Panorama.am
12:54 14/07/2008
VIC DARCHINYAN AND DIMITRY KIRILOV MEET ON AUGUST 2
On August 2, in Takoma city, US boxers Vic Darchinyan and Dimitry
Kirilov will meet. Kirilov is to fight for protecting title of
champion in IBF rate in 52.2kg.
Kirilov received the title after the competing with American Khose
Navaro in October and later he had another meeting and kept his title.
Vic Darchinyan who presents Australia has been a champion of IBF rate
in 2004-2007.
Source: Panorama.am
PRESENCE OF FRENCH CO-CHAIR OF OSCE MG AT MILITARY PARADE IN BAKU IS AN OUTRAGEOUS FACT AND IS WORTH CONDEMNING BY ARMENIA, AN EXPERT THINKS
ArmInfo
2008-07-08 17:43:00
The presence of French Co-chairman of the OSCE Minsk Group
Bernard Fassier at the military parade in Baku is an outrageous
fact and diplomatic ignorance, Armenian political expert Levon
Melik-Shahnazaryan said at a press-conference at Urbat club, Tuesday.
According to him, the military parade at the main square of Baku was
an unsuccessful attempt to demonstrate strength and pressure on both
mediators and the countries interested in maintenance of peace in
the region.
"Azerbaijan didn’t even conceal this despite the fact that the
demonstrated strength was only seeming", the expert stressed. He
expressed confidence that the foreign ministries of Armenia
and Karabakh should have publicly responded to this and demanded
explanations from Fassier personally what he wanted to see or learn
at the parade and how his presence contributed to the success of
his intermediary activity. "Unfortunately, this wasn’t done for
inexplicable reasons". To recall, the military parade timed to the
90th anniversary of the Azeri Armed Forces took place in Baku on
June 26. During the parade, Azeri President Ilham Aliyev again made
militarist statements with respect to Armenia.
OLYMPIC GAMES ARE CLOSE AT HAND
A1+
08 July, 2008
Beijing 2008 Olympic Games initiate in a month and from now on China
is ready to receive her guests.
A month before the Olympic Games the construction processes are already
over. The games will chiefly be held in Beijing, though other great
cities of China will host tournaments too.
37 sports grounds have been renovated and constructed in China on
the occasion of the Olympic Games.
In the morning of June 28, China’s National Stadium resonated with
cheers. After years of hard work, the "Bird’s Nest" was finally
completed. President Liu Qi of BOCOG (Beijing Organizing Committee
for the Olympic Games), who is also a member of the CPC Central
Committee and secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee,
together with Guo Jinlong, vice-secretary of the Beijing Municipal
Party Committee, Mayor of Beijing and executive president of BOCOG,
were present at the National Stadium’s celebratory ceremony.
"After years of effort, the National Stadium is finally completed. We
hope that we can provide better services for the Olympic Games with
better equipment," remarked Li.
The National Stadium, known as the "Bird’s Nest," will serve as the
main venue of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It is located in the
Olympic Green and occupies 21.4 hectares. It stretches 333 meters from
north to south and 298 meters from east to west, covering an area of
258,000 square meters. The National Stadium is 68 meters high and
holds 91,000 seats. The opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008
Olympic Games, Athletics and Football events will be held in it.
The national stadium is surrounded in a sort of membrane. Unlike
China’s National Aquatics Center, or "Water Cube," another Olympic
venue which is also surrounded in this membrane, the Bird’s Nest
version is curved and double-layered, offering gracefully decorative
soundproof, wind-proof, rain-proof, and even UVA protection to its
already impressive body.
The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games are likely to be the best-organized
games throughout the world. The Main Press Center (MPC) for the
Beijing Olympics, together with the International Broadcast Center
(IBC), formally opened on Tuesday, July 8 and will follow a 24-hour
operation schedule between July 25 and August 27 for media crews
from around the world. The Chinese government, Beijing Municipal
Government and BOCOG have attached great importance to media services
with courtesy for media members a top consideration.
With a floor space of 62,000 square meters, the MPC is the largest
media center in Olympic history. Located within reach of the "Bird’s
Nest", "Water Cube", National Indoor Stadium, the Olympic Fencing Hall,
the Olympic Village, Media Village and other venues, the MPC allows
for more convenient news coverage and easy access by journalists.
