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!