Ankara may have replaced Istanbul as the capital of Turkey , but the old imperial capital will never be replaced in the affections of the populace. A pride in the city plays a part in the consciousness of locals of every age ,race and creed. Its feeling summed up best by novelist Yasar Kemal , whose book, The Sea-Crossed Fisherman , contains a loving evocation of the pulsating city :
Its buses , cars , horsecarts, its ships , steam launches , fishing boats , its hamals sweating under their loads of heaped crates , its streets and avenues overflowing, its apartment buildings, mosques, bridges, all surging, interlocking in a furious turmoil…
But while the traditional sights and ancient buildings may always be there, the romantic veneer of the Ottoman city may not, Istanbul has one of the youngest populations in Europe and , as Turkey begins to reform its once rigid conservative society as it seeks to gain entry into the European, the city’s youth increasingly demands the same recreational pastimes as their European counterparts. Where they once met over a cup of apple tea and a backgammon board , today’s rich and bright young things enjoy the bars and nightclubs that have flourished since the late 1990s , where they can drink alcohol freely and dance until 5am. Shopping malls featuring international brands cater to young people sporting belly rings and tattoos, Hard Rock Café T-shirts and DVDs are for sale amongst the trinkets in the covered bazaar and there are reputedly more branches of McDonalds in the city than in NewYork.
Whether yours in the Istanbul of the Blue Mosque and The Topkapi Palace, or the downtown dance clubs and swish Bosphorus coctail bars, the city takes time to get to know. Three to four days is enough to see the major historical sights in Sultanahmet and take a ferry trip out for the afternoon on the Bosphorus. But plan on staying a week , or even two , if you want to explore fully the attractions off the usual tourist trail in the outlying suburbs and islands.
ORIENTATION
Istanbul is divided in two by the Bosphorus, a narrow thirty-kilometer strait that runs roughly southwest between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, separating Europe from Asia. Feeding into the southern end of the strait from the European side is the Golden Horn, an inlet of water that starts as two small streams about 7km from the mouth the Bosphorus. The quarters along the Golden Horn are dominated by light industry, while the majority of İstanbul’s residential suburbs are located along the shores of the Seo of Marmara and on the hills above the Bosphorus.
Istanbul effectively has two city centres, separated by the Golden Horn but both situated on the European side of the Bosphorus. The Sultanahmet district is the historical core of the city while Taksim lies at the southern end of an extensive business district. The two can easily be made out from the water.
Topkapi , Aya sofya , Sultanahmet Camii , the Museum of Turkish and Islamic art, and The Kapali Carsi (Covered Bazaar) , Downhill from Sultanahmet is Eminonu , one of the city’s major transport hubs, where trams connect with the citys largest ferry terminal and the main train station. This district is handy for the Misir Carsisi (Mısır Çarşısı) and Galata bridge , gateway to the Golden Horn.
West of the covered bazaar is the student district of Beyazit – stretching to the crown of one of the city’s seven hills – where İstanbuls university and the impressive Suleymanie Camii are situated . Further west from Beyazit , down main road of ordu caddesi , is the commercial district of Laleli and the transport hub of Aksaray. Beyond lie the overtly Islamic, mosque-studded , districts of Fatih and Zeyrek.
Running between the Sea of Marmara ant the Golden Horn, about 6 km from Topkapı Palace, the greater part of Theodosius II’s city walls are still standing. Its simple enough to get out here bay bus or train for a walk on the fortifications at Yedikule and a visit to the spectacular frescoes and mosaics of the Kariye Museum, Further out, Eyup is home to one of the most important mosques in the islamic world.
From Sultanahmet and Eminönü , you are most likely to cross the Golden Horn by the Galata bridge , entering the port area of Karaköy and then continuing up the steep hill to Galata , an area as old as Constantinople itself. Not far from the northern end of the bridge is the entrance to the Tunel, the French-built underground funicular railway , which takes eighty seconds to whisk up to Beyoglu , the City’s graceful nineteenth-century European quarter. From the upper Tünel statilon , an antique tram runs the length of Beyoğlu’s main boulevard Istiklal Caddesi to Taksim Square, the twin focal points of the modern citys best hotels, bars ,clubs and restaurants.
