tutoring he had received. He helped me to purchase the requisite transit card for the ferry crossings (the most reasonable cost in Istanbul! Amounting to about 10 TL--Turkish lyra--per 20 min. ride across, or about $.60).
My first destination--the Galata Tower--had me traversing through parts of the old city, graced with some wonderful old European architecture. The trip up the Tower/museum was shockingly expensive--350 TL, or what amounted to $18!!!-- and Nagihan told me that this was the product of a very greedy president (not long ago, it was a 7th of that amount! Incredible!!)
I bit the bullet and paid it, as it is one of the more famous historical sites in Istanbul. Here is the description:
The Galata Tower is an old Genoese tower in the Galata part of the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey. Built as a watchtower at the highest point of the (lost) Walls of Galata,[1] the tower is now an exhibition space and museum, and a symbol of Beyoğlu and Istanbul.
During the Byzantine period, the Emperor Justinian had a tower erected in what was to become Galata. This tower was destroyed during the Fourth Crusade in 1204.
In 1267 a Genoese colony was established in the Galata part of Constantinople. It was surrounded by walls and the Galata Tower was first built at their highest point as the Christea Turris (Tower of Christ) in Romanesque style[2][3] in 1348 during an expansion of the colony. At the time the Galata Tower, at 219.5 ft (66.9 m), was the tallest building in the city.[4]
After the Turkish Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, the Genoese colony was abolished and the walls pulled down. The tower was allowed to survive and was turned into a prison. It was from its roof that, in 1638, Hezarfen Ahmed Çelebi supposedly strapped on wings and made the first intercontinental flight, landing in the Doğancılar Meydanı in Üsküdar on the Asian side of the city, a story of doubtful authenticity recounted by the Ottoman travel writer, Evliya Çelebi.
From 1717, the Ottomans used the tower to look out for fires (on the Old Istanbul side of the city the Beyazıt Tower served the same function). In 1794, during the reign of Sultan Selim III, the roof was reinforced in lead and wood, but the stairs were severely damaged by a fire. Another fire damaged the building in 1831, after which further restoration work took place.
In 1875, the tower's conical roof was destroyed during a storm.[5][6] It remained without this roof for the rest of the Ottoman period but, many years later, during restoration work between 1965 and 1967, the conical roof was reconstructed.[5][6] At the same time the tower's wooden interior was replaced with a concrete structure and it was opened to the public.[citation needed][7]
In 2020 the Tower was controversially restored then reopened as a museum. [8]
It is mainly popular for the 360-degree view of Istanbul visible from its observation deck.
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View of the tower from the colorful, old side streets surrounding it. The old European-style architecture was so beautiful! One of the best things about being back in the West.
At 220 feet high, it offers a most impressive view of the city below.
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The gorgeous, stone-encased stairwells were fun to go down, but the ceiling was low... it was necessary to be mindful of one's head!
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| On one of the floors, there was this clever exhibitiion, where people could get a taste of virtual hang-gliding over the water and city! Apparently, the first ancient hang-gliding event took place from this tower! |
The dude who presumably took that first flight!
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| Myriad marvelous views from on high... loved the colorfulness of the old architecture...not so much, the newer buildings... |
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Here, you get the view of the sea along with the surrounding city...
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Top floor, looking up at the dome...the highest point
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| Impressive views, indeed...worth the $18? Now, that's a stretch...!!! |
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| After coming down from the tower, I had about a 2 km. stroll along the main, shop-lined, touristic street of Istiklal on the way to my next destination... |
After traversing Istiklal street, I wound up at the famous Taksim Square, in which stands an important, historical sculpture, commemorating the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. It is surrounded by mosques, one lovely church, and many lavish hotels...
After my visit of Taksim Square, I then walked another 30 minutes or so to The Dolmabahce Palace... an even MORE expensive destination than the Galata Tower! Here, I paid a whopping 450 TL entrance fee, or what amounted to $23 U.S. (This too used to be much less expensive). My conclusion? Being a tourist in this city is a VERY costly proposition! However, I imagine if one were to live like a local, it would be much more economical (I had a very good vegan lunch at a sweet little hole-in-wall place I found called the Vegan Cartel-- the whole, very substantial meal amounted to about $12). Still... had to be done. There was a second, famous palace across town--Topeka-- I decided to skip it, taking the stance that, "If you have seen one palace, you have seen 'em all!" At least, on my budget, this is how I had to justify skipping the second one!
Additionally--and most annoyingly--they didn't allow indoor photography, which I thought was the most impressive part and made NO sense at all! I managed to sneak in a couple anyway (as did other people I saw), though got yelled at by a staff person the second time around, so didn't attempt it again. (If any of you readers have seen the old movie, "Midnight Express", you will understand how loathe I am to wind up in a Turkish prison!!!)
All this aside, the extreme opulence was impressive and rather nauseating. I don't even want to go into the statistics--you can look them up on your own, if interested. The most incredible fact to me was the 64 bathrooms throughout! That, and the fact that the sultan had 7 wives...whom, I dearly hope, took on lovers of their own! (I asked one of the staff members how many children were the product of the 7 wives... shamefully on her part, she couldn't answer this question!)
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Clock tower at the palace entrance
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Grand entrance to the palace
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| Every aspect was exquisite, as you might expect from a 2 billion dollar structure. This cost was taken from tax payers and foreign loans, the latter of which, as I understand it, was never paid back!! What scoundrels, those sultans!!! |
The final--and very affordable (100 lyra only!)-- ending to my day was a ferry tour around the Bosphorus (Strait of Istanbul). We got a nice view of the shoreline from the Strait... the skies, as you can see, were magnificent. I thoroughly enjoyed this 75 min. excursion. There were only 3 down sides: 1) The nasty, expensive beverage I had, called "sadep"--a must miss, it is basically sickly sweet, thickened warm milk with a sprinkling of cinammon--horribly overpriced at 50 TL; 2) the chilly winds that blew, driving most of the passengers inside toward the end; 3) the REALLY nasty surprise advertisement on a man-made island (see below).
Most of the points of interest along the shoreline were, of course, of palaces and castles... I cannot begin to recall their names. They were very picturesque, though, especially against the beautiful blue of the water and gorgeous skies above. I also enjoyed the view of the bridges we passed under (two, I believe) and the proud displays of the Turkish flag.
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Yes, this IS the nasty surprise I was referring to! This huge ad out on a man-made island in the middle of the Strait. Sadly, like everywhere else I have seen in my travels, Turkey is also infested with the worst of Americana!! What to do?? It is the modern world we live in, tragically enough!!
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After I took the ferry back to Kadikoy (on the Asian side) where I am staying, I walked along the shoreline and admired the fabulous sunset taking place. In fact, they have been consistently magnificent during my week-long stay here, and I will definitely miss these captivating views!
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