Fatih, which is one of the districts where conservatism is most intense in Istanbul, embodies a different structure, which is shaped around Fatih Mosque. After the conquest of Istanbul, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, built the mosque on top of the remains of the Havariyyun Church (the Holy Apostles Church), considered highly sacred to Rome.
The value of coffee and tea in human life cannot be underestimated. The plants that produce these commodities are not grown in every country, but it is known that tea was first used in China about 2000 years ago BC, and generally, British society is known for its tea. But the Turks also deserve credit! Turks have a Turkish tea …
Imagine boarding a train in Istanbul and riding it all the way to Madine across Anatolia, through war affected Syria, past the rose red city of Petra in Jordan and into the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. For a brief window in history, this journey was real. And now, more than a century later, it may be possible again. In …
Wars live on through their battles, commanders, and body counts. Rarely, though, do we stop to recall the soldiers who said no men who looked across a rifle barrel and chose not to pull the trigger. Not because they were cowards. Because they saw a human being on the other side. In the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922, one such group …
Women in Istanbul protested the high cost of living and the shortage of meat for the first time on 13 May 1808. They marched to the house of the Istanbul Qadi (chief judge), waving poles with pieces of liver -the cheapest meat at the time- tied to the ends, along with empty pots and pans they had grabbed, as a …
In the autumn of 1865, two Ottoman corvettes – Bursa and İzmir – set sail from Istanbul on a mission that should have been unremarkable: a long but well-charted voyage around the Cape of Africa to reach Basra in the Persian Gulf. The Suez Canal had not yet been opened, so the route demanded sailing the full length of the Atlantic. Aboard …
Sultan Abdulhamid II, who took his personal passion for carpentry a step further after ascending to the throne, practically turned introducing and teaching Western-style furniture across the empire into a state policy. From Traditional Interiors to Western-style Furniture In the Ottoman Empire, which had sustained its traditional interior design identity for centuries, modernization brought a rupture: there was now a …
As the sun sets during Ramadan, a powerful sound breaks the silence: a cannon fires, signaling that it is time to break the fast. The iftar cannon tradition is more than a timekeeping method: it is a ritual rooted in history, empire, and communal identity. But where did this dramatic Ramadan custom begin? The exact origin of the Ramadan cannon …
The concept of time is both directly relevant to human life and broad enough to evade universal definitions. Our perception of time relates to the dimensions we interact with, creating multiple and differing understandings. Muslims ground their understanding of time in the Qur’an and the Sunnah. Let’s discover Saatnâme: manuals of Islamic timekeeping. God’s swearing by “time” in the Qur’an …
Every year on July 1st, Turkey observes Cabotage Day: a commemoration that many overlook or misunderstand. While most associate it with simple maritime festivities or boat races, the roots of this national day dig deep into Turkey’s struggle for sovereignty and economic independence. Cabotage Day is far more than a nautical celebration; it is the embodiment of Turkey’s reclaiming of its …