With St. Valentine’s on our door step, it is time to talk about what the city has got to offer for a day dedicated to ‘love’. St. Valentine’s Day has been the ‘hype’ of the city in recent decades as more and more women want to be treated special on the day and men are catching up with the demand.
Although Turkey is a predominantly Muslim country, St. Valentine’s Day seems to have trespassed all borders uniting us with the ‘bond of love’.
Istanbul is a romantic city by nature so it is one of the best cities in the world to celebrate a day dedicated to romantic love, especially in a spot overlooking the Bosphorus or near the Bosphorus.
Note that almost all luxury hotels and premium restaurants have St. Valentine’s day menus or special events. Check out hotels such as the Four Seasons by the Bosphorus, Ciragan Palace Kempinski, Pera Palace, Mandarin Oriental or restaurants such as Divan Kurucesme, Sunset, Feriye Lokantasi, Tarihi Liman Restaurant for their special St. Valentine’s menus or roof top restaurants like Mikla or the 360 in Beyoglu.
Or if you want something more humble, check out the cafes and restaurants in Galataport such as Kirpi or Cook Shop.
If you prefer something more cosy, the city has options for you as well such as the Divan Brasserie in Bebek or Gazebo in Yenikoy.
Four Seasons Bosphorus – the building used to be an Ottoman Palace. The hotel also has a wonderful spa, perfect for St. Valentine’s day.
The indoor swimming pool of Four Seasons inside the spa
Ciragan Palace Kempinski Hotel which used to be another Ottoman Palace by the Bosphorus
View of the Feriye Restaurant – The main building was one of the sea side Ottoman palaces
Sunset Restaurant
Gazebo in Yenikoy
Or consider a live music performance for the evening. If you like Jazz, Nardis Jazz Club is an option in Galata, If you like or consider a Turkish pop concert, check out the famous Turkish singer Yasar’s concert at Jolly Joker in Beyoglu.
Nardis Jazz Club
Jolly Joker Beyoglu
For gifts and flowers, check out my articles on Objects of Desire.
And what about the experience of romantic love in the Turkish culture? I have searched many poems and love songs to offer a good example of how Turks experience romantic love. In the end what I found was longing and grief in older poems and songs and a sense of ‘void’ and superficiality in new ones. But here is a song composed of a love poem by the famous Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet. The love poem was written by Nazim Hikmet for his lover and future wife Piraye.
Poet Nazim Hikmet and Piraye 1930s
Karsu sings it beautifully. The name of the song (poem) is ‘how beautiful it is to think of you’.
Let’s end with two of my most favourite tango dancers who have visited Istanbul many times for the annual tango festival. It is for those who are wondering what true love is!
