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Showing posts from January, 2019

Gulhane Park at Sultanahmet

Let me start by explaining what Gülhane Park means... It means the House of Roses . Ottoman Sultans liked to maintain the gardens by themselves and their favourite flower had been roses till the Tulip era which put real significance on history of Ottoman Empire. Gulhane Park is located at historical peninsula of Istanbul by the shoreline of Eminönü district.  The historic gardens are adjacent to  Topkapi Palace , which had been used as outer gardens of the imperial life for centuries. This park reminds me of my childhood and as reminds my mother's and her mother's too as on... I remember our picnics with my cousins and my grandfather's taking us to a zoo visit in the park in those days. Yess here I even fed a giraffe with the wood chips.  The animals of the zoo had not been cared well enough and been trash all over in those days. Finally the Municipality of Istanbul moved the zoo to Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. After then the park had been repaygas

Maiden's Tower

One of the most iconic images of Istanbul is surely the beautiful Kız Kulesi located in Üsküdar district's shoreline. It is known as Maiden's Tower in English. The beauty of this gorgeous architecture is being at the middle of Bosphorus historic peninsula. Thus gives an epical panaromic view mixed with other iconic images of Istanbul. The first tower was built by the Athenian general Alcibiades on a rock at the entrance of Bosphorus in order to control the water way back at 5th century. A chain was pulled from the land to the tower to mark as a checkpoint of customs area for ships. The tower was made of wood and stone firstly, by 12th century Byzantine Emperor Alexius built a strong defense tower. During the Ottoman era the tower had been used for multiple purposes such as lighthouse, hospital, custom service, arsenal and many more...And nowadays it is being used as a restaurant at lower level, a museum and a cafe at the tower section. As being on a very im

Topkapı Palace

Topkapı Palace is a large museum which is set on top of one of the hills in Istanbul. It was constructed initially between 1460-1478 by Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinapole. The Palace served as house for Ottoman Sultans and also administrative and educational centre for governmental sections about 400 years. By 1850s, the palace became inadequate to the requirements of ceremonies. Therefore the Royal family moved to Dolmabahçe Palace, which is located by Bosphorus in Beşiktaş district of Istanbul. However the royal treasury, the Holy Relics of Prophet Muhammed and imperial archives preserved at Topkapı Palace. In early 1922, the Ottoman Monarchy was abolished. By the order of The 1st President of new Turkish Republic Mustafa Kemal Ataturk converted the palace to a museum by 1924. Today more than three million visitors in a year come to see Topkapı Palace . Most of the rooms had been renovated, but still you can find closed sections as renovations still goe