Introduction of Istanbul Maiden's Tower- Kız Kulesi

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Istanbul's city pictures almost always include "Kiz Kulesi". "Kiz Kulesi" is called in English Maiden's Tower or Leander's Tower. The Maiden's Tower is located on a small islet at a very short distance from the shores of the district "Uskudar" in the Asian side of the city. It can be seen from Topkapi Palace, Dolmabahçe Palace, Ortakoy distric and many other interesting places of Istanbul.

According to a Turkish legend a princess was locked up in the tower by her father because of a prophecy. The prophecy alerted him saying that his daughter would die by the bite of a snake. The father wanted to protect the princess and put her in the Maiden's tower. Unfortunately at the end of the story, the princess dies by the snake that was brought to the islet in a basket of grapes.

The Leander's Tower is the other name you will come across for the same place. There is a legend which has taken place in the city of Abydos in the straight of Dardanelles but somehow mistakenly related to the Maiden's Tower. Leander tried to see his lover Hero and attempted to cross the straight and drowns.

In the 12th century, the emperor Manuel Comnenus has built a small fortress where the tower is located. He wanted to tie a chain to close the Bosphorus straight. The other end of the chain was tied to Tower of Mangana.-

Until today the tower is used as a lighthouse, semaphore station, quarantine, customs control area, and home for retired naval officers. The building that you can see today dates back to 18th century.

İstanbul Fatih İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı

İstanbul Fatih İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı



Fatih is a district of Istanbul, Turkey, in the old walled city, The name “Fatih” comes from the emperor Fatih Sultan Mehmet, and means in Arabic the ‘conqueror’. The Fatih Mosque built by Mehmet II is here in the district, his resting place is next to the Mosque and is much visited. After the conquest this area of the city quickly became a Turkish neighbourhood, and still today is one of the most (Islamic) conservative areas of Istanbul. Many Turkish people in the ‘Charshamba’ area of Fatih can be seen wearing the traditional baggy ‘shalwar’ trousers and Islamic turban and women dressed in full black gowns as this area is popular with members of the Naqshbandi Sufi order affiliated to a Sheikh, who is known as ‘Mahmud Hoca’. Conservative parties always do well in this area. The area has had a spiritual eminence ever since the city was founded; Constantine’s memorial was here, then a church of Justinian, and then following the Fatih mosque complex came many tombs and mosques built in memory of the Ottoman hierarchy.
The main road which cuts through Fatih is Fevzi Pasa Caddesi, which leads from the Beyazit area up to the walls of the city, a route that has been the main artery of the city since the time of Constantine. To the right (as you come out of the city) is the equally important old Valens aqueduct from the Byzantine era. Add to this the fact that the area is high up and has a commanding view of both the Sea of Marmara and of the Golden Horn, and it is easy to see why the Byzantines built a number of palaces here. And then a crowded city neighbourhood grew around it.
A major church dedicated to the 12 disciples of Jesus was built here but was first destroyed in the 4th Crusade and then subsequently by earthquake damage, and it was on the ruins of the church that the Fatih mosque was built, and around the mosque a large prayer school. Immediately after the conquest groups of Islamic schoolars ahd occupied the major churches of Aya Sofya and the Pantocrator (Zeyrek Camii today) but the Fatih complex was the first purpose built Islamic seminary within the city walls. The building of the mosque complex ensured that the area continued to thrive through the conquest, markets grew up to support the thousands of workers involved in the building and to supply them with materials. Also after the conquest the Edirnekapı gate in the city walls became the major exit to Thrace and this gave a whole new lease of life to the neighbourhoods overlooking the Golden Horn. The Fatih mosque was on the road to Edirnekapı and the Fatih district became the most populous area of the city in early Ottoman times and yet more mosques and markets were built including: Iskender Pasha Mosque, once famous as a centre for the Naqshbandi order in Turkey); Hirka-l-Sharif Mosque, which houses the cloak of the Prophet Muhammad (The Mosque is in common use but the cloak is only on show during Ramadan, the month of fasting); the Jerrahi Tekke; The Sunbul Effendi Tekke and the Ramazan Effendi Tekke both in the Kocamustafapaşa district and Vefa Mosque. The last 4 were named after the founders of various Sufi orders, and Sheik Ebü’l Vefa in particular was of major importance in the city and was very fond of Fatih. Many other mosques, schools, baths and fountains in the area were built by military leaders and officials in the Ottoman court.
From the 18th century onwards the city began to grow outside the walls, and Fatih began to decline, a process accelearated by fire which destroyed whole neighbourhoods of wooden houses, and a major earthquake in 1766, which destroyed the Fatih mosque and many of the surrounding buildings, which were subsequently rebuilt. Fires continued to ravage the old city and the wide roads that run through the area today are a legacy of all that burning.
Today, there are still remnants of the sea walls along the Golden Horn and along the Marmara shore, to give a sense of the shape of old walled city and there are a number of important pieces of architecture in the Fatih district including; the acqueduct across Ataturk Bulvari, the fortress on the city walls at Yedikule, The Byzantine palace of Blahernai, Fethiye Camii, Kariye Camii (the Byzantine church of the Chora) and the Fatih mosque itself.
To the south on a parallel to Fevzi Pasa Caddesi is the tram, which begins at Sirkeci and snakes its way up the hill to Sultan Ahmed past Beyazit and Laleli Mosques and Istanbul University and on to Aksaray. From there the tram goes through Fistikagacı to the south (an area popular with students from Istanbul University of Fatih (roughly between Fatih proper and Koca Mustafa Pasa) to the city walls.It is also in Fatih, where Istanbul’s metro system starts (at Aksaray) and where Istanbul’s central police HQ is (Emniyet), which also issues foreign nationals resident permits or visas.