The two media hotels are conjoined to the MPC, allowing for direct
flow between media work space and living quarters, setting a precedent
for the Olympic Games.
With 971 workstations, the press work room is also the largest in
Olympic history. Among these workstations, 680 are equipped with
electrical and network interface features to provide media crews with
optimal communication capabilities. An additional 206 workstations
will be available for photographers. W-LAN and laptop locks will
accompany all stations for user convenience. To date a record 144
media organizations have rented 110 offices at the facility.
AZERBAIJAN HAILS RUSSIA’S STANCE ON KARABAKH, POSITIVE ON OUTCOME OF VISIT
Interfax News Agency
July 4 2008
Russia
Baku, 4 July: Official Baku assesses the outcome of the official visit
of President of the Russian Federation Dmitriy Medvedev to Azerbaijan
"in the highest degree positive", Fuad Axundov, head of a sector at
the Presidential Executive Staff, has said.
"The latest visit and the outcome of the negotiations held in Baku have
again confirmed that as usual the Azerbaijani-Russian relations occupy
the highest place in the structure of the foreign policy priorities
of the two countries," Fuad Axundov told Interfax-Azerbaijan news
agency on Friday.
In his words, the most important outcome of the Baku summit of the two
countries’ leaders was the signing of the Declaration on Friendship
and Strategic Partnership. "Unlike the previous declarations, the
title of this document speaks for itself: it precisely fixes the
strategic nature and strategic prospects of bilateral relations,"
said Fuad Axundov.
Moscow’s position on the Karabakh conflict reflected in the document
is of special significance for Baku, he said. "In this context, Baku
is happy about the fact that the Russian side has again confirmed in
this document its position in favour of unacceptability of the forcible
change of internationally-recognized borders in the region and noted
the importance of a quick settlement of the conflict on the basis of
generally-accepted norms and principles of the international laws,"
Fuad Axundov said.
The economic section of the negotiations, where Azerbaijan’s interests
overlapped with Russia’s priorities, was not less productive, Fuad
Axundov said. "The sides agreed to intensify cooperation both in
traditional spheres of trade and economy and in new spheres, such
as the realization of joint investment projects, cooperation in the
sphere of highest technologies and nanotechnology, implementation
of investment projects at markets of third countries, draw up joint
programmes in the sphere of securing food security and so on," the
high-ranking official of the Azerbaijani authorities said.
"Last year Russia became the second trade partner of our country
with the figure of 1.5bn dollars. However, this figure is a long way
from being a limit in our rapidly developing economies, especially
as because of the results of the first four months of 2008, Russia
is in the third position on the list of the leading trade partners
of Azerbaijan after Italy and the USA," said Fuad Axundov.
United Nations screens `Screamers’ in Tokyo
armradio.am
04.07.2008 17:38
`Screamers,’ the documentary about genocide in the last century, with
music by the Grammy award-winning rock band `System of a Down,’ was
featured last week at the United Nations Refugee Film Festival 2008 in
Tokyo, sponsored by UNHCR and Japan for UNHCR, Business Wire reported.
UNHCR called the festival a `vital component of UNHCR’s year round
action plan to raise awareness of the plight and triumph of the world’s
33 million refugees and internally displaced persons. A select array of
films from across the globe gives voice to seldom-heard stories of
hope, despair, and resilience. In line with World Refugee Day’s theme
for this year, the festival draws attention to the human side of
refugees.’
`We included `Screamers’ in the festival this year because it looks at
the history of genocide and what is happening in Darfur–through the
eyes of history,’ says Festival Director Kirill Konin.
`Film is an important medium to introduce the many aspects of the lives
and circumstances of refugees across the world, and through this
entertainment vehicle, create better awareness and understanding,’ said
Angelina Jolie, UNHCR’s Goodwill Ambassador.
`Screamers’ examines the repeating pattern of genocide, from the
Armenian genocide, to the Holocaust, Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda, up to
Darfur today. After its theatrical release in the US and Canada, the
documentary was screened in the U.S. Congress, British Parliament and
European Parliament to raise awareness about Darfur and genocide
education. Sony BMG has recently launched `Screamers’ DVD.
