Fieldtrip to Bursa

The last weekend in March, we went with several of the other Fellows, and with our Director Scott, to the town of Bursa. By the 14th century, Bursa was the first Ottoman capital city, and there are several interesting and important medieval mosques and tomb complexes that still remain. It is an attractive city, set not too far inland from the Sea of Marmara, on the Asian side. It is only about an hour and a half away by fast ferry from Istanbul, which is how we traveled.


PANORAMIC VIEW OF BURSA

The earlier Byzantine walls of the city have been restored, but very poorly, and with no regard for their historical value.


AWFUL. JUST AWFUL.

Our first stop after the walls was the Shehadet Mosque. Originally built in 1365 by the Sultan Murad I, the building was extensively restored in the late 19th century. We did not go in, but stayed outside to inspect an extremely important inscription embedded in one of the walls.



Some scholars of Ottoman history consider this inscription to be the oldest datable example of the Ottoman script. Also, because the word "Gazi", or "holy warrior" appears in it, some historians have used it to bolster a theory that the Ottoman state was founded on the concept of holy war and the spread of Islam, rather than out of more purely political motivations and the desire to expand a state. It is fairly clear why this theory would be attractive to people of a certain mindset, but more current scholarly opinion is leaning away from this idea. Regardless, it is an important inscription for the study of Ottoman history.

From there we walked to the center of the town to see the 15th-century Han, which is still the center of sales of Bursa's most famous product: fine silk.


THE SQUARE OUTSIDE THE HAN


THE INTERIOR COURTYARD OF THE HAN

Our next stop was the Ulu Camii, a mosque constructed in 1399. The much later painting on the interior is quite interesting, especially an illusionistic representation of an arch over the main doorway.


EXTERIOR OF THE ULU CAMII


TROMP L'EOIL PAINTING ON THE MOSQUE'S INTERIOR

That evening we were to make a trip to the historic hamam (Turkish bath) for some relaxation. On the way we stopped at one more medieval mosque but, unfortunately, because we were on the way to the baths we had not brought our cameras. This was really too bad because the caretaker was kind enough to let some of us climb to the top of the minaret! This is a VERY rare occurrence. None of the Ottomanists had even ever been in a minaret. It was not one of the tallest I have seen, but was a good 50-60 feet. As it was so old, the balcony on which the muezzin used to stand to recite the call to prayer was quite narrow -- one person cannot pass another person on it. It also sloped down towards the outside quite steeply, and the stone railing came up only to about mid-thigh, so it definitely was not doing much to ensure safety! It is difficult to imagine climbing the narrow, pitch-black stairway to the top at dawn to stand on that small, high balcony and sing. We were very glad to have the opportunity to be up there, but we did not stay long!

The baths were very interesting. They are served by natural hot mineral springs, so the water in all the soaking pools is quite warm and heavy -- very relaxing. The mens' side is opulent, made up of a forest of Roman columns. The guys were treated to wraps of warm towels (refreshed periodically), cold drinks, and general extreme comfort. The women's side, however, is much smaller and less impressive, and entirely do-it-yourself (unless you purchase a scrub or a massage). No warm towels, no being waited on hand and foot. Of course, the price is the same (naturally). The one interesting aspect of the women's side is the "Lion's Mouth," which is actually a Roman drainpipe spout in the shape of a lion's head. At some point it was mounted on the wall where the hot spring enters the main chamber, and steaming water now pours out of its mouth. I have seen dozens of such spouts on ancient buildings, and lying around archaeological sites, but I'd never seen one in use.

INTERLUDE: A COUPLE OF INTERESTING IMAGES:


A WOMAN INSPECTS MOTORCYCLES OUTSIDE A MOSQUE


ONLY IN TURKEY: A PLAYGROUND CALLED "GUNPOWDER PARK" SET UP IN THE YARD OF A HIGH-VOLTAGE POWER STATION!

