 |
| Galata Tower and the Genovese area |
In Istanbul on our second day, we hired a local guide, Faruk, who took us around the "new town" and Taksim Square.
.
 |
| Select to expand and see the Soviet fighters on the right. |
Faruk showed us a lot of very cool things. Including the the statue of Ataturk who overthrew the Ottomans AND pushed the French and British out after World War I. On the statue below you can see Ataturk leading the people into Istanbul. You will also see some Soviet Generals behind him. This is to commemorate the Russians helping drive out the British and French after the war.
.
 |
| Ed and Faruk. You can see the different spigots behind Ed's hand. These were connected to pipes in the old days. |
Taksim Square itself is named after the high point in the city, where the water was divided into the city pipes. You can see Eddie and Faruk at the station where the water taps were turned on for each city section.
.
 |
| The style of the buildings in this area. |
 |
| One of the passageways, with (now empty) apartments abvoe. |
There was a fire in the area in 1865 or so, and the entire are was rebuilt at once. It is very "European" of the day. There are a lot of these big buildings, with indoor passages (like mini-streets). The passages were lined with shops and above where apartments. The buildings and stores are still there, but the apartments are no longer used as such. Some are storage, some are offices and many are just empty.
.
 |
| For a distance view, see top picture. |
The Galata Tower itself was built in 1348. Actually, rebuilt, the first one burned down, so the Genoese built this of stone. This part of the city was occupied by the non-muslims of Istanbul. There are Greek, Catholic, Armenian and Russian churches throughout the old town. A census was done when the Ottomans took over the city, and the percentages of various ethnic people in this part of town was preserved. So this area was also where the embassies where - and most are still consulates.
Finally, Eddie and I had dinner on a roof int he old town, near our hotel. The view over the Asian part of the city was great.
 |
| That is Asia behind him (Anatolia) |
And 8,500 years of history is everywhere, these are the Byzantine walls of Constantinople right below us, where the road winds through. They are over 1,000 years old, and just hanging out.
 |
| Just some 1,000 year old ruins. Ain't no big thing. |
