The Ciragan Palace on the Bosporus, former home of the last Ottoman sultans, is now part of a hotel.
ORTAKOY, Turkey -- By day, long red and black freighters slide by on the Bosporus. By night, well-lit touring boats send faint sounds of music and laughter to the shore. Ferries and sailboats ply this 20-mile-long channel that connects the Sea of Marmora and the Black Sea and divides Istanbul into Europe and Asia.
From a waterside cafe on the European shore, looking across at Asia, the romance of this historical waterway is inescapable. Its legends go back into time, when Jason and the Argonauts, seeking the Golden Fleece, sailed through to the Black Sea. Ulysses probably navigated its waters.
On the European side, around the base of the Bosporus Bridge linking the two continents, a warren of small streets and alleys marks the village-like Istanbul suburb of Ortakoy.
Long favored by artists, hip young Stamboulis have made Ortakoy a newly trendy spot to hang out. On weekends especially, morning isn't too early to settle in at one of the cafes that crowd the cobblestone waterfront plaza by the mosque for a traditional Turkish breakfast of bread, honey, white sheep's milk cheese, olives, yogurt and tea.
On weekends shops, galleries and a funky open air street market teem with local browsers and buyers. Artists hang their framed compositions on the sides of buildings. Street vendors stand behind tables laden with beaded necklaces, hats, scarves and leather bags. An old woman, head wrapped in a scarf, watches over dozens of colorful earrings.
Picture frames, lamp shades and candle holders made of pink, purple and amber beads crowd one table, intricately rigged sailing ships another. A rack of wigs sports long blonde, brunette and auburn tresses. Nearby, in a narrow alley, an elderly man sits at a cafe table painting the mosque and the Bosporus Bridge, even though the actual models are just a block away at the waterfront.
Filled flatbread wraps are made and served at the Ortakoy market.
Somewhere along your wanderings, you'll come across an open plaza with a variety of local street food. Try a baked potato stuffed with vegetables and yogurt at one of the outdoor counters. Watch women bake rounds of flat dough on a hot griddle, like a thin pizza crust, then fold them over your choice of fillings, perhaps spinach or ground lamb or feta cheese. It's a popular village dish called "gozleme."
Street life in the narrow, cobbled alleys and at the waterside cafes is the lure of Ortakoy. There is not much else to explore. Ortakoy's 17th-century Etz Ahayim synagogue, on the shore road, burned down in 1941; only the marble ark survived, now a monument in what is now the garden. A nearby schoolroom became the acting synagogue.
The domed, 19th-century Ortakoy Mosque, built in Ottoman Baroque style, occupies a small waterfront promontory in the shadow of the bridge. A pair of slender white stone minarets flank the entrance; large windows let light pour into the interior, illuminating its marble, mosaics and chandeliers. You can visit whenever it's open, except during prayer times.
Ortakoy is a perfect place to catch a Bosporus cruise, one of the city's great pleasures. Boats periodically leave the Ortakoy dock for an hour's sail up the Asian shore and down the European side between the two bridges that join the continents. There are longer excursions from the city center that are popular with tourists, but this route takes you past some of the same historic landmarks and is filled with jolly local families enjoying their city.
From Ortakoy the ferry crosses under the Bosporus Bridge, the first to span the strait and one of the longest suspension bridges in the world, opened in 1973 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Turkish Republic. Next to it on the Asian side is Beylerbeyi Palace, one of the more intimate 19th-century palaces the Ottoman rulers built on the Bosporus. Its terraced gardens, pools and fountains, ornate furnishings and crystal chandeliers were more than sumptuous enough for the Sultans and their visiting royal guests.
Cruising north along the Asian shore, you pass lovely wooden and stone houses called "yalis" behind flower-decked stone walls in upscale residential areas. Sail and power boats tie up along the waterfront promenade where men tend their fishing poles. Waterside cafes look inviting.
Further north, just before the second suspension bridge, two mighty Ottoman fortresses face each other across the Bosphorus -- the vast Rumeli Fortress in Europe and a smaller counterpart, Andolu Fortress in Asia. They were built by Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II in 1452 during his conquest of Constantinople to control the strait and cut off help from reaching the city. The next year he took Constantinople in a single day, destroying the last of the Byzantine Empire. The bridge is named for Mehmet the Conqueror.
After transforming its churches into mosques, Mehmet renamed the city Istanbul, and several years later, built Topkapi Palace where the Ottoman Sultans lived for 400 years. In the mid-19th century they succumbed to the pleasures of the Bosporus and built a grand imperial palace on the European shore just south of Ortakoy. Called Dolmabahce, one facade stretches almost a quarter mile along the strait; its 285 ornate rooms, grand salons and sumptuous furnishings are an extravaganza of marble, gold and crystal. When it was finished in 1854, the Sultans abandoned Topkapi and moved into this Ottoman Versailles.
Next to Dolmabahce, and even closer to Ortakoy, is Ciragan Palace, another one-time home of the Sultans and now part of the Ciragan Palace Hotel Kempinski. The grand 19th-century residence was virtually destroyed by fire in 1909 and eventually restored by Kempinski Hotels, which re-created the marble hamam (Turkish bath) and marble staircases.
From the palaces of the Sultans to picturesque Ortakoy, it's not hard to see why Turks find life by the Bosporus so appealing. After you've visited Istanbul's Blue Mosque, ogled incomparable mosaics at the Hagia Sophia, checked out the harem at Topkapi Palace and haggled for a rug at the Grand Bazaar, this is the place to unwind.
SIGHTS TO SEE
Dolmabahce Palace, Dolmabahce Caddesi; Phone: 212-236-9000. Guided tour required, separate fees for the Sultan's Quarters and the Harem. Closed Monday and Thursday.
Etz Ahayim Synagogue, Muallim Naci Caddesi 38; Phone: 212-260-1896. On the shore road in Ortakoy, but has been closed for repairs.
Ciragan Palace, Ciragan Caddesi 84; Phone: 212-258-3377.
Beylerbeyi Palace, Abdullah Aga Caddesi; Phone: 216-321-9320. Closed Monday and Thursday.
Rumeli Fortress (European Fort), Yahya Kemal Caddesi; Phone: 212-263-5305. Closed Monday.
June 04, 2006
By Joan Scobey, Travel Arts Syndicate
(Joan Scobey has covered travel and food in Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, India, the Mideast, South America, Australia, the Pacific and North America. )
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