the seven hills

The old (historical) city of Istanbul is supposed to be built on seven hills which have been located within the walls of the ancient city of Istanbul. They can be found within the city’s three corners. The Bayrampasa River separates the three highest hills of the city. While the two hills are parallel along with the Golden Horn, the third hill lies down towards south. The city of Rome was also built on seven hills. So the number seven is not random, on the contrary it is supposed to be a sacred number in many religions and mythology. Both Rome and Constantinople were known as the cities of seven hills with seven central points in each of the two cities. Six of the hills of Istanbul accommodate imperial mosques which are the ones to provide the city its Ottoman identity. They all are fundamental features of the city during Ottoman era. The ancient city of Byzantium was built on the first hill which begins from Seraglio Point and continues up to Topkapi Palace, Hagia Sophia and the Sultan Ahmet Mosque.

The second hill that is divided by a deep valley has Grand Bazaar, Column of Constantin and the Nuruosmaniye Mosque.

The third hill has Suleymaniye Mosque to the North, the Bayezid II Mosque to the south and Istanbul University.

The fourth hill has the Fatih Mosque and the Church of the Holy Apostles.

The fifth hill has the Mosque of Sultan Selim.

The sixth hill includes the districts of Ayvansaray and Edirnekapi.

The seventh hill begins from Aksaray and goes on to include Marmara. It has three summits that produce a triangle at Yedikule, Aksaray and Topkapi.

a little bit of history

Istanbul is the city of 3 religions and 2 continents.

The very first settlement of the city was in Kadıköy by the Greeks from the Megara. On this first hill the Acropol was built and it is when the Byzantium was established.

The ancient city expanded and became double its size with Constantine who actually built the plans of the new city himself building thick walls all around it. 

In 203 AD the Severus Hippodrome was built, and the area outside the Hippodrome became the center of the peninsula and was known as the old city of Istanbul. The zero counting point of all roads, the million stone, was placed in the center of Istanbul, so that also was the center of the world. 

The Buyuk Saray, also known as the Sacred Palace, was located in the ancient Istanbul from 330 to 1081 AD and served as the main royal residence of the Eastern Roman or Byzantine Emperors.

In the 5th century Emperor Theodosius the II built 6 km thick stone defensive walls outside the old city and so protected Constantinople for more than 1000 years.

After Christianity was imposed churches started replacing paganist temples. That is the time when Hagia Sophia was first built. Of course it went through many phases and catastrophes before the final masterpiece we know was built. The current building was originally constructed as a church between 532 and 537 on the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian and was the third Church of the Holy Wisdom to occupy the site, the previous two having both been destroyed by rioters. It was designed by Isidore of Miletus, a physicist, and Anthemius of Tralles, a mathematician. Hagia Sophia was the first basilica church with a dome built in only 5 years and 10 months.

New needs for water in the city imposed the building of the Bozdogan Kemeri (The Valens Aqueduct). Completed by Roman Emperor Valens in the late 4th century AD, it was restored by several Ottoman Sultans, and is one of the most important landmarks of the city.

In 1453 after the fall of Constantinople, everything changed, its religion, culture, architecture, even its own reason for existence. After that Istanbul would be re-shaped by the hands of Sultan Ahmed the conqueror. He converted every church into a mosque but it is said that Christians had the right to worship freely.

Sultan Ahmed’s mosque, also known as blue mosque, chose as a place the region where the Greek orthodox patriarch and the Holly Apostols used to be. Mimar Sinan, the architect, walked the seven hills and selected the third to build the mosque. Its acoustics are magnificent. It is said that while Sinan was building the mosque he was smoking the water pipe so that by listening to the bubbling sound of the water he could create those unique acoustics. This area became a prestigious residential area. After the earthquake of 1509 stone was forbidden for building, so wood constructions started to appear. This fact changed totally the image of the region and gave it a very distinctive architecture.

Sultan Ahmed wanted to form the big city he dreamt. At first he focused on population. So trying to make Istanbul a Turkish Islamic city in terms of population he brought migrants from Anatolia. Those who came brought also with them the names of their towns, naming region in Istanbul after them.

He also encouraged Turkish, Greek and Armenian communities to settle in the city so that he could create a colorful mosaic of population. He was also aiming for the variety of different religions so that Istanbul would become the cultural, political and commercial center of the world. 

Istanbul was also the center of critical commercial roads: the Silk Road, the Spice Road and the Wheat Road.

An important trading center, the biggest in the city, Kapalıçarş or Grand Bazaar, was built in 1461. Actually its construction began in the Byzantium period to be enlarged in the period of Sultan Ahmed, reaching its full prestige during the Ottoman period.

The construction the Topkapi saray began in 1459 and was the official and primary residence in the city of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their 624-year reign. It was like a castle within a castle, a city within the city. The Harem which was divided in three sections was the world of the unknown, the inaccessible world.

