“Turkey 🇹🇷 ~Boating Day on the Golden Horn and The Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul”
After the days of rains, came a beautiful sunny Sunday, just in time to enjoy a private boating afternoon with new found friends. It was a great honor to be included in this excursion. With so many people to share the expense of the private option, its as perfect! We also found ourselves in excellent company, with loverly, and fun people, not to mention the activities on the water, seen, around the colorful city of Istanbul; both in Europe and in Asia. the scene is mean to be experienced, more than once, because its that wonderful!
As the sun began setting, we were done boating, then heading for dinner at our favorite place near the golden Horn; Anemas Cafe. We enjoyed further conversations, and a great meal, till way past dark. All too soon, with those who had the Monday work week beginning, the party broke up and everybody slipped into the night, heading for their slumbers, after a wonderful day.
There are two legends that explain the adjective “Golden” used in the name of the waterway. According to the first legend, the Byzantines threw so many valuables into it during the Ottoman Conquest, that the waters glistened with gold.
The second, and more plausible story, says that name is given because of the gold light that seemingly comes out of the river when the sun goes down.
We are still experiencing hot weather during the day, but it is cooling off in the night
The Golden Horn is a vaguely horn-shaped estuary that leads right into the heart of the city. This quiet anchorage would have allowed enemy ships to advance into a position where they could order an attack on both sides of the city. The solution to this problem was to stretch a long iron chain across the vulnerable waterway.
This defensive chain, estimated to date to around the 8th century, was extended from a secured tower just east of Topkapi Palace on the south bank to another point in a lost Fortress on the north side of the city. At first, the chain was elevated on wooden floats or barrels. Later, a mechanism was installed so that it could be raised to allow the passage of friendly ships.
Scholars believe that after the Turkish conquest of the city, the chain was placed in storage somewhere in the newly named Istanbul, and eventually, parts of it were given to various museums in the city to preserve.
Not my photo
Only on three occasions, the chain across the Horn was either broken or circumvented:
*In the 10th century, the Kievan Rus’ dragged their ships out of the Bosporus, carried them around Galata and again launched them in the Golden Horn.
*In 1204, during the Fourth Crusade, Venetian ships were able to break the chain with a ram.
*In 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II also used the circumventing tactic by towing his ships across Galata by using greased logs since previous attempts to break the chain had failed.
With neglect, born of a population explosion in the 1950’s and ineffective zoning laws, the once pristine Golden Horn became a churning cesspool of grey city-sewage and industrial waste. In the 1980’s, a much needed urban clean-up began. Polluting factories were cleared and proper sewage needs met. Now, its shores are green once again, and lovely parks, promenades, and playgrounds greet visitors. The water glistens golden in the sun again, perhaps not as brightly as before, but one step nearer to what poets once described as “Sadabad,” or “place of bliss.”
The Romanesque-style tower was built as Christea Turris; Tower of Christ” in 1348 during an expansion of the Genoese colony in Constantinople.
In 1348, at the time of is creation, Galata Tower was the tallest building in Istanbul at 219.5 feet.
Galata Tower also played an integral part for protecting the Golden Horn waters from her enemies, during the Middle Ages:
To protect the city of Constantinople from naval attacks, two security measures were put into place. The first and predictable measure was the construction of walls along the shoreline. The second security measure however, consisted of pulling a huge iron chain from Constantinople to the old Galata Tower, hence preventing unwelcome ships from entering the Golden Horn.
The name comes from a legend: the Byzantine emperor heard a prophecy telling him that his beloved daughter would die at the age of 18 by a snake. So he decided to put her in this tower built on a rock on the Bosphorus; isolated from the land, thus no snake could kill her. But she couldn’t escape from her destiny after all, a snake hidden in a fruit basket brought in from from the city, into the tower, bit the princess and killed her.
Another legend wrongly mentions Hero and Leander in the tower, therefore some people wrongly call it “Leander’s Tower.” A sad love story told by Ovidius: Hero was one of the priestess of Aphrodites, living in the tower. One day she left the tower to attend a ceremony in the temple where she met Leandros and they fall in love with each other. Leandros swam to the tower every night to visit his love, as she held a torch to guide him in the dark waters, towards her in the tower. But on a stormy night, Leandros couldn’t see the light because it was put out by the winds, and he swam, he lost his way, until he was drowned. Hero, seeing that her lover died, jumped into the water and committed suicided.