The next day, we started with a visit to the Yildirim Beyazid Camii. It is a small but attractive early 15th-century mosque, with later wall decoration. The most interesting aspect of the complex is the tomb of Beyazid I (1360-1403). He is perhaps best known as a character in the play Tamerlane by Christopher Marlowe. He was taken prisoner by Tamerlane (also called Timur) at the Battle of Ankara in 1403. Although he was originally buried near there, his body was later moved to this tomb in Bursa.


INTERIOR OF YILDIRIM BEYAZID CAMII


TOMB OF BEYAZID I

Our next stop was the Yesil Camii, dated 1412-1419. The tilework in that building is just unbelievable. Scott was able to get us access to the Sultan's loge, in the second story of the building. The deep blues, vibrant turqouise, and real gold inlay make a spectacular sight that cannot be adequately conveyed in photographs.


ME IN THE SULTAN'S LOGE


THE BEST PICTURE I COULD GET OF THE TILEWORK. DOESN'T EVEN COME CLOSE TO THE TRUE COLORS


THE VIEW DOWN TO THE FLOOR OF THE MOSQUE

Even the lower area of the mosque, for the use of common people, is covered in gorgeous tilework with inlaid gold:



We also visited the Turkish Islamic Art Museum. It was ok, but didn't blow anyone away. As usual, I was most interested in the mannequins dressed in traditional costumes. The courtyard also made a pleasant place to relax for a bit.



AS ALWAYS, THE MANNEQUINS ARE A BIT CREEPY


SOME OF THE FELLOWS RELAXING IN THE COURTYARD

Our final stop was the Muradiye Complex, a large grouping of tombs of Ottoman nobility. The setting is pleasant, quiet, and green.



Among the most interesting tombs is that of Cem Sultan (pronounced "Jim"), a rather dashing figure in late 15th-century Ottoman history. He was the younger brother of the ruling sultan, who chose to get rid of him by sending him into exile in Rome where he dallied with many women of high society and made quite a name for himself as a ladies' man and a cultured man-about-town. He died mysteriously in 1495, most likely poisoned by his brother. His tomb is incredibly garish on the interior, and one cannot help but think that his brother, while making an attempt to feign honor of his sibling, was also taking a bit of a last dig at him by decorating his final resting place in such an over-the-top and fairly unattractive way.


THE EXTERIOR OF CEM SULTAN'S TOMB


THE INTERIOR OF CEM SULTAN'S TOMB


THE COLORS ACTUALLY WORK IN THE DOME

Another tomb of interest is that of Prince Mustafa, the son of Suleyman the Magnificent. He died in 1553 and his tomb is covered on the interior with Iznik tiles of the highest quality. These tiles are in such high demand on the art market that some thieves with no sense of decency had recently broken into the tomb in the middle of the night and pried some off, breaking several in the process. They will have great difficult moving them, since they will be immediately recognizable to any Ottoman art historian who might be called on to make a ruling on their authenticity for purposes of valuation. Here's hoping they do get caught!


ALYSON, A HISTORIAN OF OTTOMAN ARCHITECTURE, INSPECTS THE RECENT DAMAGE.

Our two days in Bursa drawing to a close, we took the ferry back to Istanbul. Coming into the city from the west, we were rewarded with a view of Sultanahmet that is not often appreciated. Most photographs are taken from the Golden Horn, so images of the familiar skyline of the historic area almost always show Hagia Sophia in front of the blue Mosque. Coming in the way we did, the familiar vista was reversed. This is interesting and important, because it gives an opportunity to really appreciate how massive the dome of Hagia Sophia is. With the Blue Mosque sitting in front of it, closer to the viewer, it is obvious how huge the 6th-century building behind it really is -- even so much further from the viewer, it's dome is clearly huge in comparison to the domes of the Blue Mosque -- and how it effectively dwarfs the later construction.



