Istanbul is where the orient meets the occident. It is where Asia and Europe diverge, or rather converge. All seems to be in harmony here. Split by the Bosphorus at the Golden Horn, Istanbul carries millennia of history, buried in her stone-paved streets and taverns. She has certain elegance despite the blue and dreamy cloud wrapped around her. A feel of nostalgia has conquered her—nostalgia for an unknown something that has never existed to begin with. During the weekends, most Istanbulite would drink vodka, barhop, drink more vodka, and then go to a hookah bar to drink cay, eat some baklava, and smoke hookah at 5 a.m. No matter what life brought, I could always drink a glass of wine, smoke a cigarette, and watch the sun set down by the Bosphorus strait. I could go to Nayah to listen to reggae music or Raven to get the world’s best peppermint mojitos. Perhaps I could stop by Peyote where I met a Turkish TV-star and made friends with him. Or I could just wave at my friends from my apartment, located directly in front of Peyote. Perhaps, I could go to the Blue Mosque and listen to the call for prayer from one of the six minarets. Or even …show more content…
She holds some kind of hidden power in her oceans, enabling me to travelling across two continents in only seventeen minutes. One of her avenues took me to Topkapi Palace, home to the grand Ottoman Sultans for over 400 year, entailing hundreds of gold-decorated pavilions. The other avenue was filled with hundreds of thousands of hardcore soccer fans who were blocking up streets and raising their favorite team’s flag. The other avenue was where university students were protesting against the main party in power. The avenue in tangent to that was where the Pride Parade took place. The main streets were filled with Iranian singers, Kurdish dancers, Arabic guitar players, and for some reason, there was always that one American guy who stood by himself, trying to sing an Ed Sheeran
In the following essay, I will be comparing the Hagia Sophia in the City of Istanbul, and the Suleymaniye Mosque of Istanbul. Both of these pieces of art are very significant to the in modern-day Turkey. The art pieces will be covered in more detail further on in this comparative essay, and finally, I will be judging the pieces at the end of this essay
Chambers, Richard L. "History of the Ottoman Empire - Decline and Fall." Turkey Travel Guide. The University of Chicago, n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Prior to the 1900’s, the Ottoman Empire was a major country in Europe, with a vast sense of power that could be seen by all, however as the 1900’s got closer, the Ottoman Empire went into decline and would ultimately lead to their collapse. The Ottoman empire prior to their decline had a huge stake in European Society, due to the fact that they were located at a major trading area that every country in Europe wanted. The ability of having a major geographically advantage lead to the Ottoman having one of the biggest stake in European trade. The Ottoman Empire was a long lasting nation that helped develop European both socially and economically through its lifetime(Quataert Donald Vol 34), making a distinct cultural society that were adapted by almost every country within Europe.
This has not been and easy task, the history and geographical location of Turkey. It lies at a "crossroads" where the two large continents of Europe and Asia meet. This unique location gives Turkey a very diverse populations, Balkan, Mediterranean, Middle Eastersn, Caucasian and Asian identities. This has highly influenced its Foreign Polocy. Its primary objective is in short to develope friendly relations with all countries, most partic...
Clow, Kate. "Ottoman Empire." Encyclopedia of Modern Asia. Ed. Karen Christensen and David Levinson. Vol. 4. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2002. 398-401. World History in Context. Web. 30 Apr. 2014.
As we look back into both long moments in history, we can see how the two, while starting out along the same path and beliefs, had branched away from one another. These differences, whether influences by outside or internal sources, helped shape not only the future for their worlds but also for ours. If it had not been for Constantinople’s prime trade location, or had they ignored the opportunity, they too could have easily stifled their economic and cultural growth. While the Medieval Western European culture was slower to expand, they did eventually blossom, prosper and survive.
Throughout our entire lives we have always been told that drugs are bad. They have terrible consequences on our bodies, and can cause us to do things that we wouldn’t normally consent to do in a sober state. Drugs can have adverse and varying effects on people, but no matter what the drug is we have been made to believe that its use is bad. What if a drug was more than just a way to escape reality, or to feel good? Peyote is a drug that has had more than just physical use and meaning to people for over 400 years. It is used as a spiritual catalyst by many Native Americans, and is believed by them to cause a direct psychic link to God. People around the country have varying views on peyote use, but who can say that it is bad? If the drug does have bad effects on the body, Native Americans have surely accepted that as a reasonable tradeoff for the spiritual journey peyote brings. So is peyote as a drug, or it’s use in Native American religion, bad?
Located in the province of Xianjing, the Uyghurs are isolated by massive mountains, deserts, Communist China, and extreme poverty. The Uyghurs are of Turkic origin, and were one of the 9 original tribes. One of these tribes, the Ottomans, sacked Constantinople in 1459, starting the rein of the Sultans for 400 years. The superpower carved a massive empire, from its roots in Turkey, to spread from the Russian steppes to the Alps to India, and stamping their name on history in blood. European history in the 1400‘s, 1500‘s, and 1600‘s centered on the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire and the Arabic people carved two massive empires in an extremely short time. They crushed the medieval christian kingdoms around Jerusalem, and quickly started attacking Christian kingdoms in Spain, Greece, and the Balkans. These conflicts between Muslims and Christians have been the longest and bloodiest in the history of the world, and still persist today. These Ottomans are, understandably, the most wel...
