Istanbul: tea among the graves on the hill of Eyüp

For: Ricardo Coarasa (text and photos)
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[tab:Travel]

Istanbul is a city without parallel, with countless reasons to visit. With one foot in Asia and one in Europe, is full of tourist postcards. But without detracting from its popular mosques and the Grand Bazaar, my predilections point in another direction: the Asian district of Uskudar and Eyüp Cemetery.

The soul of Istanbul by the Bosphorus stealth browsing. You have to look in the water to try to peer into the depth of this unique city millennial, an elusive maiden courted by two continents, Europe and Asia. I think the historical weight of the old Byzantium, of ancient Constantinople (sometimes heaviness, as Istanbul exudes a certain resignation to the impossibility of facing such a glorious past) as I speak, aboard a ferry, to Uskudar, Maybe the Asian district with more idiosyncrasy of this "labyrinth of human ant, of cemeteries, of ruins, of loneliness ", as defined by the Italian writer Edmondo De Amicis.
I've uploaded the ship at the dock Eminomu, together with Galata Bridge, another icon of the Turkish city. The night has already fallen on Istanbul and navigate, amid a tremendous gust of wind, cold and rough, on dark waters that command respect. Posada on them on an island in a miraculous way stands Leandro tower. Built in Byzantine times, is said to have served as a support to the iron chain that closed the Bosphorus to the ships were not welcome.

On this tower circulates a disturbing legend: the harbinger of a guess Constantine warned that his daughter would die by snake bite. The Emperor, frightened, sent up the tower in the middle of the Bosphorus and became the home of her daughter, but in a basket with grapes he was told to eat the snake was hiding that he would fulfill the prophecy. The bite, as the witch had warned, was fatal. Therefore, the tower is popularly known as "Kiz Kulesi" (the tower of the girl). Where does, then, Leandro name? Its origin is mythological and refers to how Leander swam across the Hellespont (Current Dardanelles, rather further south) to meet with his beloved Hero.

The wailing of the muezzin

As we approached our destination hears the muezzin singing the "adhan", the last call to prayer of the day. Just put one foot in Uskudar, where were leaving the pilgrims going to Mecca, Xenophon the enclave where he arrived with the survivors of the 10.000 way of Byzantium, I bumped into the mosque of the Sultana Mihrimah, built in 1547 in honor of the sister of Suleiman the Magnificent. In the courtyard, a group of worshipers washed their feet and hands in a circular fountain. Women are shadows of which only reveals its eyes. "What will they think of his young compatriots thongs and painted nails that grow up in areas of modern Istanbul?», I write in my notebook.

The streets of Uskudar, dark and labyrinthine, of old wooden houses yearning for better times, public toilets and bustling markets, walk is smooth and hassles. The visitor feels at home here, stranger among strangers, imbued with the pleasant feeling of walking aimlessly around corners "by which that spirit still roams black and white" of the old Istanbul, in the words of Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, prize Nobel of Literature. In the market stalls all worth millions of Turkish lira (Currency depreciation worthy of an African country). UN keel of tomates, Without going any further, costs more 1,2 million lire.

But if there is a special place in Istanbul this is the Pierre Loti cafe, in the hilly district of Eyüp, an exceptional view of the Golden Horn surrounded by graves, because the cemetery spreads downhill. "That wonderful dream-wrote Eastern Cotton on Eyüp-, that its authenticity both liked Pierre Loti (…) to me I have always found repulsive by its unadulterated perfection ". For the Nobel Prize, born and raised in Istanbul, this neighborhood is "a sort of Disneyland-eastern Turkish-Muslim". But keep in mind that just does not sympathize with Pamuk Loti, whom he considers one of many writers who were in Istanbul "which had previously read", because "no one had the slightest intention of being a disappointment". "They keep repeating how beautiful, misses him, how wonderful and how special it is Istanbul ", complained. The need to perpetuate certain myths Western, again.

