Istanbul – City
Centre on the Bosporus
The
visitor to
Istanbul has not only museums and well
known historic and natural sights
available to him. There is also an
extremely exciting night life as well as
many chances for shopping, especially
for silver, copper and gold jewellery
and, of course, carpets. Nearly
everything is possible in Istanbul. So,
on the following pages, we will give you
some ideas.
Big cities offer the best chance to see
and try all the different variations of
Turkish cooking. Excellent experienced,
traditional restaurants are ready to
serve you. A traditional Turkish meal
together with friends or members of the
family can last up to 5 hours. You will
get a rich selection of different
starters (meze) followed by a main
course. Informal conversation begins in
an open and friendly atmosphere and
normally leads to the telling of poems
and stories about the good old times
while all the time the national drink
?Raki? is served in huge amounts. You
always should take your time when eating
out in a good restaurant. Turkish
cooking, with its variety, taste and
uniqueness, is comparable to French or
Chinese cooking.
Big Cities of the Ottoman Empire
Huge Turkish towns consist of old parts,
modern parts and the outskirts and
settlements which have developed around
the town. Most visitors prefer to
discover the old parts in the centre,
which are mainly divided into areas of
specific handcrafts. So there are areas
for copper craftsmen, hat and
shoemakers, tailors, spice and tool
sellers, basket makers and broom makers.
From Belgrade to Damascus the big cities
of the Ottoman Empire had be separated
into several districts for
administrative purposes. In these
districts, different groups - quite
often ethnic or religious minorities -
would live and work. These quarters were
joined together for local services like
the fire brigade, police and local
government. In the centre of the old
part people would meet by the
administration buildings and religious
meeting points to gather and discuss
'current affairs' or just to relax.
In the centres of the old towns,
churches and synagogues, mosques and
other educational establishments were
built close together. Today, the modern
areas of towns look the same all over
the world with their skyscrapers and
luxury shops. They do in Turkey as well.
However, the introduction of apartment
blocks has brought many big changes into
the lives of Turkish people.
The close relationship of contact from
house to house has changed into contact
from flat to flat or floor to floor. The
once small, one-to-three storey
buildings with their surrounding gardens
have had to make way for huge
skyscrapers where ten to fifteen
families now live all together - and
Turkish families are huge! This has led
to problems, like how to share the costs
for heating or repairs, which, quite
often, can lead to problems even within
the same family. Within three decades, a
system of living with different laws,
regulations and administrative methods
had to be established. This is still
complicated, even today. Life in these
communities is quite often shown on
Turkish TV and in sketches. An old
traditional phrase, which has become
more true than ever says: “Before buying
a new home, win the neighbour”