İstanbul Eyüp İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı

İstanbul Eyüp İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı 

Eyüp is a district of the city of İstanbul, Turkey, up where the Kağıthane and Alibey streams meet at the head of the Golden Horn. Although this area lies outside the city walls, there was always a village here, as the two streams provided plenty of fresh water, and in the Byzantine period there was a church in the village and later a monastery (which was built on the steep hill behind today’s Eyüp Camii). The name Eyüp comes from Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the companion and standard bearer of the Prophet Muhammad. He came to Istanbul with the Arab army during the first attempted Muslim conquest of the city, died and as his last request was buried there.
His resting place was venerated during Byzantine times but after the Latin rampage through Istanbul in the Fourth Crusade fell into an unkempt state, along with many other Byzantine holy places. Seven centuries later the tomb was re-discovered by Ak Şemsettin the Sheikh of Mehmed II. After the conquest of Constantinople Sultan Mehmet ordered a tomb, or “Türbe”, be constructed over Abu Ayyub’s resting place and a Mosque constructed in his honour. The first major mosque to be built in Istanbul, it was surrounded by the traditional bath, school room and canteen complex, also the first of these to be built in Istanbul. From that point on the area became something of a ‘sacred place’. More mosques, prayer schools, and fountains were built, and as many Ottoman officials wished to be buried at or near the site of Abu Ayyub’s resting place, the cemetery became one of Istanbul’s most desirable final resting places.
The area grew and acquired a great deal of valuable sacred architecture, becoming a place where Dervish Tekkes could be found alongside visitors both Turkish and foreign, who came from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul to the area to enjoy the cooler air and fine view. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Istanbul grew as the fringes of the Ottoman Empire became unsettled and Turkish communities from the Balkans and the Caucasus came to the city. During this period the Eyüp area became incorporated into the city, losing some of its spiritual air as factories were built along the Golden Horn. At the same time the industry and the growing population, as well as the continuing numbers of visitors to the holy places, encouraged the growth of the shopping district around and behind the mosque; fish markets, dairy markets, people selling scriptures and prayer beads and gifts for children were all mixed in together.
From the 19th century onwards, the area took on a more ‘working class’ feel as wealthier residents of Istanbul preferred to buy housing on the Asian side of the city or further along the Bosphorus, since the Golden Horn was becoming increasingly polluted due to the industrial development. The industrial zone expanded as major roads were put through the Eyüp area and the market gardens and flower fields of Alibeyköy ddisappeared. In recent years however, many of the factories have been closed or cleaned up. The district is busy trying to re-create its old image as an area of spiritual calm and relaxation, not only in the mosques and the cemetery, but also on the wooded hill above, where Pierre Loti Kahvesi has a wonderful view over the Golden Horn all the way to Eminönü. The Eyüp Sultan Mosque continues to draw tourists visiting İstanbul, as well as rather larger numbers of Turkish religious pilgrims.

