Imperial Istanbul

[www.sercan.de]

Ayia Triada - Holy Trinity Church





Beyoglu Municipality


"Genua District" (am i right Kuvacci)

[www.sercan.de]

Fener Greek Lycée

[Kuvvaci]

Sercaan the buidling you showed as Ganua dictrict is an old Gizvitian Church, wich is called as Arabic Mosque today... Fener Greek Highschool is also Patiarchy...

[Allan]

imperial Istanbul 2 threadini acma zamani geldi

[Lombak]

Allan,this thread turned out to be one of my favorites.Please don't divide this to two different threads,please keep one great thread.Thanks again buddy.

[Allan]

No problem, sir!

[Lombak]

Thanks Allan.

[dcb11]

Where were the first pictures you posted taken? Beyoglu? They look like nowhere in Istanbul that i've been.

Great thread, by the way, but there definitely are MANY poorer, dirtier areas in Istanbul that have clearly been left out. Istanbul is incredibly diverse. There are huge slum areas that are what one might call "3rd world," but theres also monumental Sultanahmet and fashionable Beyoglu, both of which could easily be found in Western Europe (that is, if it wasn't for all the stunning Islamic architecture). This thread shows the monumental and fashionable parts of Istanbul, but not the poorer parts. The images "westerners" have of Turkey may be flawed, but the image propogated by this thread won't be any better unless the poorer side of Turkey is shown.

That being said, I have to say Istanbul is one of the most amazing cities I've ever visited. I highly recommend a visit.

[Allan]

it looks like you haven't visited Istanbul's many non-touristic areas and I don't know when you have visited, but things have incredibly changed within the last 5-6 years. With a growing economy, and a tourism sector, many old districts and neighbourhoods of Istanbul have been renovated, and many "poor" sections have been reconstructed. This process is still continuing and Turkish government has taken serious steps. Take a look at these pictures.This is an old and newly renovated neighbourhood of Istanbul.







I think things are getting better under the very successful mayor of Istanbul.Having said that "poor" areas of Istanbul and Turkey no where close to the ones found in South America or in India. Yes there are poor areas of Turkey but still way better than many, I mean many, countries.

PS.
No matter what i do here, i can't change the negative image of Turkey that people have in mind, because of media, islam, midnight express, prejudice and many other things so I don't even attempt!

[Giorgio]

Istanbul has changed alot.....i was there in 84 and it was a mess (no offence) it smelt funny i wasnt likeing it....i went back in 2002...it changed dramatically..like it was a new city. Same thing that happened to athens after the olympics. Istanbul looks really european now.

[MetroGuardian]

it looks great,
so diverse !

[www.sercan.de]

thats anothre piont why i love this cits...its positive development is so fast...unbelieveable...i hope in some years the old istanbul we be back

[www.sercan.de]

Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque

[space_invader]

strange comments above.

i was there in 1983, 1987 and 1991 and it was abssolutely stunning then as it is now.

it's true that much has been done but even still, the experience i had when i was there was extremely positive.

As for the slums etc - why the hell should they be posted here? This is about Imperial Istanbul and all its glory - if you want see slums start another thread. Maybe i should post some of Glasgow's poor areas. I think dcbll would be surprised at the povert in his own country.

Allan - these pics are getting more and more impressive - I actually think many people online will be shocked at how little they know of Istanbul. I cannot think of a more beautiful city.

Istanbul looks like Istanbul; European, Asian, Ottoman, Levantine - that's its beauty - i hope it stayas like that.

[dcb11]

space_invader, I would not be surprised at all about poverty in my own country, which by the way is the US. I'm just in the UK for the year, but I've done quite a lot of exploration around very poor areas. I know poverty exists in both the UK and the US. I'm ESPECIALLY familar with the poor areas of Glasgow that you mentioned.

If someone accused Birmingham, for example, of being and ugly industrial city, I could post pictures of Selfridges and other redevelopments, but what would that prove? Nothing. If someone said "Birmingham is COMPLETELY ugly and industrial," then my pics might prove something.

When was the last time I was in Istanbul? Let's see... that would be about two weeks ago.

Yes, my experience of Istanbul was extremely positive as well. I just think that people do have an image of Turkey as more backward than it is, but these photos show Istanbul as more, um, European than it really is. Istanbul is a mix of Europe and Asia, rich and poor, areas like the ones in the photos and areas that are poorer. You are certainly not obligated to post pictures of slums and poorer areas if you don't want to, but you should just know that posting photos from wowturkey is not a good way to change peoples conceptions of Turkey. People should simply take these pictures for what they are. They show that Istanbul has SOME areas that are nice. There's nothing wrong with a thread about these areas. Most tellingly, however, street level shots of areas like Fatih and Fener are not present, although buildings in Fatih and Fener are. The photograhers aimed their cameras up to keep the viewer from seeing the run-down areas. Similarly, if you want to post pictures of the Upper West and Upper East sides of Manhattan, please do so, but don't say "See, the US has a reputation for having decaying inner cities, but I don't see any here!"

For one thing, the newer areas in these photos are also the ones that are the most "Western." While these areas are nice and do show that Turkey is becoming wealthier, they also diminish the idea of Istanbul as a cultural bridge a great deal. If you think posting pictures of Istanbul's poorer areas is a negative thing, then you obviously don't appreciate the full vibrancy of the city. The poorer non-Western areas aren't, contrary to what you may believe, a liability to the city. They are, rather, a great asset.

The bottom line is that these pictures show a very small proportion of Istanbul, which I have explored quite heavily. Even Beyoglu, which is probably the most "Western" area, is still very poor compared to what is seen in these pictures. I'll post some pics I took from the top of Galata Tower at some point. Turkey, like China, is still a developing country, despite what official tourism bureau pics might suggest. Nevertheless, Turkey has enormous potential, and Istanbul is already one of the world's greatest cities.

[Lombak]

dcb11,when Allan opened this thread he mentioned it's "for architecture lovers",and he really kept this thread extremly focused on this subject mostly showing the buildings new and old.Like everyone knows that most large metropolises has slums and ugly neighborhoods noone can deny.But showing slums in a thread which is for "architecture lovers" doesn't make any sense.It's like showing Manhattan for the architecture but including Bronx's left alone blocks after blocks deserted neighborhoods.Lets take one thread a time.

[Allan]

click here to see some aerial pictures of Istanbul:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=153675

[panamared]

wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee .

[System_Halted]

Originally Posted by Giorgos69

Istanbul has changed alot.....i was there in 84 and it was a mess (no offence) it smelt funny i wasnt likeing it....i went back in 2002...it changed dramatically..like it was a new city. Same thing that happened to athens after the olympics. Istanbul looks really european now.

The smell was probably coming from Golden Horn (Haliç), which was badly poluted by the overpassing ships and most importantly industrial/domestical wastes at that times. Now it is fully cleaned, and up to chemical tests, water of Golden Horn is even safe enough to swim.

[www.sercan.de]

unfortunately most of the people still think that IStanbul is a city in a desert...the Hagia Sophia is the centre and around it 12 millions people live in slums...

AS you said "even" in Beyoglu thre are poor districts...actually these disticts/buildings are very old and poorer peolpe live there.
But last year the city begun to renovate whole Beyoglu. The Rue Française is the first finished project of it.