Layers of History

After several days of driving, walking, running, and touring through Istanbul, I think I've finally begun to comprehend the sheer size of Istanbul. The geography of Istanbul alone can overwhelm any unsuspecting tourist. Istanbul stretches across two continents and has a population of 12.8 million people, making it a true megacity. Istanbul has an intense, bustling, and almost chaotic environment. Like all cities of this magnitude, Istanbul has traffic jams, huge crowds, long lines, etc. But there is something about Istanbul that sets it apart from other cities of similar size.

What gives Istanbul a unique feel is not just because the city has an incredible history to go along with its large size, but the incredible amount of preservation of this history that has taken place here. Many empires and conquerors have emerged and receded over the centuries, but the evidence of their rule and existence has still remained. The one metaphor that seems the most appropriate to me, and there's no doubt that it's been used many times to describe Istanbul, is that of an onion. You're able to peel back the layers of history to see what older secrets lie beneath, and then again, and again. The top layer would be the new skyscrapers, western shopping malls, and hotels going up around the city, all signs of an emerging economy that will hopefully propel Turkey into the 21st century.

The deeper you go the older and more ancient the layers become. The Ottoman Empire stretches from the relatively modern 19th and 20th centuries all the way to the 15th century. And beyond that the Byzantine and Eastern Roman Empires, which were rooted in the Roman and Greek periods of control even earlier. In Istanbul it's not uncommon to see these layers quite literally taking shape in the form of new houses built on top of old ones, a brand new hotel constructed on top of ruins that are thousands of years old. Even the construction of a new subway system is delayed by the discovery of previously unknown ruins. The collision of ancient and modern is an interesting conflict that I've never seen before anywhere else in this world to this degree, yet it seems mundane in a city like Istanbul.

So far it seems that things that appear the most mundane in Istanbul are the most surprising to me and I find them the most engaging. There's something to be said for driving underneath a Roman aqueduct that was built in 368 AD after flying into Istanbul from a city in the United States where the oldest structure was probably constructed at the very earliest in the late 19th century. I think it might be this fact that causes the Turkish people have such a different sense of time compared to Americans. Turks cherish and enjoy moments of leisure in a way that's not like anything I've seen in the United States. It could be a group of friends spending a night having dinner, or a man enjoying his coffee for three or four hours in the evening in an outdoor cafe. There's certainly no need to slurp down something on the go, or to check one's watch while you're sitting and watching people stroll by.

And this is the way it should be. What better reminders of time are there than the dome of Hagia Sofia, the minarets of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, or the walls of Topkapi Palace? After the overwhelming sense of history and weight of these places pass you over, they serve as a pleasant indication that we're all just in passing in Istanbul and that you should take the time to enjoy every moment sipping tea or coffee that you can manage during your time here.