Director Carla Garapedian, who has made documentaries about Afghanistan
and Chechnya, led discussion sessions at the UNHCR Festival for
`Screamers’ as well as `Letter to Anna,’ about the murder of Russian
journalist Anna Politkovskaya, directed by Eric Bergkraut, and `Kite
Runner,’ the uplifting story of truth and redemption in Afghanistan,
directed by Marc Foster. Director Steve Thomas was on-hand to discuss
his film `Hope’ about the journey of an Iraqi refugee family to
Australia.
`We must remember history,’ said Garapedian. `After the Armenian
genocide, the U.S. opened its doors to thousands of refugee survivors
from Ottoman Turkey, including my family. If they hadn’t done that, I
wouldn’t be here.’
Reforms Contributed to Upgrade of Armenia’s International Ratings
YEREVAN, July 4. /ARKA/. The upgrade of Armenia’s ratings is connected
with reforms being implemented by the country’s Government, Director
General of Armenian Development Agency Robert Harutyunyan said in an
interview with ARKA News Agency on Friday.
Fitch Ratings agency has upgraded Armenia’s long-term foreign and local
Issuer Default ratings (IDRs) to `BB’ from `BB-‘ (BB minus). The
Outlooks have been changed from Positive to Stable. The agency has also
upgraded the Country Ceiling to `BB+’ from `BB’ and affirmed the
Short-term IDR at `B’, says the Fitch report on Armenia.
Speaking about the risks Fitch agency pointed out in its report,
Harutyunyan said that they should be viewed properly. He said that
certain steps should be taken.
`It is obvious that Armenian authorities are gauging risks and trying
to minimize them to avoid risk development’, he said.
Fitch specialists say the risk of economy overheating runs high as
economy and incomes grow and macroeconomic policy tightens.
They say political risk that loomed large after presidential election,
post-election developments and brutal quelling of civil unrest hurt the
country’s solvency.
Now tension eased and the Government promises to implement some
structural reforms for solving social problems. Armenia’s political
risk doesn’t exceed rating category `BB’.-0—
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria
Armenian president invites his Turkish counterpart to soccer match
2008-07-05 17:58:08 –
YEREVAN, Armenia (AP) – Armenia’s president has invited Turkey’s
leader to Armenia to attend a soccer match between the countries’
national teams.
Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic relations and the border between
their countries has been closed for years. That’s because of Turkey’s
objections to Armenian forces’ occupation of the Nagorno-Karabakh
region of Azerbaijan. Also Armenia has insisted that the deaths of an
estimated 1.5 million ethnic Armenians under Ottoman rule in the early
20th century should be recognized as genocide.
But Turkey will play Armenia in a World Cup qualifier in the Armenia’s
capital on Sept. 6.
The invitation by Armenian President Serge Sarkisian to Turkey’s
Abdulla Gul was announced Saturday. Gul’s office had no immediate
comment.
BRITISH ORIENTALIST PAINTING AT THE TATE GALLERY THE LURE OF THE EAST
Yemen Times
July 03, 2008
Yemen
According to John Ruskin "amongst the most wonderful pictures in the
world": John Frederick Lewis’s A Frank Encampment in the Desert of
Mount Sinai
The Tate Gallery’s exhibition on British Orientalist Painting explores
the responses of British artists to the cultures and landscapes of
the Near and Middle East between 1780 and 1930. Susannah Tarbush
found out that the exhibits are more than just representations of an
"imperialist gaze"
The cover of the catalogue for the exhibition "The Lure of the East:
British Orientalist Painting" shows the 1881 oil painting An Arab
Interior by Scottish artist Arthur Melville. This captivating work
portrays a white-bearded man, long tobacco pipe in hand, seated
before a mashrabiyya, or latticed wooden screen. Exhibition curator
Nicholas Tromans notes: "The patterns of strong sunlight falling
through these screens into an interior became a favourite motif of
British painters." The subdued interior is gently brightened by the
rosy hues of the furnishings and the man’s dress. An Arab Interior
has an intimacy and warmth, and is an enticing introduction to the
exhibition of some 115 works by 46 artists which runs at the Tate
Britain gallery in London until the end of August.