İstanbul Şişli İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı

İstanbul Şişli İlçe İngilizce Tanıtımı

Şişli is a cosmopolitan district of İstanbul, Turkey.It is north of Taksim, an area many consider the entertainment centre of Istanbul. It used to be a center of the elite during the last years of the Ottoman Empire and the early years of the Republic on whom French culture had a great influence. Many of Istanbul’s Armenians live in the Kurtuluş area of Şişli.
Şişli is now a center of trade and shopping. Europe’s largest and the world’s second largest (urban-area) shopping mall, Cevahir Mall, is situated here. It is home to many upmarket shops especially in the Nişantaşı area and İstanbul’s military museum, which houses the cannon used by Sultan Mehmed II in his conquest of Constantinople.Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, also once lived here. His house, where Atatürk reportedly made his plans for the modern republic, is now a museum.

İSTANBUL BOĞAZININ İNGİLİZCE TANITIMI

İSTANBUL BOĞAZININ İNGİLİZCE TANITIMI

Bosphorus

One of the worlds most strategic waterways, Bosphorus is the strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara; it is an inundated valley that follows an irregular northeast-southwest course 32km (20 miles) long, 730-3300m (800-3600 yards) wide, 30-120m (100-395ft) deep.
Bosphorus comes from a Tracian word of unknown origin, interpreted in Greek as meaning “Ford of the Cow”, from the legend of Io, one of the many lovers of Zeus, who swam across the sea here as a cow chased and continuously disturbed by flies sent by Hera.
Known in Turkish as Bogazici (the Strait), it links the Black Sea with the Sea of Marmara and, with the Dardanelles (in Canakkale), separates Europe from Asia. It is a former river valley which was drowned by the sea at the end of the Tertiary period. This is a very busy strait with many ships and oil tankers, as well as local fishing and passenger boats.
The current flows north to south; however, a strong subsurface countercurrent with numerous points and coves sets up swirls and eddies that make navigation dangerous to the inexperienced.

There are two suspension toll bridges on this Strait: The first one over the Bosphorus between Beylerbeyi and Ortaköy, opened in 1973, is called as Bogazici Bridge, 1074m (1175yards) long, 6 lanes, 165m (540ft) height of piers. The second one between Anadolu Hisari and Rumeli Hisari, opened in 1988, is called as Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge, 1090m (1192yd) long, 8 lanes, 65m from the water.
With the shores rising to heights up to 200m (650ft), lined with palaces, ruins, villages, and gardens, this is one of the most beautiful stretches of scenery in Turkey. The best way of seeing the Bosphorus in all its beauty is to take a trip on one of the coastal boats, in this way you can also admire many of the old Ottoman wooden houses (called as Yali in Turkish). You can also stay in some of the best hotels or eat in some of the best restaurants along its shores during your stay in this magnificent city.

Some of the interesting palaces, buildings or neighborhoods on the Bosphorus are: Galata tower, Dolmabahce Palace, Ciragan Palace, Yildiz Palace, Besiktas, Ortaköy, Arnavutköy, Bebek, Rumeli Fortress, Tarabya, Yeniköy, Istinye, Sariyer, Uskudar (Scutari), Kanlica, Beykoz, Anatolian Fortress, Beylerbeyi Palace and Kuleli Military High school.