Dolma Bahce Palace, the new palace of the Emperor was built in 1853 on the third hill. Sulleymanya old harem moved there with their ottoman families taking with them the palace culture.



images source:

http://www.sultanahmet1.com/the-history-and-mystery-behind-the-seven-hills-of-istanbul-2/

Istanbul's green spaces and farmland

what if...

So what if those patterns were to make a city?

What if Istanbul was read as a carpet?

Making a quick sketch about this notion I came up with...

Trying to make it a bit more tidy and readable, I created what I think of Istanbul as a carpet in terms of identity. So maybe Istanbul's carpet would look like this.

In my attempt to explain its structure in a few words, I would say that this carpet is consisted of five elements all based on the circle.

So we see:

1. The triangle representing all kinds of cultural spaces

2. The square representing bazaars and financial districts

3. The hexagon depicting all religious spaces

4. The star that stands for universities, academies and colleges

5. The plain circle that represents all the other mixed uses of this part of the city

A significant crack in this carpet’s design is the water element which is shown with a light beige color because it is a natural element, a physical boundary. There are also some other cracks in the carpet, shown in black, those stand for the un-integration of the different areas in Istanbul. Many different nationalities, religions and financial statuses can be found in the city, but they really keep their metaphorical distances even though in reality they might adjoin. So this is a conceptual crack, an unsubstantial boundary, which could be stronger though. That is the reason why it is depicted in black. Those boundaries divide the city and make it difficult for people to integrate.

arabic symbols/ meanings & matching

All Arabic patterns are based on the circle and its center. The circle as a symbol emphasizes on religion and God. It also symbolizes the role of Mecca, the center of Islam towards which all Muslim face during prayer. It  is a symbol of eternity, justice and equality as well. From the circle derive the four fundamental figures below:

1.        The Triangle that stands for harmony

2.        The Square that symbolizes the physical world and materiality

3.        The Hexagon that stands for heaven

4.        And the Star that shows equal radiation towards all directions starting from a central point.

The basic compositional rules of the above elements are repetition and complexity.

So based on those symbols representations, the elements we are willing to represent in our carpet can be shown as follows:

1.        The Triangle for all cultural spaces

2.        The Square for bazaars and economical districts

3.        The Hexagon for religious spaces( mosques and churches)

4.        The Star for universities and academies.

            

        Below are some quick depictions of those basic patterns.

       

      

      

      

summer curiosities

For me curiosities are the things that make me wonder and say “What is this?” or “How does this work?” or simply just stay speechless. Summer is a time for exploration, since I have the opportunity to visit new places. So my 7 curiosities do not have a consistency of scale, since they can be from objects to a landscape, they are although summer findings while I was free to observe whatever was really of a great interest to me.

So, starting from small to large scale:

OBJECTS 

1.INVISIBLE SACKS

They look like piles of sacks, but the sacks are no longer there, and the material now looks like stone or marble, originally probably it was sacks of cement. 

 

Alonissos Island, Greece, August 2010

2. CUBE INSTALLATION

An interesting and smart interactive installation outside the National Museum of Contemporary Art in Athens. A cube with mirrors inside, braced on a tree. People were to look through the holes on the sides of the box and their heads ,through the mirror’s reflection, would appear as if they were coming out of the tree. People were very interested in it and  were confused at the beginning trying to find out how it works.

Athens, Greece, July 2009

3. DOORWAY TO NOWHERE

A metallic door between stone walls that leads the way to nowhere!

 

Sifnos, Greece, July 2010

BUILDINGS

4. OPEN HOUSE

Galfetti’s breathtaking house in Antiparos island. It is a completely narrow house based on three walls on each side, which have voids in between them so the natural air of the island would circulate free in the house. All the spaces inside the house are completely open even the shower and toilet. Clearly it is only a summer house and strictly for a couple! 

Paros, Greece, August 2009

5.PHANTOM HOUSE

A house that seems to be cut in half located in the phantom city of Lossaine. The most convincing evidence is the roof, half of it is just missing.

Laussaine, Switzerland, June 2008

LANDSCAPES

6. SCULPTURAL LANDSCAPE

It looks amazing to me how this landscape evolves. This low height walls are supposed to form a terrace cultivation, while they completely adjust to the natural hypsometric curves of the scape creating a spectacular sculptural theme.

Sifnos, Greece, August 2010

7. ENCLOSED LANDSCAPE

I would consider this picture a part of a landscape. The reason for that is that it is a small part of the Chora of Amorgos island which is digged inside the rocky hill of the region. The settlement was built inside the rock because there were often pirates forays so the tried to hide their living space. The Chora is not visible from the sea, even when you approach the shore. Another interesting spot of this island is Hagias Ana’s monastery built totally inside the rock.

Amorgos, Greece, August 2008