Tag: Topkapi Palace

Turkey Taps Arab World For Tourist Dollars

The Ottoman-era Topkapi Palace, foreground, one of landmarks of Turkey's largest city and the country's cultural and economic capital, Istanbul (file photo)

Hard economic times in Europe is hitting the tourist industry in Turkey. But the country is enjoying a rather surprising dividend in the growing popularity of its prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan across the Middle East. It is proving an increasingly popular destination for Arab tourists.

When he arrived in Cairo last month, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received the sort of welcome usually reserved for rockstars.

Thousands of cheering Egyptians turned out to see Mr. Erdogan who has strongly supported the Arab Spring uprising and waged a diplomatic war against Israel.

And, as a result of his popularity in Middle Eastern countries, Arab tourists are now choosing to visit Turkey.

Here in Istanbul on the city’s main street, Istiklal cad, throngs of Arab tourists are now a common sight. Its predicted nearly 2 million Arab tourists will visit Turkey this year, nearly double last year’s number.

For many, like Ahmet from Kuwait, the almost cult status of Mr. Erdogan was a reason why he chose to spend his vacation in Istanbul.

“Erdogan , nice guy,” said Ahmet. “You know there is a relation between all Muslims. Because I heard about Erdogan I came here, nice country. Before I go U.K. and U.S., Malaysia.”

Shops are adapting fast to this new trend. In this shopping mall, signs in Arabic have appeared everywhere next to the customary English one.

And that’s not surprising. Arab tourists, many of whom are from oil rich countries, have a reputation for having much deeper pockets than many of their cash-strapped European counterparts.

That means a major boost to the economy, according chief economist Emre Yigit from the financial trading house Global Securities.

“If you go out on the streets in Istanbul, one can very safely say one has never seen as many Arab tourists in Turkey, and we know that overall number of tourists is also increasing rapidly in 2011,” said Yigit. “So it looks like its going to be a bumper year for tourism. And there is circumstantial evidence that the Arab tourists are relatively good spenders as well. So they are supporting the economy it appears.”

Turkey is cashing in on its growing prestige, aggressively targeting Middle Eastern tourists.

And, Arab tourism is more than a welcome boost for many of Istanbul’s hotels.

At the CVK hotel in central Istanbul, Manager Edip Celick says Arab tourists are now the main source of customers.

“European Union for crisis, no came from Greece no came from Spanish,

Celick. “But all hotel 60 or 70 percent Arabic people stay in hotel. And the for Arabic people like the shopping mall and their first question [is] ‘Where is the shopping mall?’”

But its not only shopping and Turkey’s growing regional prestige that attracts tourists. It’s also Turkish television soaps that air in several Arab countries.

The highly produced programs, many with their comparatively risque story lines, by conservative Arab standards, are proving so popular that many Arabs come to visit the film locations.

Aydar Sengec is guiding around the latest group of Arab tourists to visit one of Istanbul’s mansions on the shoreline of the Bosphorus waterway. The building features in one of the biggest Turkish TV hits in the Middle East. Sengec says they are overwhelmed by the interest shown by Arabs.

“The visitors come from Saudi Arabia,” said Sengec. “All these people come from the Middle East also north Africa, from Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco. There are 3,000 people who came in two months. Especially woman. They like the characters. They like the story. Because the story is familiar, the same family relations.”

One of those visiting is Kuwaiti Asla. She says they just can’t get enough of Turkish soaps and the lifestyle they portray.

“We all love the actors the artists,” said Asla. “The Arab love too much this drama. You see the streets , nobody, no cars, all the house, all see the TV.”

Analysts are predicting difficult economic times for Europe for some time to come. But Istanbul and the rest of the country are now hoping there will be further opportunities to exploit the deep pool of goodwill that observers say exist towards Turkey across the Arab world.

via Turkey Taps Arab World For Tourist Dollars | Europe | English. VOA

October 18, 2011
Topkapi’s Harem : Day Trips, Sightseeing, Suggested Itineraries | Istanbul Things to Do

Explore the more private room of the Topkapi palace in the Harem

The word “harem” comes to us from Arabic via Turkish, but its original meaning got lost in translation. Whereas we understand it to mean a store of readily available concubines, it actually meant ‘forbidden’ or ‘private’, and was applied to the part of a house or palace closed to outsiders.

