New Mosque

In a city that had its first settlement in the Neolithic period, a mosque dating from the 1600s is considered rather "new." Situated at the end of the Galata Bridge, next to the Spice Market, and in the middle of a main transportation hub, we are constantly passing the Mosque of the Valide Sultan, or the New Mosque. For various political reasons that caused major delays, the Mosque took over sixty years to complete. The Spice Bazaar was built along with the Mosque, using its left-over construction materials. Tariffs from sales at the Bazaar were used to maintain the Mosque.  

Many large mosques are in the heart of mercantile areas. While the Spice Bazaar was built to serve the New Mosque, it is often the other way around, with a mosque being built to serve the people who work and shop in the bazaars. Considering believers need to stop to pray five times a day, it does make sense that places of worship would be close to the most active areas of the city.

Even when very grand, there is a feeling here that mosques are part of everyday life. Certainly the short, frequent visits from the faithful throughout the day account for this, but another reason seems to be in the nature of the domed-architecture itself. Cascading from the large central dome at the peak, the smaller domes multiply and diminish until they finally reach the outer walls. While this architectural form was certainly borrowed from Byzantine architecture, it seems to be exaggerated and refined with later mosques that followed the Byzantine pattern. The result is a lower-at-the-edges design that is more welcoming-looking than the austere Byzantine basilicas on which they are based.  

More approachable than most Christian cathedrals, large mosques tend to spill out into the community, with multiple entrances and stone staircases that spread out at the ground plane, rooting the building. The entrances to large-scale mosques are in stages, with stairs from the street leading to large, open courtyards. These usually house an ablution fountain for the ritual washing done before entering a mosque. Again, this architectural pattern adds an earthy, human quality to the main entrance. 

The ablution fountains are usually only for show, with the real washing happening at taps on the sidewalls of mosques. At the New Mosque, however, we often see followers washing their hands and feet at the beautiful central fountain. The courtyard itself is grand, surrounded by an arcade and smaller domes, but it feels like a city square, more a meeting place than a sacred space. 

The interior of the New Mosque is quieter than most of the historic mosques in the heart of the touristed Sultanahmet district. It isn’t high on the list of guidebook recommendations for Istanbul, mostly because the competition is so stiff. All the better. It is a welcome relief to step out of one of the busiest areas in the whole city and find a little peace under the soaring dome of the New Mosque.

The courtyard and the ablution fountain at the entrance of the New Mosque.

At the bottom of the central stairs, are half a dozen red booths sell plates of birdseed.  

Looking across the water and the Galata Bridge to the New Mosque

Soundscape

A short soundscape compilation from our recent trip to see classical sites: bells on one of the wrestling camels of Selcuk, Aegean coast waves near the Temple of Didyma, and the healing waters of Bergama's Asclepion.

Happy New Year

Friends

Today we are posting photos of all the sweet folks that have visited us in Istanbul so far, along with some of the new friends we have made here. Looking forward to many more visitors in 2011!

Colleen on the peak of Buyukada, Princes' Islands 

Mark and Bruno in Topkapi Palace
 

Julia's brother Paul on a carriage ride in Princes' Islands

Paul on the ferry
 

Bob and Dick on Istiklal Caddesi. Bob is our friend from Philly, and Dick is living here for the year.

 

Ulku (left) and her sister Arzu in Ortakoy, a beautiful neighborhood on the Bosphorus. We met Ulku through the Istanbul Fulbright Office.

Fellow Fulbrighters Aimee and Jordan.
 

Kris and Sarah on Princes' Island
 

Students from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts at Rustem Pasa Mosque:
Courtney, Kara, Ewa, Julia, Connie, Gibbs, Sinead, Lucia, Morgan, Galen and Shane

Dale at the Blue Mosque
 

Shane, Sarah and Dale in Taxsim Square

Christmas Decorations in Istanbul

We had been looking forward to a year away from the holiday music, shopping, decorations and expectations that usually mark our Decembers as Americans. While we are missing our families and friends even more this week than ever, we didn't at all miss the eight weeks of merchandizing that normally lead up to December 25th. Perhaps we will feel a twinge of regret as the year closes without carols and eggnog. But Istanbul, it turns out, is not totally devoid of holiday spirit. It is just done on a smaller scale and for a much shorter duration. 

In the past week, Santas, reindeers and Christmas trees have appeared. Some leave us nostalgic, and others make us laugh. But as we continued to point out decorations to each other, we realized that we weren’t such scrooges-at-heart after all.

Our Christmas will be spent visiting the classical sites of Ephesus and Pergamon, on Turkey’s Agean coast. We will be taking a break from the blog until we return to Istanbul next week. Until then, our warmest wishes for a very Merry Christmas.

Near the Egyptian Market 

Christmas Blend at the Starbucks
 

Santa selling lottery tickets on Istiklal Caddesi
 

 

This fiberglass bear, now even weirder in his Kris Kringle attire, is a permanent fixture over the entrance of an expensive hotel here.

Billboards over Taxsim Square 

Simit vendor in Taxsim Square. The extremely popular simit is kind of like a sesame bagel. 

Children's Art Biennial

Yesterday we taught an hour-and-a-half workshop at the Children’s Art Biennial, a volunteer opportunity that came through the American Consulate. This is the first year of this impressive, well-run event. Hundreds of kids from all over the city were bused to a large exhibition building in the same complex as the Istanbul Modern Art Museum. An extensive, professionally presented exhibition of children’s art filled the galleries, and students participated in hands on workshops. While we were there, we saw a traditional paper marbling class, and a drawing inspired by music workshop.

Our workshop was structured around Iznik tiles. The students saw images of Shane’s sculpture and the Islamic arabesque that inspired it. The presentation included images of the natural landscape around Iznik, and lots of images of the natural forms used in tile motifs: flowers, plants, birds, water and fruits. The students then made paper tiles that they composed into a large assemblage at the end of the class.

We began the class with fifteen students, but more students keep wandering in and joining the project, until the group had nearly doubled. These students were all around eleven years old, and extremely well behaved. They were an enthusiastic group and we had a great time with them.

Prepping for the lecture
 

The arabesque in Turkish ornament
 

Demonstrating the tecnique
 

Composing the field of tiles