Going East
The exhibition is organised in association with the Yale Center
of British Art, in Connecticut, where it was first displayed in
February-April this year. Following its run at Tate Britain the
exhibition will move, in partnership with the British Council, to
the Pera Museum in Istanbul (October-January) and Sharjah Art Museum
(February-April).
Most of the pictures date from the 19th century, when the arrival of
steam travel made parts of the Middle East and North Africa much more
accessible. Many British artists visited the Eastern Mediterranean
and its great cities. Some travelled directly by steamship. Others
went via Spain and Morocco, or through Greece and the Balkans.
Among the artists who brought back images of the Orient were Edward
Lear, William Holman Hunt, Thomas Seddon, David Roberts, Frank Dillon,
Lord Frederic Leighton and William James Muller (son of a Prussian
émigré).
New heights of achievement
The dominant presence in the exhibition is John Frederick Lewis,
represented by 32 works. Lewis lived in Cairo for a decade from 1841,
wearing local dress and living in a grand house. He executed nearly
600 watercolours and drawings during that time. Lewis is particularly
known for his beautifully detailed interiors and harem scenes, of
which the exhibition has fine examples including The Reception and
Hhareem Life, Constantinople.
In his masterpiece A Frank Encampment in the Desert of Mount Sinai,
1842, painted in 1856 Lewis’s watercolour technique reaches new
heights of achievement. Commissioned by Viscount Castlereagh, the
picture shows the aristocrat languidly resting in his tent during
a Artistic master of his subject: John Frederick Lewis painted An
Armenian Lady in Cairo in 1855
hunting expedition. Lewis’s close friend, the critic John Ruskin,
declared it "amongst the most wonderful pictures in the world".
There was exciting news for the organisers of the Tate Britain
exhibition when, a few weeks before it opened, three works they had
hoped to include but had been unable to locate were found in the Qatar
Orientalist Museum. The pictures, among them Lewis’s exquisite 1855 oil
An Armenian Lady in Cairo – The Love Missive, have been incorporated
into the exhibition.
The eyes of the young Armenian woman are lowered as if she is in
a reverie and she holds a posy. The picture resonates with certain
other works on show, by Lewis and others, in which the language of
flowers is an essential element.
Debates on Orientalism in art
Inevitably, especially in a year that marks the 30th anniversary
of publication of the late Edward Said’s hugely influential but
increasingly challenged book Orientalism, the exhibition is surrounded
by debates on Orientalism in art. The exhibition organisers have tried
to ensure that the issues are explored from both Western and Middle
Eastern perspectives. Thirty prominent people, including Arab, Turkish
and Jewish scholars and writers, have contributed their thoughts on
particular works which are displayed alongside the exhibits.
Two of the four introductory essays in the handsome 224-page catalogue
are by Arab women writers: Syrian Rana Kabbani and Moroccan Fatema
Mernissi. Kabbani’s essay, which is angry in tone, sees a link between
pictures painted at a time when Britain enjoyed military and economic
mastery over the peoples and places depicted, and the modern era
"in which Britain has again participated in the occupation of an
Arab country". She admits, though, that "many of these paintings have
managed to preserve a poignant visual record of places that are now
altered beyond recognition, or have vanished forever."
The West’s attitude towards the dark – and the nude
Mernissi adopts a more forgiving approach in her essay Seduced by
‘Samar’, or: how British Orientalist painters learned to stop worrying
and love the darkness. In her view the exhibition is "a wonderful
opportunity to probe the link between the West’s attitude towards the
dark and its fear of Islam". She concludes that the painters’ encounter
with a different world "led not to conflict but to creativity, and
we have much to learn from them."
Anyone coming to the exhibition in the hope of seeing lurid
and titillating examples of Orientalist art will be largely
disappointed. One point made by the organisers i John Frederick
Lewis lived in Cairo between 1841 and 1850. "Interior of a Mosque,
Afternoon Prayer (The ‘Asr)", was finished 1857, six years after his
return to England
s that there were marked differences between British Oriental artists
and those of certain other countries, in particular France. For all
his numerous paintings of harem scenes, John Frederick Lewis, unlike
some of his French counterparts, never painted a nude.