Regardless of the legends, The Maiden’s Tower, also known as Leander’s Tower, since the medieval Byzantine period, is a tower lying on a small islet; located at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul.
Construction started: 1110
Opened: 1725
Architectural: 59 feet
It took 13 years to build this Palace, and it was completed in 1856. Dolmabahçe Palace served as the administrative center for the Ottoman Empire until 1922.
The palace was commissioned by Sultan Abdülmecid (who decided there should be a more European palace than Topkapi had to show) and designed by Armenian architect Karabet Balian and his son Nikogos Balian. It is an ostentatious-blended architectural style, including Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical and modern Ottoman; dripping in luxury.
If interested in seeing the grounds and the inside this Palace, here is a link to our blog post of our visit, inside, during a previous stay in Istanbul:https://2gypsiesinthewind.com/europe/turkey/turkey/turkey-dolmabahce-palace-in-istanbul/
The mosque was built on the order of Abdulmecid (1839-1861); the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, and was constructed by the Nigoğos Balyan in 1853. It was during the same century that the mosque rose to a higher level of importance on the European side of Istanbul. It is also known as “Great Mecidiye Mosque” and is one of the most beautiful samples of the Baroque architecture in Istanbul.
Whilst you can’t go inside, it is still seen in all of its grandeur, from the outside. Flags adorn every corner of the building, and the pride at representing your country spills out onto the exterior of the building. Whether you come from Turkey originally or not, it’s a really special feeling to experience on your visit to Istanbul.
Here is the blog post link from our previous visit to Istanbul, inside the Fortress Walls:
https://2gypsiesinthewind.com/europe/turkey/turkey-anatolian-fortress/
http://“Turkey ~Anatolian Fortress”
Remuli Fortress dates back to 1452. It was built by Ottoman Sultan;Mehmed II, known as “Mehmed the Conqueror,” in preparation of the conquest of Constantinople. The castle is situated on the shore of the Bosphorus Strait at its narrowest point.
It is just opposite of Anatolian Castles, which is another Ottoman castle built in 1394, by Bayezid I. Both Anatolian Castle and Rumeli Castle were built by Ottoman sultans in order to prevent military and economic aid to reach the Byzantine Empire; coming from the north at the Black Sea.
Facts about the Rumeli Castle (Rumeli Hisarı):
•From above the Rumeli Castle is in the shape of the name of Prophet Muhammad, which shares the same spelling with Mehmed (Ottoman sultan commissioned the Castle) in Arabic.
•It took only four months to build this enormous Castle, which has been standing for more than five centuries.
•The castle has been used in many local and international movies.
Here is a link to a previous blog post, from our tour of this fine Castle. Just click on the link to see:
https://2gypsiesinthewind.com/europe/turkey/turkey/turkey-rumeli-castle-on-the-bosphorus-in-istanbul/
Beylerbeyi Palace dates back to the first decade of the 19th century, when Sultan Mahmud II gave the order to build up this originally wooden palace. Unfortunately, the earlier palace was destroyed by a fire and Sultan Abdulaziz commissioned to rebuild it in the same location.
It is known that the construction went on between 1861 and 1865, for four years.
Beylerbeyi Palace was built to host the royals as a summer palace, while becoming a guest residence for visiting heads of states. Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Empress Eugenie of France were just two of those highly reputed guests of this Beylerbeyi Palace in the late 1800s. This imperial summer house also accommodated Sultan Abdulhamid II for 6 years, till his death.
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Hello and Welcome to our Travel Blog Website, We enjoy writing about our experiences and taking photos of our adventuring along the way. Our names are: Daryl and Pen, but Daryl calls me “Bunny.” We met, quite randomly, whilst both… Read More
Looks like you had a lovely time and great photos
Yes, a very nice outing. We enjoy some downtime, as it always leads to meeting people. Thanks Judy!