Ancient Mediterranean Antiquities

Starting in Istanbul

September 26. 2024

Fun Facts - Istanbul:

• Istanbul has seven hills, just like Rome, except that each of Istanbul's hills is topped by a mosque.

• Agatha Christie wrote "Murder on the Orient Express" at the Pera Hotel in Istanbul

• Istanbul used to be called Constantinople, and it is NOT the capital of Turkey, Ankara is.

We made it to Istanbul! Mostly the trip was easy and flights were on time. A little tired but looking forward to learning about a new area of the world.

Doing our city tour today, we learned a lot about the city and its history. For example, we were unaware of how many Sultans had ruled over Turkey, with the last one ruling until 1922. We also discovered that the number of minarets on a mosque depends on who sponsored or paid for the construction. If a minister paid, there is one minaret; if a Sultan or Sultan's family member paid, there were at least two minarets or as many as six.

Following are some highlights of our tour-

A Cat's Life

Turkish culture views street animals as communally owned pets rather than traditional strays, and there is a no-kill, no-capture policy in 2021 that stated pets and stray animals (including dogs) were given "living being" status. There are approximately 125,000 stray cats in Istanbul. Residents frequently place food and water containers in front of their houses to feed stray cats.

Geology Rocks!

The city of Istanbul spans two continents: Asia and Europe! And it is the only city in the world that spans both the Asian and European continents.  The city is divided by the Bosphorus Straight, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara, and which forms a continental boundary. Residents of Istanbul live on both sides of the Bosphorus Straight, with a little over 30% or approximately 5.6 million people, living on the Asian side. The Asian side is more residential and more modern, while the European side includes old Istanbul and more of the business areas, as well as the better known tourist sites such as the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia, and the Grand Bazaar. Approximately 2 million people commute from the Asian to European side to work each day.

Here are three places in the world where continental plates meet in a way that is easily visible.

Bosphorus Straight, Turkey: meeting of the Asian and European plates

Iceland: meeting of the North American and European plates:

San Andreas Fault line in California: meeting of the Pacific plate and the North American plate:

Hagia Sophia

The Hagia Sophia is a beautiful, very large complex of buildings with a large central area with a rounded dome top surrounded by minarets and created in the Byzantine style. Hagia Sophia started as a Mosque, was transformed to a Greek Orthodox Church, and then a Latin Catholic church, and then finally changed back to a Mosque again over its 1500 year history. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The site is beautiful inside and out.

Grand Bazaar

And finally, we visited the Grand Bazaar! This is one of the largest inside bazaars in the world, with over 4,000 shops, featuring jewelry, glassware, metal works, clothing, accessories, Turkish Delight, and Turkish Rugs. Unbelievable, we didn't buy a single thing!

Tomorrow we will travel to Troy, one of the most famous archeological sites in the world! It's also the setting for the legendary Trojan War in Homer's epic poems - the "Illiad"and "Odessey." Will we see the Trojan Horse???? Stay tuned and check our blog tomorrow to find out!