Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Istanbul's blue tile paradise

onthearts.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 121 posts

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#11

Post by mkoubaa »

earino wrote: post #4

I was in Istanbul recently, and what surprised me was the absolute depth of the cities attractions. I stayed in the Kadıköy and Sultanahmet districts, and it was so incredible to walk through a society which had been Monkey Patched through millennia. The runtime behavior of the objects, streets, buildings and the city had been adapted time and time again. Roman temples becoming Churches becoming Mosques becoming Muse…

"the runtime behavior of the objects" took me from Istanbul right back to my day job which I thought I was taking a break from on HN

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#12

Post by mrtksn »

Istanbul is in the same league with London, Paris, Rome and probably nothing else.

Not only the endless layers of multi-millennial history, even the current state of the inhabitants is extremely diverse. It's also surprisingly safe.

IMHO the city got ruined in so many ways during the Turkish economic boom the last 5 decades and yet you can tell that the city "still got it". In your runtime analogy, the current state of the modern istanbul is like everything new being like bloated Electron app.

The current mayor is from the secular Turks with western values and he is doing some great things to reduce the bloatware and re-surface the hidden gems through full rewrites.

But sometimes he encounters unexpected behaviour. Just recently, he converted Feshane(old factory where they used to produce Fez style hats during the Ottoman times) into an art gallery but due to some undocumented API the islamist started protesting him for not respecting their values.

Here is the Feshane after the conversion: https://twitter.com/ekrem_imamoglu/status/167157892814888143...

Here is the protest: https://twitter.com/tcbuyuksehir/status/1678147852453683206

Note: Before the conversion, Feshane was used for food markets and such.

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#13

Post by Lacerda69 »

mkoubaa wrote: post #11
earino wrote: post #4

I was in Istanbul recently, and what surprised me was the absolute depth of the cities attractions. I stayed in the Kadıköy and Sultanahmet districts, and it was so incredible to walk through a society which had been Monkey Patched through millennia. The runtime behavior of the objects, streets, buildings and the city had been adapted time and time again. Roman temples becoming Churches becoming Mosques becoming Muse…

"the runtime behavior of the objects" took me from Istanbul right back to my day job which I thought I was taking a break from on HN

You can take a break but you can never leave

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#14

Post by nashashmi »

pirate787 wrote: post #6

The Hagia Sophia "mosque" was a Christian orthodox church that dates from Roman times and was a secular museum from the 1930s until 2020. That decision to reclassify as a mosque is widely condemned by historians and others.

A tidbit info: Today's Hagia Sophia is version three of the original church. The original was made of wood and burned down. The second version was of stone and collapsed in an earthquake. The third version took 20+ years to build.

Another tidbit: Hagia Sophia can be translated to english as Saint Sofia. It is pronounced in Turkish as Aya Sofia. Aya is from an arabic word that means "sign" like sign of god (similar to "aya"-tullah in Iran). The similarity between "Hagia" and "Aya" is so strong as though it follows the concept of changing the "j" sound to "h" or "y" sound. When applying that same rule to "Ayatollah", you could basically translate the word to "Saint of God". Every time I think of this, it gives me the jitters.

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#15

Post by objektif »

mrtksn wrote: post #12

Istanbul is in the same league with London, Paris, Rome and probably nothing else. Not only the endless layers of multi-millennial history, even the current state of the inhabitants is extremely diverse. It's also surprisingly safe. IMHO the city got ruined in so many ways during the Turkish economic boom the last 5 decades and yet you can tell that the city "still got it". In your runtime analogy, the current state…

You are doing Istanbul and Rome a disservice by putting them in the same league with London and Paris.

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#16

Post by fsniper »

Qahlel wrote: post #10

I recently visited Istanbul as well. Too my surprise, I ate the best burger I had in my lifetime. It was a smash burger joint in Emirgan district. Forgot the name. but remember finding it on google maps. Give it a try if you are passing by.

In Istanbul you can possibly find best examples of many if not all of international cousines. It is a city for the all types of foodies.

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#17

Post by ChainOfFools »

pirate787 wrote: post #6

The Hagia Sophia "mosque" was a Christian orthodox church that dates from Roman times and was a secular museum from the 1930s until 2020. That decision to reclassify as a mosque is widely condemned by historians and others.

They will never fully convert back to a mosque, absolutely no way they want the loss of tourism that will result from making probably the most iconic draw for tourism to the city a place that isn't open to the public in all respects.

Last time I was there a few years ago I recall there's a small section near one of the lower galleries off to the side that has been reopened for use as a sort-of-mosque but it's the size of a couple double wide trailers and not really part of the main structure as people think of it. It might be a test of the waters to see how far they can go but I promise you, money will trump religion in this case no question about it.

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#18

Post by objektif »

fsniper wrote: post #16
Qahlel wrote: post #10

I recently visited Istanbul as well. Too my surprise, I ate the best burger I had in my lifetime. It was a smash burger joint in Emirgan district. Forgot the name. but remember finding it on google maps. Give it a try if you are passing by.

In Istanbul you can possibly find best examples of many if not all of international cousines. It is a city for the all types of foodies.

I would definitely disagree with this. Apart from Turkish food you will probably only find good American, French and Italian ( may be few more) food in Turkiye.

But the good news is you really do not need anything other that Turkish food because it is just amazing.

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#19

Post by ChainOfFools »

objektif wrote: post #15
mrtksn wrote: post #12

Istanbul is in the same league with London, Paris, Rome and probably nothing else. Not only the endless layers of multi-millennial history, even the current state of the inhabitants is extremely diverse. It's also surprisingly safe. IMHO the city got ruined in so many ways during the Turkish economic boom the last 5 decades and yet you can tell that the city "still got it". In your runtime analogy, the current state…

You are doing Istanbul and Rome a disservice by putting them in the same league with London and Paris.

Seconding this, these cities have a rich history but it's hardly a footnote compared to the chronology baked in to the stratigraphy of Rome and even more so, Istanbul. The latter city bridges two continents, and it shows it and feels it in every respect.

plus, cats. In what city can you double your entertainment just by carrying a small laser pointer with you everywhere.

Re: Istanbul's blue tile paradise

#20

Post by twelve40 »

ChainOfFools wrote: post #17
pirate787 wrote: post #6

The Hagia Sophia "mosque" was a Christian orthodox church that dates from Roman times and was a secular museum from the 1930s until 2020. That decision to reclassify as a mosque is widely condemned by historians and others.

They will never fully convert back to a mosque, absolutely no way they want the loss of tourism that will result from making probably the most iconic draw for tourism to the city a place that isn't open to the public in all respects. Last time I was there a few years ago I recall there's a small section near one of the lower galleries off to the side that has been reopened for use as a sort-of-mosque but it's the siz…

the floor is now covered, the upper levels are closed off to visitors. it seems to be working just like any other mosque, which you can also visit (like the one in the article, for example)
Post reply on HN