July 3 – Friday: Today came off perfectly. A rich and full night's sleep. I prudently set an alarm to wake us early in the morning. This annoyed my assistant – and indolent and pleasure-loving sort of person – but it got things going at the right hour. The usual breakfast, tended to some practical details like sending out some laundry. Facing facts, the wash it in the sink approach is ok in a pinch but it can easily become a kind of night-job on these trips. Called a taxi and we were off.
Today's theme was pre-Islamic Istanbul and this means a trip to see the mosaics at Sacra Chora (Karriye Camii), then examining the walls of Theodosius (whose failure meant the failure of pre-Islamic Istanbul) and then a winding walk sort of along the lines of one described in my Frommer's guide down through Balat to Fener (districts in the western part of the city) winding up at the Church of the Ecumenical Patriarch.
Sacra Chora was easily worth the trip. Its located in a quiet village like part of town – winding cobblestone streets, shady pavilions for tea, etc. When built (around 4th or 5th c. CE) it was a monastery in the country (chora). The church itself was constructed in the 10th c. The guide book claims the last bit of money in the Byzantine treasury were poured into this. It's a fairly small church – nothing like the scale of the imperial mosques, but its known for the excellence and the preservation of its mosaics. Enough were still there to give you the feel of a completely and expensively decorated Byzantine church. The mosaics were stunning, as were the painted walls in the outer galleries. My photo-documentarian had his fine camera and this might have been able to get a few shots from inside – we'll see (it might redeem him after his caterwauling about the alarm).
After that we climbed up to the Edirne Gate in the Theoodosian Walls. The walls are impressive and the cut straight across the entire peninsula. The city has made some effort to reconstruct them in places – but they clearly have served (or failed to serve) their purpose. Climbing up on the wall (no small effort in the morning sun here) you get a nice view of the Golden Horn and the city. As normal here, they are completely open and available – no hand railings, etc. and no warning when a step might be crumbling or entirely absent. We made it down ok – and I think about quarter mile after that completely lost our way.
Following the instructions for a walking tour out of a book in Istanbul is probably not a realistic expectation. I think we followed at least large chunks of it – but who knows. Things were actually nicer when I put the stupid book down and began to enjoy things around and about. Balat is one of the poorer neighborhoods (says our guide) but it was nice in its own way (which makes me think it really is not one of the truly poorer neighborhoods. A city of 16 million largely migrant people and families should be able to deliver a much more impressive levels of poverty than Balat. It was a Friday (the holy day of the week) so families were out and about going to the mosque and enjoying the street life.
It was also a part of town that was not accustomed to tourism – and you see a lot more of that open and friendly feeling. Kids want you to take their picture, adults are friendly and greet you if you pause in one spot for awhile, people come out of the shops to help when they see you trying to figure out the stupid tour book map. Actually it was the best part of the day – nice to see some of the city life off the standard trail. It was good to do this sort of wandering with company- and my assistant is definitely not a whiner ( a cardinal virtue in travel companions).
So, it was all good. Actually,we could see we were simply wandering through the neighborhoods alongthe Golden Horn – and after we got to the Ecumenical Patriarchate (a bit of a splash down back in tourist land), we walked down a park along the river/estuary and eventually hailed a cab to get back to the Hippodrome (fun ride!).
The Patriarchate was also interesting. I don't recollect being in a Greek Orthodox church before and this was one of the nicer ones. I'll have to look into the history of the Greek and Russian Orthodox church. I believe that after tha fall of Constantinople there was argument between the Greek and Russian Orthodox over which patricarch is authoritative – starting a fairly nasty schism. The double headed eagle sign over the door was the sign of the Byzantine/Roman emperors. After this schism and the fall of the city, the claim to Roman rule moved up to Russia and the double eagle sign became the crest of the Russian Tsars (Ceaesars). So, the Patriarch in Istanbul was no longer as central – this church was constructed in 1600 and became the center of Christianity in Istanbul. It makes sense why the things is surrounded by high stone walls and iron gates. I gather one Patriarch was hung in the gate there when there was a rebellion against the Ottomans in Greece. The gate has since been welded shut "in grief". Fortunately, there were two other gates on either side.
Back to the familiar Sultanahmet for a nice lunch in a breezy cafe and to stop by another carpet shop. I fear we are getting recognized in the Arasta bazaar. Right now I am writing while watching the container ships pull out of the Bosphorus. My assistant is downstairs catching up on his sleep.
Most Remarkable Thing: Sacra Chora was really impressive, but I've not seen an Orthodox church before - or at least not one like the Ecumenical Patriarchate. It involves this screen of thick gilded material like a golden treacle with the icons set on this. It really was the kind of world historic ornate that I haven't seen since that baroque church in Munich.
Photo: JWK pondering the fate of empires atop the Theodosian walls near the Edirne Gate.
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