Istanbul Backpacker

A tughra is a calligraphic seal or signature of an Ottoman sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. It was also carved on his seal and stamped on the coins minted during his reign.

Calligraphy, the artistic practice of handwriting, the art of fancy lettering , the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious and skillful manner...

Selimiye Barracks and the docks of Harem seen from Bosphorus. During the Crimean War (1854-1856), the barracks were converted into a temporary military hospital. On November 4, 1854, Florence Nightingale arrived in Scutari with 38 volunteer nurses. They cared for thousands of wounded soldiers, and drastically reduced the high mortality rate by improving the sanitary living conditions until she returned home in 1857 as a heroine. During the Crimean campaign, Florence Nightingale gained the nickname "The Lady with the Lamp", deriving from a phrase in a report in The Times:

The German Fountain is a gazebo styled fountain in the northern end of ancient Roman-Byzantine hippodrome, Sultanahmet Square, Istanbul, Turkey. It was constructed to commemorate German Emperor Wilhelm's visit to Istanbul in 1898. It was built in Germany, then transported piece by piece and assembled in its current site in 1900. The neo-Byzantine style fountain's octagonal dome has eight marble columns, and dome's interior is covered with golden mosaics.

Photo: Hagia Irene Church seen from Istanbul ferry over the Ruins of Byzantium. Hagia Irene is a former Eastern Orthodox church located in the outer courtyard of Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, Turkey. The building reputedly stands on the site of a pre-Christian temple. It ranks, in fact, as the first church built in Constantinople. Roman emperor Constantine I commissioned the first Hagia Eirene church in the 4th century. In 381 the First Council of Constantinople took place in the church. It served as the church of the Patriarchate before Hagia Sophia was completed in 537.

One of the musts of travel in Istanbul is fish and bread. The Galata Bridge spans the Golden Horn in Istanbul, Turkey. From the end of the 19th century in particular, the bridge has featured in Turkish literature, theater, poetry and novels.

MS Cristal at Tophane Quay in front of luxury hotels and best apartments of Bosphorus, Istanbul.

Porcelain plates and gifts at Spice Bazaar of Istanbul.

Photo: Spice shop in Istanbul Spice Bazaar. The Spice Bazaar is one of the oldest bazaars in Istanbul. Located in Eminönü, it is the second largest covered shopping complex after the Grand Bazaar.

Inside Sultanahmet Blue Mosque

Galata Tower & Bridge Istanbul 2010, European Capital of Culture, building bridges between the cultures.

MS Silver Spirit, on Bosphorus, Istanbul , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia.blogspot.com .

An Englishman who has lived in both New York and Istanbul, John Ash is one of the great masters of poetic clarity. His books on the Byzantine world and ancient Anatolia are widely admired for their elegance and candor. "These poems believe intensely in the world they bear witness to.so vividly do they believe in the happenstance they behold that at times they go for quiet, unemphatic ways of talking, perfectly registered" Rain Taxi. To the City » Barnes & Noble.com

Antique Oil Lamp , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia .

The event at the center of this refreshingly conceived cycle of poems is Italian painter Gentile Bellini's sojourn in Istanbul in 1479. Poems undulate out from this experience as the poet carves poetic sculptures that explore the themes of art, archaeology, and the idea of cultural transmission. These insightful contemplations are delicately honed by the author's own experience in Turkey, ultimately fashioning a mirror to history that reflects the landscape of self. Read more on this: Bellini in Istanbul, Barnes & Noble.com

Curious Cat at Istanbul Kavak Pier , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia.blogspot.com . Curious cat at Istanbul Bosphorus Kavak Pier.

Galata Tower , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia.blogspot.com . The Galata Tower , called Christea Turris (Italian, "Tower of Christ") by the Genoese, is a medieval stone tower in the Galata district of Istanbul, Turkey, just to the north of the Golden Horn. One of the city's most striking landmarks, it is a high, cone-capped cylinder that dominates the skyline and affords a panoramic vista of Old Istanbul and its environs. More >>> Galata borrows its name from Galatians, Celts of Anatolia , stayed here for a while on the way to ancient Ankyra (Ankara), Pessinus (near Ankara) and Tavium near Yozgat today. More >>>

Hagia Sophia , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia.blogspot.com . Hagia Sophia , "The Holy Wisdom of God" viewed from Sultanahmet. Famous in particular for its massive dome, it is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture and one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. It was the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years, until the completion of the Medieval Seville Cathedral in 1520. >>

Golden Sunset at Istanbul Bosphorus , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia.blogspot.com .

Haydarpaşa Pier - Istanbul , originally uploaded by voyageAnatolia.blogspot.com . Istanbul Haydarpasa Pier and ferry in the night viewed from Kadikoy Pier.