The other thing we could appreciate from the water, of course, was the disgusting blanket of pollution that sits over the city. Sigh. Home again.

Christina's visit to Istanbul

In mid-March (that's how far I am behind on this blog!), we had our first two visitors stay in our apartment at the Center. First my fellow grad student from USC, Nick, came for a few days. He was at the end of a 5-week or so trip all across Europe to photograph Roman art in major museums. He had not originally planned to visit Istanbul, but the lure of a free place to stay was too great, and I think he was pleasantly surprised by the richness of the collection in the Archaeological Museum here.

A couple of days after he arrived, my cousin Christina came as well, on her Spring Break from teaching middle and high school band in East Texas. For two nights the two of them shared our small apartment, and we all had a great time (at least I think so). Nick was a man on a mission, so he did not have a lot of time to play. But on his last morning in the city, he joined Christina and I for a tour of the Chora church (also known as the Kariye Camii). I have posted pictures of this magnificent church before, I believe. It is, quite literally, the site of some of the most important and well-preserved Byzantine fresco and mosaic work in the world.

While we were there we took the opportunity to stop by a nearby shop and visit our friend Volkan, who works there. He invited us to come to his house for dinner a couple of nights later, which we did do (more on that later).

Nick took off from the Chora for the airport, and Christina and I went on to Yedi Kule, the Turkish prison. Since I've written about that before also, I'm not going to recap it here, except to say that an older Turkish man gave us a "tour" this time. Since he didn't speak any English, he told us everything using pantomime. It was hilarious, even though he was mostly talking about people being shot with arrows, beheaded, and strangled. Between my basic Turkish and his wonderful pantomime, we "learned" that the hole in the floor of the inside of the Golden Gate was used by the Byzantines to throw the bodies of executed prisoners into the sewer system, where they would be disposed of by dogs, or washed out to sea and eaten by fishes (all of which he pantomimed). This is absolutely not true, but it was fun to watch him explain it anyway.

From there we crossed back to the side of the Horn I live on, and went to the top of Galata tower for some amazing view of the city.


CHRISTINA AT THE TOP OF THE GALATA TOWER

Since Christina and I were together the first time I ever visited Istanbul a few years ago, we have both done most of the "big" tourist attractions such as Hagia Sophia and Topkapi Palace. So once Nick left, we focused on some of the lesser-visited but interesting sites, and just tried to relax and have a good time, which she really needed!

The next day, Peter joined us for a daylong trip to the Prince's Islands, so-called because Ottoman sultans sometimes deposited potentially problematic brothers there to serve exile. In more recent times, the islands have become resorts, a place to escape the crowded bustle of Istanbul. We took the slow ferry from the European side of the city and island-hopped for several hours.


VIEW OF THE LANDING DOCK OF ONE OF THE ISLANDS WHERE WE DID NOT DISEMBARK


On Heybeliada we walked around and took in the view of the other islands and the horses that were wandering freely.







MEN WORK ON THEIR FISHING NETS


AN OLD OTTOMAN HOUSE

Then we climbed to the top of the island to visit the 11th-century Greek Orthodox monastery of Hagia Triada, which the groundskeeper was kind enough to let us into although it is not normally open to the public. We could not enter the buildings, which are now a boys' school, but we could look at all the wonderful animals!


AT THE GATES OF THE MONASTERY


AWWW...


HUH?

On Buyukada, literally the "Big Island," we were greeted by an amazing cacophany of sounds when we stepped off the boat. Although the islands can be very busy in the summer months, with holiday-makers from Istanbul and abroad, we were not expecting them to be so busy this early in the season. But what we did not realized was that with the Turkish elections only a couple of weeks away, all of the major political parties had set up their headquarters on the big island and were blasting their own personal theme songs! The entire island was covered with flags and banners, and it was madness!


ELECTION BANNERS EVERYWHERE

We were able to escape from this a bit by taking a horse-and-carriage ride (only service vehicles are allowed on the islands, no personal cars), around the island to see the gorgeous late Ottoman architecture.




