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Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cats. Show all posts

Tuesday, 23 June 2015

Agva: Black Sea, Caves and Beaches

Agva is a neighbourhood of Sile. Agva and Sile in general lets you to escape the city, even if you're still in the confines of Istanbul. It has cosy restaurants, beaches, caves... Who wants anything more for the weekend?

Many civilizations have settled Agva since 7th century. There are even Roman ruins in some of the surrounding villages. Agva means "water" and "the village between to streams" in Latin. Goksu Stream is one of the most remarkable geographical feature.

The stream pours into Black Sea.
There are many things you can do at Agva. You can walk around the centre, sit at the restaurants, be friends with lovely cats, swim (of course, if the weather is fine), and tour around with motorboats.

One of the caves is on the left.
There are two ways to make a boat tour. You can either choose to go along the stream or along the caves. For the latter, the boats will sail into the Black Sea. If the weather conditions aren't favourable, the captain will let you know. This tour takes about fifteen minutes and it is worth every second.

The fifteen minute tour was 50 TL for boat in 2014. I don't know the current price, but I think the logic is still the same. So, the more crowded you are, the more advantageous you are. One boat can carry 6-8 people.

You can also rent motorboats to visit some other coves, caves and falls that can only be reached via the sea.

Looks like a scene from the Lord of the Rings
You can go to Agva with car easily. So, if possible, try renting a car. There are also bus lines available. You can go to Uskudar or Umraniye for the hourly bus services. It takes 2-2,5 hours to Agva. First stop is Sile central. The buses are more crowded on weekends, so make your plan accordingly.

The right ligthhouse and the beach behind.

Cihangir: Cafes, Streets and Cats

Cihangir is a neighbourhood at Beyoglu. Its neighbours are Taksim Square, Siraselviler Street, Kazanci Slope, Salipazari and Findikli. It has a very lively history. Lately, it is one of the favourite places of intellectuals, artists and expats in Istanbul. There are many cosy cafés, lovely houses and spectacular views.

The view from Cihangir

History


There isn't much about the history of Cihangir before Ottoman Empire. However, some ruins that were found on the steep hill are supposed to be of a pagan temple or an early Christian monastary. The first document about the neighbourhood tells that some "nasty" men and women were staying there.

When the son of Suleiman the Magnificent and Roxelana (Hurrem Sultan), Cihangir died, they had Mimar Sinan build a mosque over the old religious ruins in 1559-1560. The neighbourhood took its name from the mosque.

Unfortunately Cihangir had its share of Istanbul fires. All the wooden buildings burnt down, so locals didn't build wooden houses any more (I have seen a wooden house there, but it is one of the exceptions). The new buildings were masonry. At the beginning of 20th century, the locals were comprised of Greeks, Armenians and Jews. After 1920's, Belarussian immigrants settled here.

Cihangir Mosque

Cihangir had degenerated in 1960's parallel with Taksim. Later, with the renovations in 1980's, it became one of the most desired neighbourhoods in Istanbul. Today, it flocked with writers, actors, artists and musicians.

In Cihangir, there was one big state hospital, Taksim Ilk Yardim (First Aid), but it is now in Gaziosmanpasa, which is kilometers away! The famous private hospital, Alman Hastanesi (German Hospital) was also closed recently.


I think the best way to go Cihangir is to walk either from Taksim or from Findikli. There are more than lovely houses, narrow streets, cosy cafés and elegant restaurants: cute, friendly cats. Turkish way to call a cat is "pisi pisi". Most of them will come closer when you call them.

Friday, 1 May 2015

Istanbul Military Museum: Big, Detailed Museum with a Lovely Yard



Istanbul Military Museum is a big museum at Harbiye. It has a lovely yard with cats and flowers. We even saw two green wild parrot on a tree. We hadn't been inside the museum before. We decided just to take a look at it and after 3-4 hours we had walked our feed off. So, we advise you to take your time and to leave your baggage somewhere if you can.

The museum covers an area of 54.000 m2 and the museum building is 18.600 m2. It was build in 1862 for the purpose of education officers for the army. Abdulhamit II had it built. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk was a student of this school for some time, you can visit his figurative class inside. The building was used as a school until 1936, and as corps headquarters until 1964.

