Tag: istanbul

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All Comes From Love, A Shop in Galata

Every time I wander around the Galata Tower, I glance over the shops and catch up with some new shops and their products. Galata, Şişhane and Karaköy areas are getting popular each year. A few years ago I was walking towards Kabataş from Galata Tower when the Turkish delight in the front of a small and pretty shop got my attention. As a sweet lover, I immediately walked into the shop. I tasted Turkish delight with walnut and walnut paste here for the first time in my life. Continue reading “All Comes From Love, A Shop in Galata”

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Less Known Facts About Mosques

I live in Istanbul which is known for its marvelous mosques. I can name many but these are the first ones that come into my mind;  Süleymaniye, Rüstem Paşa, Mihrimah Sultan, Sultan Ahmet, Pertevniyal Valide Sultan, Büyük Mecidiye (Ortaköy), Şakirin and Sokullu Mehmet Paşa. Architecturally and artistically considered, each one of these mosques by itself is one of a kind. I have been seeing and visiting these great structures for all my life. I sometimes like to sit in a mosque, watch the prayers, listen to Azan (call to prayer), scan the artworks there and think.

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Kadıköy, or as King Byzas used to call it, The Land Of The Blind

I always wonder where the names of settlements come from. Some of the names are very easy to predict but some are not. Today I want to share the story of Kadıköy’s names. Kadıköy is one of the largest and most populous cosmopolitan neighborhoods of Istanbul. “Kadı” means judge, in Turkish and “köy” means village, so it translates to “village of the judge”. After the Ottoman Sultan Mehmet conquered Istanbul, Kadıköy was given to Hıdır Bey who was the first Ottoman judge (Kadı). Since then this neighborhood was called Kadıköy.

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