IS THIS ONE HAUNTED?

Then Christina and I traded the horse cart in for donkeys (Peter was not interested, since we discovered in Petra that he is probably allergic) and rode up to the highest point of the island to see the church and monastery of Aya Yorgi, some parts of which date to the 6th century. Unfortunately it was not open, but the views of the islands were nice. They would have been nicer if the weather was clearer, but it was still pretty.




VIEW FROM THE TOP OF THE ISLAND

Day three, Peter took Christina to the Pera Museum, a very nice small museum close to our apartment which houses, among other things, the famous "Tortoise Trainer" painting by Osman Hamdi Bey, the most well-known of Turkish artists. I stayed home to get some work done. In the afternoon, Christina and I went to the spice market and the nearby Yeni Camii which, although it is not one of the most famous of the many mosques in Istanbul, is quite beautiful.

Later that day we got on another ferry, this time a fast one, and made the trip
to the Asian side to visit Volkan and his girlfriend, Janset. She is an amazing cook, and it was great to have a homecooked meal. For Peter and I, it was the first time in several months! It was also nice for Christina to have a chance to see how the "real people" live in Istanbul.

The following day, because the weather forecast called for steady rain, we went to the archaeological museum, which Christina had not seen because we did not do our research before our first visit to the city, and had overlooked it. Afterward we visited a small textile shop in the same part of town. It was recommended to us by Amanda, the Fellow at the Center who is writing her dissertation on Ottoman cushion covers. The family that owns it is based in Antakya (Antioch), but they have this small shop in Istanbul also. They specialize in silk textiles, and you can watch a man working the loom right there in the shop. Their stuff is amazing, and fairly inexpensive compared to the fake examples you can find in other, more touristy, shops. Christina purchased several souvenirs, and we frustrated the owner by refusing to have tea (we didn't want to take the time).

That afternoon, we took advantage of the awful weather (it was cold and rainy almost the entire time Christina was here, unfortunately) to relax in the Chamberlitas hamam, one of the oldest and most opulent in the city. All I can really say about that is "Aaaahhhh...."

That night, we headed to another area of town to have dinner with our friend Marco, who works for the State Department. He had been very excited for a couple of weeks because a Chili's opened down the street from his house. He tries to pretend like it is his young son who is excited, but it is really him! Unless you have lived outside the U.S. for an extended period of time, it is simply not possible to understand how thrilling the opening of an American chain restaurant can be. Christina said she didn't mind having some American food, so we went there with Marco and his son and daughter. His wife Karen was unfortunately tied up at work, busily preparing for President Obama's visit.

The next day, we visited Dolmabahce palace, which was the home of the last six sultans. It was designed and built, at incredible expense, as a way of proving that the 19th-century sultans were as modern and cultured as their European ruler counterparts. The harem is also famous as the site of the death of Ataturk. The grounds and the buildings are amazing, and the decorations are unbelievably lavish.


THE GATE OF DOLMABAHCE



ONE OF THE PALACE GUARDS


THE FAMOUS CLOCKTOWER. CHRISTINA APPARENTLY HAS THE "CURSE OF THE SCAFFOLDING" AS WELL!

Neither of us paid for the extra ticket that would allow us to take photographs inside (but I won't make that mistake again, when I go with Peter). The most exciting moment of the Dolmabahce visit was when we were walking around the grounds and got a bit off the tourist path. Christina saw some peacocks wandering freely and wanted to go for a closer look. An old groundskeeper came out of a nearby building, probably to shoo us away. I spoke to him in Turkish and he was suddenly very excited, and asked us to come into his building. We had no idea what we were in for, but it turned out to be the Ottoman aviary, still in use! There were thousands of birds of all kinds inside. I have no idea why they maintain it, since it is not open to the public. What are they using the birds for? It is a mystery that none of my Turkish friends have been able to help me solve as of yet.

