Mosques and Markets in Ulus

For the second sunday in a row we were given a free day to pursue our own activities around the city. After a relaxing but rather boring sunday last week I felt the need to get out and explore a bit this time around. I had taken a look at the materials we received from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism (who may very well be the best organized and savviest salesmen the country could hope for) and realized that there was a cluster of old mosques within about a square mile in the downtown neighborhood of Ulus. As luck would have it, this was precisely the neighborhood that we had been warned repeatedly in orientation and other times that we should avoid since there are supposedly bag-snatchers and other criminal elements in the area. After getting a pretty sizeable group of people together we decided to disregard the warnings and explore the area anyway. I'm very glad we did. Not only was the area perfectly safe during our visit, many parts of it were pretty charming (particularly around the castle) and featured a mix of great shopping and a smattering of mosques ranging from a 13th century Selcuk mosque and tomb to a 16th century Ottoman mosque designed by the famous architect Sinan. In the end, three of the four mosques that we visited were either closed or under renovation, but they were still very beautiful from the outside.

I don't have much time so I will mostly let the pictures speak for themselves, but here is a short guide to what we saw:

Picture One: Haci Bayram Veli Camii, completed in 1428 in the Selcuk style and repaired by Ottoman architect, Sinan. The mosque itself was closed but we visited the adjacent tomb of Hadji Bayram Veli and the remains of the Roman Temple of Augustus next door.

Picture Two: Aslanhane (Lion House) Camii, completed in 1291 and supposedly features amazing tile work and an antique lion sculpture in the interior. Since it was closed until five I can't vouch for that but the minaret and muqarna were still very nice.

Picture Three: (Yeni) Cenab-i Ahmed Camii, finished in 1566 during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Suleyman I and designed by his architect, Sinan. This was also closed for renovations and we couldn't get anywhere near the structure itself.

Pictures Four and Five: These give you some idea of how the shopping district and Ankara Kalesi (Castle of Ankara) look. Since I bought quite a bit the day before I refrained from any major purchases (with the exception of a little statue of Sultan Selim I for my desk in the history department), but we will be returning soon on a group excursion so I will have another chance to explore the area.

Now, as I said before only three out of the four mosques were closed, but you'll notice that the three above don't include any pictures or descriptions of the interiors. The one mosque that was open also happened to be on a narrow street so none of the pictures were terribly impressive, but I can assure you that the interior was gorgeous. Completed in 1389, the Ahi Elvan Camii featured more of the impressive woodwork that we saw at the mosque in Beypazari and its ceiling was supported by a number of wooden pillars topped off with recovered Greek and Roman capitals. However, since a few people were inside praying and the space was fairly dark I didn't feel comfortable trying to get pictures.

All in all the day was a success and a welcome reminder that when we are left to our own devices we can still be pretty productive. The program this year has been a bit overwhelming in the amount of our time that has been removed from our control. However, weekend after next we have about four free days that should afford a great chance to tour the mosques and museums of Istanbul and we have been told that another weekend will be opened up not long after that. I will have to hit up the tour guide and find some new areas to explore. This week we have a few more outings planned (possibly including a local wine-tasting festival!) and we will be taking a two-day camping trip over the weekend, so hopefully there are some more updates coming. For now, though, I should really try to finish my assigned composition on what it takes to live a happy life. Apparently, just writing that you should live in Turkey and eat kebab every day won't be enough to do well on the assignment. Back to the drawing board!

[Also, for our cultural lesson of the week: I learned tonight at dinner that I am not funny in Turkish. Cemile made a delicious meal of soup and yaprak dolmasi (grape leaves stuffed with rice). When commenting that I really enjoyed the yaprak, I made the mistake of calling them toprak, which means topsoil. Upon realizing this, I corrected myself and made the comment that the two are pretty different and that her stuffed grape leaves are much better (thanks again, Dad, for that completely inappropriate sense of humor!). But, given the speed with which the son interjected that I was just kidding, I can't help but think that I made a faux pas in mentioning her cooking in the same sentence as dirt. Another lesson learned!]