Tromans points out: "The iconography of the odalisque – the Turkish
sex slave whose image is offered up to the viewer as freely as
she herself supposedly was to her master – is almost entirely
French in origin." The odalisque is particularly associated with
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, in paintings such as The Turkish Bath
crowded with voluptuous nudes.
Combination of cruelty and eroticism
By way of drawing contrasts between the British and French Orientalist
painters’ approach, French painter Jean-Léon Gérôme’s For sale:
Slaves at Cairo is hung near the Scottish artist William Allan’s The
Slave Market, Constantinople. As typifies Gérôme’s slave market
paintings, For sale: Slaves at Cairo combines cruelty and eroticism –
one of the slaves is naked, long dark hair cascading down between her
breasts, others are revealingly clad. Allan’s painting, showing Turkish
slavers on horseback splitting up the women of a captured Greek family,
is melodramatic but has none of the prurience of Gérôme.
It would be a pity if the mass of debate over Orientalist art
acted as an invisible screen between visitors and the paintings on
display. One visitor whose preconceptions were turned upside down was
the British Asian Muslim columnist Yasmin Ablihai-Brown. She wrote
in the Independent newspaper that she had gone to the exhibition
prepared to detest the artists for presuming that through beauty
they could deny the unforgivable truth, that they were upholders of
illegitimate imperial privilege.
Instead: "All expectations fell away as I gazed upon painting after
painting, many of which seemed, to my eye, expressions of undeclared
love of the Middle East by white, Christian, upper-class gents,
their secret pain and longings, the conflict between head and heart,
between Antony and Cleopatra."
–Boundary_(ID_dnk0U0bLO50wpXG52 6Bd0Q)–
THE UNESCO PROCESS
Bangkok Post Wednesday July 02, 2008 Thailand
Montreal – The annual scramble for world heritage status opens
on Wednesday evening in Quebec City, where Cambodia and 40 other
countries are seeking the high-profile designation from Unesco for
cultural or natural sites.
The Cambodian application is perhaps the most political. But among
applicants are five countries seeking their first sites on the Unesco
list – Saudi Arabia, Kyrgyzstan, Papua New Guinea, San Marino and
Vanuatu.
Among Eastern European countries, Albania, Croatia, Czech Republic,
Bulgaria, the Russian Federation and Slovakia are applying for
recognition of special sites, and Hungary and Slovakia have a joint
application for designation of a network of fortifications where the
Danube and Vah rivers converge in Komarno.
In the Middle East, applicants include Yemen for its Socotra
Archipelago; Saudi Arabia for archaeological site al-Hijr; Iran for
the Armenian monastic ensembles in its Azerbaijan province; and Israel
for the triple-arch gate at Dan and the Bahai holy places in Haifa
and western Galilee.
The World Heritage Committee is chaired this year by Canada, which
planned the meetings. They conclude on July 10, and coincide with
the kickoff of Quebec City’s 400th anniversary celebrations as one of
North America’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. Those festivities
begin Thursday.
Unesco’s World Heritage list currently includes 851 properties of
"outstanding universal value," including 660 cultural, 166 natural
and 25 mixed properties in 141 countries.
At least 30 are on an endangered list, meaning they either need
special attention to preserve them or have risked being delisted
because conservators have failed either to take proper care of the
sites or to comply with Unesco rules.
Among those on the endangered list is one of Germany’s most historic
and scenic areas of 18th and 19th century significance, the Dresden
Elbe Valley.
German authorities had decided to build a bridge in the heart of
the well-known landscape against the advice of Unesco, which urged
a tunnel. Warnings were issued about the site’s status in 2006 after
the decision to build the bridge was taken.
No site has ever been delisted from the programme, but the issue is
on the agenda for this year, Unesco said in a press release.
Cambodia is seeking designation for its millennium-old temple, Preah
Vihear, dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva.
In a compromise in May, Cambodia agreed to redraw the inscription
map, including only the temple, but the move would limit Unesco’s
say over how Preah Vihear would be preserved, officials in Cambodia
and Thailand said.