We picked Peter up for a quick lunch at the Ara Cafe, which is owned by Ara Guler, the most famous photographer of Istanbul. He is known worldwide as the "Eye of Istanbul." His photographs taken in the 1950s and 1960s are iconic. We have even seen him eating in the cafe on at least one occasion, but this time we just enjoyed the yummy food.

Next we visited the fortress of Rumeli Hisar, which was constructed by Mehmet the Conqueror in the 1490s when he was besieging Istanbul. It allowed him to control the waterway of the Bosphorus, and block off supply ships from reaching the Byzantines in the city. Because of its location on the water it is an absolutely gorgeous site to visit, although often overlooked by tourists. Highly recommended.





For Christina's last evening in town, we took her out to SantralIstanbul, the Ottoman power plant that I have blogged about before.






YOU KNOW US -- ALWAYS GETTING INTO THINGS!


OUR BODY HEAT PORTRAIT

It was an especially fun evening because there was a well-known band playing in Otto (the pizza place). They are called BaBa ZuLa and are very good.




BABA ZULA TAKES THE STAGE

It was a fun night, despite the fact that we had to fight to get on the free shuttle home, and even missed the first one because we were not willing to shove our way on. We were not so nice when the second one pulled up!

Despite the cold, wet weather and the fact that I was very busy with work while she was here, we did find some time to have fun and see some of the sites that neither one of us had experienced yet. Christina, I hope you had a good vacation!

Fieldtrip to Konya

Several weeks ago, we went with a group from the Research Center on a fieldtrip to Konya. Konya is a very religious, traditional city which is best known for its associations with Rumi (lived 1207-1273), also known as the Mevlana. Rumi was the founder of the famous religious order still known as the Whirling Dervishes, and he is buried here in Konya, where he lived most of his life. The religious beliefs that Rumi put forward in his writings are not always the same as those of mainstream Muslims. For example, many of his religious poems show what many Muslims would consider a very lax attitude towards following the dogma of religion, as well as a very open attitude about who might participate in the religious experience of his dervishes. From one of his most famous works:

Come, come, whoever you are.
Wonderer, worshipper, lover of leaving.
It doesn't matter.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, even if you have broken your vow
a thousand times
Come, yet again, come, come.

Despite the non-traditional nature of his religious teachings, his tomb is still regarded as an important place of pilgrimage for all Muslims, and the people of Konya, although very conservative in their own beliefs, are proud of their city's role as the home of the Mevlana.

The skyline of Konya , backed by gorgeous mountains, announces its religious devotion in all its interesting confusion. Look closely at the skyscraper in this picture:




DETAIL OF THE TOP OF THE SKYSCRAPER

Skyscrapers are considered by the citizens of Konya to be indicators that they are modern and advanced, so they love to construct them whenever possible. The top of this skyscraper in particular uses the forms of two important buildings: the lower pavilion-like section is based on the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem, the holiest of Muslim sites, while the smaller section on top of that is the same shape as the tomb of Rumi, whose mysticism is both part of, and at odds with, mainstream Islam.

We took an overnight train from Istanbul to Konya, and when we arrived we found a frozen city, covered in snow. None of the mosques or museums we visited had heat, so by the end of each day we were fairly frozen!

The main point of the trip was to see some of the most important examples of Seljuk architecture. Scott, the Director of the Institute, is a Seljuk historian, so it was very educational to tour the sites with him. The Seljuks were a pre-Ottoman state that ruled much of Anatolia, into Persia, in the 11th-14th centuries. Konya was their capital, and much of their architecture remains.

Before seeing the buildings in town, though, we traveled outside the city to a caravansaray to see a fine example of the buildings that were used by caravans when they were traveling to and from Konya. This one is called Zazadin Han:



Our next stop was to see what is left of the original Seljuk walls of Konya. They are now to be found (and visited, if you have the right connections), in the basement of a "dershane", a center for test preparation. You can see all the college-prep test booklets stacked against them in the pictures.




