The Trip

Of course I knew from history at school that Byzantium was the city on the Bosporus straits that the Emperor Constantine had adopted as the new capital of the Roman Empire; so that it became known as Constantinople. I also knew that the sacking of Constantinople is credited by some historians as the trigger for the Renaissance in Europe. On a trip years before I had visited Ephesus and at different times traveled in Italy, Spain and Greece. And I had long known, thanks to the song, that Constantinople was now Istanbul.

Thanks to Anzac day I also knew about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who had somehow been transformed over the years from a demon, who fought off the Anzacs; to a saviour, who removed the Ottomans; established democracy and the Republic; and undertook the secularisation of Turkey.

When I finally got to Istanbul I was surprised to find a cosmopolitan city about as frightening as Sydney or New York. Going to the infamous Grand Bazaar for the first time I was careful not to take my wallet and to leave my watch in the hotel. Of course Wendy loved the place so we went there several more times accepting apple tea from the stallholders and a bargaining for this and that. Soon we treated it like a trip to Paddy’s Market in Sydney or the Victoria Markets in Melbourne.

In hindsight we may have got better value for money elsewhere, but with a bit of bargaining we didn’t do too badly and it is certainly not a ‘den of thieves’. As in most markets worldwide, when you have made a bargain and agreed a price you can quite happily let a stall holder disappear with a large note and expect him to return with the correct change.

Turkey has a secular constitution and although most of the population is Muslim religious expression in government is discouraged. We were there during Ramadan but were still able to get food during the day and eat it in public cafes and restaurants and there were numerous Turks doing the same. In Istanbul many women wear headscarves and some wear veils, but quite a few young Turkish women do not cover their heads. It is good to be in Istanbul during Ramadan. After sunset every night an enormous party starts with food stalls music and real dervishes; the ones who whirl for an hour or more.

The situation is quite different in the country. When we drove to the Dardanelles and Gallipoli there was no food on offer, nor restaurant or café open, except for a motorway Burger King where even the staff looked darkly at us, their only customers.

There are some remarkable buildings in Istanbul. At the point of the old city is the Topkapi Palace; the old fortified palace of the Ottomans, for 400 years. It is amazingly well preserved and very beautiful with some outstanding buildings including the treasury which still contains some of the imperial jewels and personal effects of the Prophet.

On the European side of the Bosporus is the new Dolmabahçe Palace completed in 1856 that has echoes of Versailles in its grandness, rich appointments and design. At the time it was built it was one of the most expensive buildings in the world (costing 35 tonnes of gold coin). It features massive amounts of architectural crystal as well as solid gold fittings.

There are several expressions of fraternal goodwill from the other sovereigns of pre World War One Europe. Queen Victoria was particularly effusive.

Among its furnishings today is the last resting place of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk; the bed he died in.

Both of these palaces have a family living area or harem and a public area for receptions and government. As in North Africa, India and China the harem was populated entirely by woman and eunuchs and was managed by the mother of the Sultan. A number of wives and concubines provided the Sultan with an heir; and presumably companionship; entertainment; and numerous other uxorious delights.

Excess sons were shipped out at puberty and occasionally, even frequently, murdered either by a conniving woman hoping to be the new queen mother; by younger brothers to advance their position; or by the heir apparent out of fear of a usurper. Survival of the fittest. At Topkapi there are some 400 rooms in the harem, but the newer palace has only half that number; possibly a sign of declining Ottoman vigour? In 1924 this 624 year old tradition was overthrown with the establishment of the Turkish Republic.