And Thailand has been enjoined by a court decision on Monday that it
must refrain from direct support for the Cambodian application. (dpa)
A WALK AROUND OLD Ä°STANBUL: ZEYREK, FATIH, FENER AND BALAT
Today’s Zaman
Turkey
26.06.08
It is impossible to walk around the narrow, cobbled streets of the
walled city of old Ä°stanbul without thinking of those who have
preceded you over the centuries.
The feet of pious Byzantine Greek clergyman, loutish Crusaders from
the less-civilized parts of Europe, proud Ottoman paÅ~_as with their
retinues of servants, Armenian merchants, Jewish shopkeepers and gypsy
fortunetellers, amongst countless others, have tramped these streets.
But for anyone attempting to write about walking around the old city
two much more contemporary figures immediately spring to mind: Hilary
Sumner-Boyd and John Freely. Their "Strolling through Ä°stanbul,"
an erudite labor of love first published in 1972, describes 23 walks
through one of the world’s greatest cities — and if you really want
to get to know this venerable metropolis, get a hold of a copy and
walk their walks. Here, in the meantime, is a description of a meander
on foot through one of the most fascinating and little-visited areas
of the old city: the northwest quarter. Bounded by the land walls of
Theodosius to the north, the Golden Horn to the east, busy Ataturk
Buvarı to the south and Fevzi PaÅ~_a Caddesi to the west, it, unlike
most of this rapidly expanding city, has changed little over the last
50 or so years. Allow a full day for the outing though you could,
of course, abandon the route at several points or join it beyond the
suggested start-point.
Begin on Ataturk Bulvarı, just north of where restoration work is
under way on a Byzantine cistern. Head steeply uphill on Ä°ftaiye
Caddesi, then take a sharp right, up onto İbedethane Sokagı, then
again right onto Adalet Sokagı where you’ll find the entrance to
Zeyrek Camii, shaded by an enormous plane tree and once the important
Byzantine monastery-church of Christ Pantacrator. To have a look
inside you’ll need to track down the caretaker, but be warned, the
interior is quite shabby and the plans to restore this church/mosque
to its original glory are slow in materializing. Retrace your steps
to İbedethane Sokagı. Heading west, this soon becomes Cırcır
Caddesi. Continue north and west, crossing NevÅ~_ehirli Caddesi. If
it’s a Wednesday, you’ll soon find yourself surrounded by the sights,
sounds and smells of the city’s biggest daily bazaar. Artichoke
hearts float invitingly in buckets of water and white mulberries,
plump red cherries, delicate orange-pink apricots and deep purple-red
plums adorn the stalls in the fruit and vegetable section of this busy
street market. Turn left up Yeserizade Sokagı and enter the grounds
of imposing Fatih Camii — an oasis of peace after the bustle of the
market. After exploring this fine mosque, exit its grounds from the
northwest and follow DaruÅ~_Å~_afaka Caddesi. Turn right and head
south, down on broad Yavuz Selim Caddesi to the dramatically situated
mosque complex of the Yavuz Selim (Selimiye) Camii — a most austere
yet successful design often — wrongly — assigned to the great
architect Sinan. The sunken recreation/park area on your left as you
approach the mosque was once the Byzantine-era Aspar Cistern. On a
side street to the right is the Sultan Sarnıc, a recently restored
covered Byzantine cistern with a lovely vaulted brick ceiling and
rows of reused Roman columns and Corinthian capitals supporting it —
but note that it is now a function room rather than a museum.
Having explored Selimiye Camii and its tombs, head northwest onto
Sultan Selim Caddesi and turn left. Bear right in front of a quaint
19th century neo-classical building — now a police station — and
follow Manyasızade Sokagı, which soon becomes Fethiye Caddesi. Reach
the former Byzantine church of Theotokos Pammakaristos by taking
a sharp right onto Fethiye Sokagı. Two-thirds of this attractive
building, formerly the Church of Theotokos Pammakaristos, still
function as a mosque, though again it may well be locked outside
prayer times. The other third, however, was once a side-chapel or
paracclesion of the main church. This has been turned into a museum
and has some wonderful late-Byzantine mosaics. Now return to Fethiye
Caddesi and continue west, down on Draman Caddesi. The Kefeli Camii,
above you on the left, was once a Byzantine church — the apse is
clearly visible on the eastern wall. At the bottom of the hill turn
left, then immediately right, up Nester Sokagı, before taking a
sharp right to the stunning Kariye Camii, once the Byzantine Church
of St. Savior in the Chora. This has some of the most impressive
Byzantine mosaics in the world and is one of Ä°stanbul’s most important
historical sites. Having basked in the glories of Byzantine religious
art, if you’re hungry the food and ambience of the Asithane restaurant,
right next to the museum/mosque/church, are unbeatable — though pricy.