Next we entered the Karatay Madrasa, (a madrasa, or medrese, as I have mentioned in previous posts, is a school for Quaranic learning). This building has been converted into a museum, and we were not supposed to take photos inside. I had, however, snapped one picture of the amazing tiled dome before they told us that. These tiles are especially amazing because the Seljuks did not have the technology to fire tiles with more than one color on them, so they had to fire each small piece of the design separately, in whatever shape they wanted, then fit them together to achieve the desired pattern:



From there we moved to another Madrasa, the Ince Minare ("Slender Minaret") Madrasa, which is now a museum of architectural elements such as stone and woodwork. Its highly-decorated carved portal is one of the most important remaining Seljuk monuments:



Our final stop of the day was the Alaeddin Camii, in the interior courtyard of which stand the tombs of most of the Seljuk rulers. None of my pictures of this are very good, probably because I was too cold to take anything decent by this point.

That night we were able to meet up at the hotel with a fellow Fulbrighter, Dee Dee from South Carolina, and her husband Michael. We were happy to hear that they love living in Konya, although it is a more difficult assignment because it is so much more traditional and conservative than Istanbul. Dee Dee was also able to join us for our tours the next day, which was nice.

We started our second day with a trip to the tomb complex of Rumi. It's greenish-blue tiled tower is the most recognized landmark of the city. No pictures are allowed inside, but in addition to the actual tombs of Rumi, his father, and various important individuals, we saw many other objects associated with the history of the Whirling Dervishes, such as musical instruments and manuscripts. It is really an amazing place to visit, and we highly recommend it.



After a nice lunch, we visited two more sites in town: the archaeological museum which, although not very well-kept or labeled, houses some very interesting objects, including this sarcophagus depicting the 12 Labors of Hercules:





Another interesting sarcophagus in the museum had an unusual version of the Jonah story. I've never seen him being swallowed headfirst before!



Next door to the museum is the Sahip Ata Kulliyesi, a dervish "convent." As with many of the other buildings we saw in Konya, the inside was beautifully tiled. Although the main central area has been rather harshly restored, the tomb area to the side is remarkable for the beauty of the tiling not only on the building, but on the coffins themselves:





The last goal of our tour was not in Konya itself, but in the nearby town of Beyshehir. Visiting required a drive of an hour and a half or so through beautiful snowy countryside:



The main attraction in Beyshehir is the Eshrefoglu mosque, one of a rare type of mosque with a wooden interior, beautifully painted. It was constructed in the Medieval period, late 13th century, and is in a remarkable state of preservation, considering that the columns, roof, and furniture are all made of wood:




A DETAIL OF THE CARVED AND PAINTED DECORATION AT THE TOP OF ONE OF THE COLUMNS

Beyshehir's other claim to fame is its location on the shores of Turkey's largest freshwater lake (for those of you who are wondering, Lake Van's water is part saline, part fresh), which shares the name Beyshehir. We were able to spend a half hour or so walking by the water and teaching Tsameret and Ilan's children to throw snowballs. Since they are from Israel, it was their first time to see snow!


BEAUTIFUL LAKE BEYSHEHIR


THE CITY SITS ON ITS SHORE, LOOKING VERY EUROPEAN


A HAPPY, BUT THOROUGHLY FROZEN, GROUP OF FELLOWS



Soon it was time to drive back to Konya to catch another overnight train back to Istanbul. We were prepared for a boring night: a little dinner, some chatting, then off to bed. But we found ourselves sharing the dining car with a group of young Turkish soldiers enjoying their last night of freedom before reporting for sniper training in Istanbul the next day. One of them had a guitar, and our "boring night" turned into hours of singing (and even some dancing) as we rode through the frozen Anatolian plain. It was definitely a night to remember!