In 1964, the decision was made to turn it into a museum. Its restoration was started in 1966 and was finished in 1991. Many spatial and functional changes were made. These changes made the building somehow different both inside and outside than the older building that was used as a military school. I don't know what it looked like before, but it looks fine now.

The building was originally Aya Irini Church, and  when Fatih conquered "Constantinople", he turned it into armoury. The remains, some of which were ancient, were protected. So it can be said that first museum activities started then. The artifacts were carried to Nigde on the account of World War II. Then it was brought back to Macka Armoury, which now belongs to Istanbul Technical University. Today they are in Cinili Kosk, inside Istanbul Archaelogical Museum complex.

Inside the Museum




First of all (and normally) it is a very patriotic museum. The first floor begins with ancient Turkish history: Huns (who I equate with Vikings in terms of the active pnosition of women in migrant settler society), Gokturks (with an interesting alphabet) and Uyghurs (whose grand-grandchildren are still living in China). You can observe the migratory roots. There is a statue of Attila the Hun.

Then comes the Seljuks. I like their art. They are in between Turkish Shamanism and Islam. Normally, Islam forbids paintings and statues. But the Seljuks were in a transition period. Their art includes lion statues, story depictions etc. There are many traces of Seljuks around Turkey. You can watch the slide on the screen and see their pictures. Unfortunately you won't see Istanbul among those, because they couldn't make it to Istanbul at that time.



There are many things about the Ottomans, and there should be considering the period of time they reigned (1299-1922). You'll see things about the conquest of Istanbul. The steps and the wars that lead to Turkish republic are also exhibited in various rooms. You can visit the figurative class of Ataturk. You can see him discuss with his friends during The War of Independence.

The museum is also rich of statues and artifacts, such as men on horses, study tables, an old car (that witnessed and assassination of one of its passengers), and on the second floor guns and arms of every kind. For your information: Everyday at 15.00-16.00, you can watch the jannissary band perform.

Outside the Museum




The yard of the Istanbul Military Museum is very pleasant. There are trees and flowers. There are artifacts such as a real military helicopter and a real big cannon. Cats wander around and most of them are very friendly. One of them was so friendly that it accomponied us until we went into the museum building.

The museum today is a building complex with some newer additional buildings, but the yellow building you'll see is only newer than the museum building. It has actually Ottoman tughra and inscriptions on it. After you exit the complex, walk towards Nisantasi and visit Sanatcilar Park, which is a minute walk away. There you'll find the most comfortable cats, kittens and dogs of Istanbul.

Thursday, 20 November 2014

Cuteness Alert! Cats of Istanbul

Cats of Istanbul is one of the first things you'll realize, even before the sights. Cats are a characteristic of Istanbul. You can see cats at any corner and at any street. Most of these cats are very friendly (as our blog is) and let you to stroke their heads and backs.

If you visit Istanbul you are lucky in two ways: you'll see the judas trees bloom and new kittens walk around. Every spring I feel like going crazy when I see those cuties. I visit particularly Nisantasi Demokrasi Park for feline reasons.



I have dozens of photos that I had difficulty to filter out. Some cats are more friendly, some cats run away. But what they have in common is that they are all so photogenic! So, unfortunately I can only share a few of them.

1. Nisantasi cats


These are my favourites. As I mentioned above, there are always new cats wandering every spring. Nisantasi residents are very nice to cats. Cats here have specially built residences, I would say "feline villas". They are never hungry thanks to generous people who bring cat food every day.



You can see these comfortable cats at Nisantasi Demokrasi Park, at the yard of Harbiye Military Museum and Cultural Center Commend and at the streets. Some kittens are taken home by the dwellers.

A cat selfie?

2. Bosphorus cats


By Bosphorus cats I actually mean Bosphorus University cats. Most cats are under the care and protection of academicians. The cats wanter in and out of the faculties. It's very common to attend a lecture with a cat on the chair next to you :)

Bosphorus University is founded on a vast area and has a garden covered with grass. If I were a cat, I would deem it the heaven on earth. The students are also mostly cat lovers. They share their foods and spend times with the cats.



You can come across these cuties everywhere, but unfortunately some people are hard on the cats and most drivers are careless of them (and of other animals, and humans). You can take a wounded cat to a veterinary or if it is extremely afraid, you can make it feel safe.
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