It’s pretty much downhill/level from now on. Head down Kariye Turbesi
Sokagı, admiring the fortitude of the vendors pushing handcarts
of potatoes and onions or pogaca (savory breads) up and down these
steep cobbled streets. Turn left onto Sultan CeÅ~_mesi Sokagı,
passing the unusual wood-built Meydancık Camii, then down onto
Mektebi Sokagı. You are now in the neighborhood of Balat. Here, on
KanıÅ~_ Sokagı, is the Armenian church of Surp HreÅ~_dagabet. Both
Christians and Muslims come to take the supposedly miraculous waters
of the ayazma (sacred spring) and every Sept. 14 sheep and other
animals are sacrificed here in the hope of miraculous cures for the
sick — with Muslims and Christians taking part side by side. Next
to it is an Armenian school, dating to 1866, more recently used
as a warehouse. Unless you have arranged permission from the Chief
Rabbinate earlier, the Ahrida Synagogue just down from the church will
be closed. Many Jews once lived in this area, along with their Muslim
and Christian neighbors. Head southeast down Vodina Caddesi, then
cut through towards the Golden Horn, down Cicekli Sokagı. There’s
a welcome traditional cayhane (teashop) here, with an interesting
antique shop opposite.
Great places to eat
If you didn’t splurge at the Asithane, an altogether different
culinary experience is to be had at the small restaurant at the
corner of Cicekli Sokagı and Mursel PaÅ~_a Caddesi. The Arnavutköy
Köftecisi has been trading for over 60 years, dispensing iÅ~_kembe
corbası (tripe-soup) and delicious köfte to all comers. This eating
place doesn’t have a sign outside and there are only six 1950s tables,
each covered in a different pastel-colored Formica top, but for local
atmosphere and tasty food it’s hard to beat (closed Sundays). Take
care crossing busy Ayvansaray Caddesi to the prominent neo-Gothic
St. Stephens of the Bulgars, a late 19th century cast-iron church
set in a strip of park edging the Golden Horn. Follow the park for a
short while, passing the Women’s Library (Kadın Kutuphanesi) housed
in an old stone-built Greek house. Where the strip of park runs out,
re-cross the road and turn more or less immediately right, then left,
to reach the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate. This is the spiritual heart
of the world’s Orthodox Christian population and the attached Church
of St. George is usually very busy on summer Sunday mornings and at
Easter. Just beyond the patriarchate, the Kozz restaurant, attached to
the Daphnis Hotel, does decent meals, cake and coffee. The 19th century
neo-classical building opposite is now a Greek school, but has only six
pupils. Rejoin Ayvansaray Caddesi and head southeast for around 400
meters. Turn right on Ayak Kapı Sokagı, then take the second left
to reach Gul Camii, formerly the Church of St. Theodosia. It is said
to get its name, the Rose Mosque, because when the Ottoman soldiers
entered it following the capture of the city on May 29, 1453, it was
still decorated with the roses put there by the Christian Byzantine
defenders of the city to mark the feast day of St. Theodosia — also
on May 29. Retrace your steps onto Ayvansaray Caddesi, turn right and
ring the bell on the compound door of the Aya Nikola Greek Orthodox
church, dating from the mid 19th century. A little further down on
the right is the Cıbali Gate, piercing a surviving section of the
sea walls. These mighty fortifications once ran from the eastern
terminus of the land walls, right along the Golden Horn, round the
promontory of Saray Burnu and then all along the Sea of Marmara to
link up with the western end of the land walls. You can now relax a
little, cross the main road and walk along the water’s edge to the
Ataturk Bridge. From here either take a bus or walk along the banks
–Boundary_(ID_sbsAJvyv0ud5XbTZyPxztg)–