Much like that of the Byzantines before them, the Ottoman Empire served as a link between Europe and Asia, and greatly benefited from the profits of the exchange that was perennially flowing over these geographic boundaries; this era came to be known as the Golden Age of the Ottoman Empire. Although there can be many identifications and definitions for the means by which the Ottoman Empire was able to exert such a powerful degree of influence, military right, and cultural dynamism. It will be the purpose of this analysis to discuss and analyze the means by which a continual process of centralization can ultimately be understood as one defining force, that allowed the Ottoman Empire to thrive throughout this period of the “Golden Age.”
Nostalgia is, by definition, a longing for another person. It is an idealized past, or a combination of many different memories; all integrated together, and in the process all negative emotions filtered out (google). I believe that nostalgia is a term that I believe to be overused, misunderstood, and often confused with the act of remembering or reminiscing. Nostalgia is the emotional attachment; longing to go back to that memory, it often overcomes one without warning. I believe we all have the capacity of nostalgia, but the over labeling has cheapened such a unique raw feeling. As a society, we have misrepresented nostalgia and the effects are a water downed replacement. We are muddling the true definition of nostalgia. This misuse will
Orient Express- is one of the world's most famous luxury trains, which made its maiden voyage from Paris in 1883 to Istanbul; its last regular scheduled servi...
The Ottoman Empire had humble roots. Beginning as an Ottoman state, it progressively rose to power to become an empire. As a state, the Ottoman state started as a small state in current-day western Turkey. Based on Muslim beliefs and rule, the Ottoman State began to dissolve surrounding Muslim states, which were absorbed into the future empire. This move thereby ended all the other Turkish dynasties. The Ottoman Empire was marked as one of the largest, longest lasting empires. The Ottoman Empire lasted from the late 13th century to 1923. Throughout it’s time, the Ottoman Empire was remarked as highly successful and progressive. But like all empires, the Ottoman Empire had to make its end. The Ottoman Empire, like all dynasties, went through its rise, peak, and falling periods. This essay assesses each period in the Ottoman Empire's history.
Turkey is a country with a vibrant and colorful culture located between Europe and Asia. It has a booming economy of tobacco, cotton, hazelnuts, olives, and livestock. On October 23, 1923, the European land of Thrace and the Asian portion of the land of Anatolia known as the Ottoman Empire became to be the country of Turkey. The Country’s capital changed from Istanbul to Ankara in 1922 after the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The population of Turkey is around 72,907,000 people, mostly made up of Turks and Kurds. For the most part, Turkey’s culture has become very modern and up to date with most technology, internet, mobile data service providers, import and export, entertainment, and access to information. In short, the country’s past has been monumental in both the political, geographical, and biblical standpoint.
The history of turkey is a very long and detailed one. Turkey was originally settled by groups of farmers probably thousands of years ago. Today, historians call these people the Hittites. During their time, the Hittites were ruled by kings, and had their high officials buried in shaft tombs. Shortly after the Hittites moved in, Indo-Europeans moved into the area, and formed the kingdom of the Hittites, with the capital being Hattusa. The kingdom survived for hundreds of years. However environmental changes, migrations of new people, and a weak government ended the kingdom. After the downfall of the Hittite kingdom, Assyrians and Persians conquered the land and settled the kingdom of Lydia. But, this kingdom didn’t last long, as Alexander the Great conquered the Persians in the battle of Issus in 333 BC. to claim the land. In 63 BC., Roman general Pompey conquered the land and it became part of the massive Roman Empire. In 330 AD., Constantine, the emperor of the Roman Empire moved the Empire's capitol from Rome, to the city of Byzantium in modern day Turkey. Byzantium had its name changed to Constantinople when Constantine converted to Christianity. The Roman Empire split in 395 AD., and the Byzantine Empire continued to rule the land. During the early 1000's, the Seljuk Turks became one of the first Islamic peoples to rule in modern Turkey. The Seljuk Turks began to replace the area's Greek language and Christian religion with the Turkish language and the Islamic religion. The Seljuk ...
Nostalgia. Such a simple word for something that causes us to feel many emotions. Listening to a certain song may make us feel sad and long for past times while watching some TV shows make you feel like a kid again. Countless studies have been conducted to understand the concept of nostalgia and to understand why it causes us to feel the way we do. Even though we all experience nostalgia on more than one occasion in our lifetime, it 's not uncommon for people to go through their lives feeling different types of nostalgia without knowing there 's a word to describe this feeling. There are many different definitions for the word nostalgia but the most basic and common is a feeling of longing for the past. Now that you’ve got a basic understanding