‘One night we leapt the Wall of love, Where I fell was so clear so open, You and the universe at my side.’ Can Yücel
I have always thought of İstanbul as a very feminine city due to Bosphorus that softens all its aggressive tonality one can observe in daily life. Bosphorus turns İstanbul into a city of water with all its rich associations of fluidity, calmness and serenity. Even the most aggressive İstanbulite is turned on by the beauty of this majestic waterway that divides as well as unites the city. It is this waterway that makes İstanbul one of the most romantic cities in the world.
İstanbul has always been a city of romance even during the Ottoman Era where the sexes were segregated in all walks of life. Even then. eros was able to find its way from under the veils to send its arrows. Sadabad which was called the sweet waters of İstanbul was the secret meeting ground for lovers who would send one another subtle messages through dropping a handkerchief or giving away secret love letters through a confidante. The promenades along and boat trips through the Kağıthane river up until the Golden Horn is pure nostalgia now as the nature as well as the spirit of the era have been completely transformed.
But eros is still finding its ways to wound lovers with its arrow and unite them in completely different ways in contemporary İstanbul.
If you are in İstanbul for the St. Valentine’s day, try to spare a table at a restaurant overlooking the Bosphorus to watch one of the most beautiful sceneries in the world and imagine that this city was ruled not only by emperors and sultans but also by their beloved empresses and sultanas for centuries. Don’t forget that it was in this city Suleiman the Magnificent wrote one of the most beautiful love poems for his beloved wife Hürrem and it was in this city, the Roman Emperor Justinians changed Roman law in order to be able to marry his beloved Theodora and it is this city that is the ‘guardian’ to the oldest love poem in history written 4000 years ago by his bride to the Sumerian King!
I want to end with a beautiful love song composed by a renowned musician Melih Kibar for his beloved Çiğdem Talu who wrote the lyrics of the song. The name of the song that was released in 1980 is ‘Everything is Beautiful with You‘. As a tragic twist of fate, these lovers could never unite but left us one of most beautiful love songs in Turkish musical history.
