What makes Istanbul eternal? Think of a city with a history of 8000 years. A city that has been home to Greeks, Romans, Ottomans and now the Turks of the modern Turkish Republic situated on two different continents: Asia and Europe. A city carrying all the memories of its ancestral past with the cultural diversity of east and west with all its blessings and challenges.
Think of a city which has welcomed Vikings from the north as the guards of the Eastern Roman Empire who were amazed to see such a big city and called it Miklagord which means the “big village” referencing the only thing they knew: their own villages.
Venetian Palace – Interior
A city where Casanova – the Italian Romeo of all time – visited and stayed at the Venetian Palace during the 18th century.
A city that has been a home to incredibly diverse cultures. A city that has welcomed the white Russians after the Bolshevik Revolution, Jewish academicians who fled the Nazi Germany. A city Ernest Hemingway reported from during the 2nd World War, where the famous American writer James Baldwin took refuge while fleeing racism in US. A city that has been a home to hippies in the 1960s-1970s who stayed in Sultanahmet on their way to Kathmandu, where they hoped to find eternal peace and freedom.
This is Istanbul: multifaceted, multilayered and multicultural. A city where each of its past residents left their memories, traditions, colors, and tastes. We live among the richness that they have left behind! Now, Now, I am here to share what I was fortunate to discover!