This is the interior of the six-domed Piyale Paşa Camii, designed by master Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, and constructed from 1565-1573 (although there has been some restoration since). The multiple-dome layout is unusual for a mosque, as they most commonly have a single, large central dome. This mosque has a nice courtyard, affording a little green space to the ultra-urban Istanbul landscape, as well as extensive vegetable gardens next to the mosque complex (which look like what we call community gardens, but I have no idea how this works in Istanbul). An exterior shot and more information can be found here.
Month: September 2014
Another day, another ney
This older gentleman was playing ney on Istiklal Avenue, a major pedestrian thoroughfare in the Beyoğlu district. There will likely be more audio postings from Istiklal, as it is a lively place.
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Ney in the Metro
This is a ney player in the Ayrılık Çeşmesi Metro station on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. The ney is an end-blown flute found in the music of the Middle East, Turkey and Iran.
Giant cabbages
These cabbages were in the Sunday market on Oğuz street in the Mecidiyiköy district of Istanbul. The word for market and Sunday is the same in Turkish: pazar. Isn’t there a rule about not eating anything larger than your own head?
Oğuz street market
Vendor calls from the Sunday market on Oğuz Sokak (street). My ten minute stroll through this block-long market has been compressed here into about a minute and a half.
Street art
Fish seller
Live from the Kadıköy market.
Dogs
There are plenty of dogs in Istanbul (cats, too, but that’ll wait for another entry). The dogs that I have seen on the streets are not what might be called feral, they are more socialized. They don’t roam in packs. I imagine there are feral dogs in the city, but it seems that the dogs I’ve seen are at least tolerated, and in some cases fed. It is more like they are neighborhood dogs, mostly lounging about. Istanbul has had a dog ‘situation’ since Ottoman times. This dog has been tagged. This indicates that the dog has been captured, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, then released again. You can read more about Istanbul’s dogs here. (Just for the record, the only dachshund I’ve seen was on a leash).