Among tombs

A cable car leaves you very close to the terrace cotizadísima, but we prefer to walk up, between houses and sickly half-built houses, flanked by dogs sniff our trail with tongue out. The restaurant is named after the French writer Julien Viaud and marine, alias Pierre Loti,who came here in search of the Muses who encouraged his literary. Sit back and enjoy a leisurely tea, with the Golden Horn to your feet and the European Istanbul in front, is one of those magical moments that linger on any trip.

among the graves of steles erect with pride in the shade of cypress trees overlooking the sea, "The manner of soldiers deployed in guerrilla", wrote De Amici

When down, do it for the trail that runs the Muslim cemetery, among the graves of steles erect with pride in the shade of cypress trees overlooking the sea, "The manner of soldiers deployed in guerrilla", wrote De Amicis, for whom "anywhere else in Istanbul is best explained as gracefully or Muslim art". It is a journey that reminds us that we are in Asia, one step away from old Europe, but in Asia the end of the day.

Once at the pier, decided to get on a ferry to return to the dock Eminomu, one of those boats that travel with parsimony as the Golden Horn and the Bosporus stopping alternately on both shores (a kind of sea transport). It is the best way to review the palaces of the Sultans, the rundown summer residences, to the haunting "Yalis» (Ottoman wooden houses), mosques as Suleiman the Magnificent, with its four minarets observing everything.

In the narrowest part of the Bosphorus, just 700 meters between the two shores, joined by Mehmet Bridge- is the point where it 2.500 years, the Persian emperor Darius crossed the Bosphorus on a bridge supported on barges, to meet his campaign helena. Far to the south, in the Straits of Dardanelles, the ancient Hellespont, other Persian chief, Xerxes, ordered the sea whip, who even threw shackles, angry because the waters had destroyed the precarious bridge was laid between Asia and Europe, a wonderful story that takes Herodotus in his monumental 'Stories'.
The boat is entertaining too and the plane back to Spain just off within four hours, so after an hour sailing from shore to shore, we have no choice but to get off at the pier in Uskudar to try to catch a taxi to take us quickly to the European, where the hotel. The trial allows us to reach the airport just in time. The getaway, course, it deserves.

[tab:the way]
Major airlines offer direct flights to Istanbul. The offer is wide in all seasons.

[tab:a nap]
For those who can afford it, the Pera Palace (recently rehabilitated) a whim (evening out by 200 EUR). It is the oldest hotel in Turkey and a legend, for their stay here, among others, Agatha Christie, Mata Hari, Hemingway, Greta Garbo y Trotsky.
But apart from that given away this luxury, take a trip to the hotel, if only to admire the elegant elevator or a beer on the terrace Orient Bar, with magnificent views of the Golden Horn.

[tab:a table set]
Faced with more tourist options such as the Galata Tower, recommend wander through some of the restaurants under the Galata bridge. Prices are affordable and sunsets, priceless. Then walk across the bridge, Bosphorus breathe moisture and paste the string with the fishermen, even at dawn, stand guard with his cane resting on the railing. In aluminum cans are small bonfires on grilled fish and vegetables that can be eaten on the spot accompanied by a cold pilsner. And for dessert, a tulumbas (caramel Churros).

[tab:highly recommended]
-Despite being a Muslim country, Istanbul is a lively nightlife on the European. In the district of Beyoglu, behind the 'Pera Palace », enter into any "meyhane» (tavern) o bar y échese al coleto un raki, traditional liquor. On the streets of Imam Adnan Sokak, Istiklal, Cicek and adjacent Pasaj several trendy. The clubs close at six o'clock and bottles (the gossips have it imported by the Spanish) can also be seen in some places (yes, without the presence of women).
-Two books above all: "Istanbul. Memories and the City ", de Orhan Pamuk, and "Constantinople", of Edmondo De Amicis.

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Comments (6)

  • Ainhoa

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    Istanbul is always wonderful. The two proposals seem sensible to me. Course, is a city that subjugates the traveler.

    Answer

  • Lorena Lobato

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    Wonderful article. What has brought me good memories! Reading it was almost like going back to visit.

    Answer

  • Mary

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    Hello. I would like to indicate how to reach the coffee. My hotel is in the Sultanahmet area. Thank you very much.
    Also appreciate some advice to see whirling dervishes.

    Answer

  • ricardo Coarasa

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    Hello Mary: coffee is on top of the hill of Eyüp. You have to take a ferry, I remember that in the spring Eminomu, to Eyüp. You can climb to the top by cable car or on foot, as I did. There is an interesting mosque down the road in a place with lots of charm. You can not miss.
    As for the dervishes, I saw them at a show in Galata Tower, tourist place where there, but surely there are other less popular sites. Sorry I can not help the matter. Greetings and enjoy Istanbul (do not forget to go to Uskudar and get lost in its streets and markets)

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