Last 2 days in Istanbul

View of the Bosphorus from the European Side of Istanbul

View of the Bosphorus from the Asian side of Istanbul

In true Jess and Jacqueline style,  our last 2 days in Istanbul  have been treks all over the city. We had 2 and a half days left in Istanbul to get our fill of history,  Turkish sweets, cay, mosques, and shopping.  I know it's sacrilege in the realm of Istanbul tourism,  but the only  place we did not visit was the Aya Sofya.
We decided instead to cross the Bosphorus on the ferry to the Asian side and explore the Uskudar area which is known for its mosques.

Inside the Atik Valide Camii

First hiked uphill and visited the Atik Valide Camii (mosque) which was built by Mirmar Sinan. He is considered one of the greatest architects of mosques during the mid 1500s,  especially in Istanbul. He is also known for restoring the walls of Jerusalem in 1516 when it was an Ottoman city.

Ceiling of the Atik Valide

The Atik Valide was built for the mother of Ahmet III, and she was considered a master politician rising from concubine to a major player of the Ottoman court. The word mosque is an understatement for what we have seen the last 2 days. Really the mosques are compounds with courtyards and gardens,  with other buildings that used to be schools,  hospitals,  and gathering and washing areas.

Dripping glass chandelier

Sakirin Mosque,  built in 2009, was our second mosque of the day.  We stopped in to see the dripping glass chandelier.

Cemetery near Sakarin Camii

Then we walked miles and miles, from Uskudar to Kadikoy, down Tibbiye street.  This major avenue is dominated by Marmara University and a huge, imposing military complex that seemed to stretch for miles.  It was strange to see a military base in the center of the city, since in the US, bases are usually removed from urban centers.  However Turkey requires all men to serve at least 12 months after they turn 20, so the military affects most everyone in the country.  Our walk ended in Kadakoy and we wandered to the cafe area and drink Turkish coffee and read our books.

Marmara University in the background

Suleymanye Mosque

View into the courtyard of Suleymanye Mosque

Yesterday we saw the Suleymanye Mosque,  which is considered Sinan's greatest work. It was built between 1550 and 1557 on one of the  tallest hills in Istanbul, so it stands above the city.

Istanbul Modern

Istanbul Modern

Cafes near the harbor on the way
to  Istanbul Modern

The best part of our day was visiting the Istanbul Modern. It was an awesome modern art museum, modeled after the Tate Modern, a re purposed warehouse over looking a river.  It only exhibits Turkish art, from the 1800s to contemporary art. Many Turkish artist studied fine arts in Europe, so the influence was apparent, however the subject matter was new and beautiful to me. The space was bright,  wide, and displayed the huge canvases stunningly,  and you can see the turquoise Bosphorus from all over the museum. The Istanbul Modern also had a huge amount of space devoted to video and other multimedia forms of art. After art, we did our shopping in the Beyoglu and Galata section of town and made one last stop for Baklava at Karakoy Gulluoglu.

Ci kofte for dinner from Ali Usta and his alleyway setup

I am exhausted from our never ending walk, so that's all for today and for Turkey.  We return to Texas tomorrow.