Istanbul’s Topkapi Palace has the largest surviving harem in the world. Unlike the rest of Topkapi, designed to intimidate foreign dignitaries with its grand courtyards and forbidding battlements, the Harem was a golden cage reserved for the sultan and his intimates. It was a place which fed the fantasies of European artists, who imagined voluptuous odalisques reclining languidly in marble pools amid billowing clouds of steam. And while for the sultan (and the sultan alone) this was a place of sensual respite, it was also the power center of the Ottoman Empire, a hive of intrigue and conspiracy whose undisputed queen bee was the sultan’s mother. Family feuds could be brutal, with succession disputes often settled by murder.

Fortunately, interlopers need no longer pay for the privilege of seeing the Harem with their lives. Only a small number of the 300 or so rooms are accessible to the public, but they boast some of Topkapi’s most stunning decorative work. For such a resolutely Eastern institution there are numerous Western touches, including Baroque scrolls and the Delft tiles which line the elegant Imperial Hall. Elsewhere you’ll find quiet courtyards, mysterious corridors and hammams atmospherically light by skylights known as “elephants’ eyes”.

A practical note: the Harem only accepts a certain amount of visitors per day, so get to Topkapi early and make your way to the Harem entrance once you’ve entered the main complex. There’s a separate fee and you can only visit on a guided tour.

– James Conway

via Topkapi’s Harem : Day Trips, Sightseeing, Suggested Itineraries | Istanbul Things to Do.

October 18, 2011
Visit ancient cities in Turkey for less than $1,600

By Mary Forgione Special to Tribune Newspapers

10:32 a.m. CDT, October 4, 2011

The Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace in Istanbul as well as ancient temples in Ephesus and Pergamon are some of the sights visited on this inexpensive package tour from Friendly Planet Travel. If the dates work for you, this is a great price for a package that explores multiple cities in Turkey.

The eight-day Taste of Turkey tour costs $1,572 per person, based on double occupancy, with tax and fees for departures on Jan. 18 and Feb. 1. The price is good for reservations made before Oct. 12; it goes up $300 after that date (other departure dates are available too but not at this price).

The trip includes nonstop airfare from Chicago to Istanbul on Turkish Airlines, airport transfers, hotel, daily breakfast, guided sightseeing tours and more. Check out the full itinerary and package details.

Contact: Friendly Planet Travel, 800-555-5765

via Visit ancient cities in Turkey for less than $1,600 – chicagotribune.com.

October 5, 2011
Istanbul, The planet’s Hippest Area

Positioned with the crossroads of Asia and europe, Istanbul, Chicken is amongst the most well-known urban centers in the world. The original known settlement of your location days to 1000 W.Chemical., plenty of time of California king David in Jerusalem while some decades after the A trojan virus Warfare. A major city was created for the Hard anodized cookware shoreline in 700 W.D. by Ancient settlers although the Byzantines settled on the ecu shore. Inside sixth centuries town was beaten from the Persians, and then Athens. It absolutely was integrated into the Roman Kingdom, then turned a Sterling stronghold during the Old, called Constantinople, until eventually mastered by Moslems while in the fifteenth century.

Wonderful this heritage at the rear of it, you may realise that Istanbul is stuck previously, however the urban center has developed into destination for all those factors modern-day the truth is, its new moniker is Hippest Metropolis The traditional properties and mosques mixture together with the new galleries and museums, museums and organizations to create this probably the most thrilling destinations on the globe plus the Istanbul places to stay are area of the enthusiasm.

Within the ancient section, the Blue Mosque is one of the most well-known and incredible landmarks to arrive at, as is also the Topkapi Structure, the place to find the sultan luxurious way of life and the Fantastic Bazaar, the planet most popular searching hub. The Hagia Sophia is Istanbul most well-known monument but it mimics town track record. Built by Emporer Justinian in 537 on the view of Byzantium acropolis, it had been one of the most stunning church buildings in Christendom, also among the most essential, until finally Mehmet the Conqueror converted it into a mosque in 1453. It had become changed into a adult ed in 1934 and is amongst the most awesome houses on the globe.

For that more sophisticated take on Istanbul, there are several night clubs and eateries that include good foodstuff and amusement. You’ll find gypsy artists, discos and homemade wine pubs, top notch dining places and reputation locations, a little something for anyone. Andon, for example, includes a beach cafe with lovely vistas with the Bosphorus, a homemade wine tavern offering soloists, a disco on a lawn floorboards, along with Istanbul sanat audio around the third floorboards and fasil audio around the fourth floorboards. Istanbul resorts are as particular and various as the town themselves. Many provide the guest a traditional come to feel, like the Bosphorus Building Hotel room and the 4 Seasons Hotel room Istanbul at Sultanahmet, while other people target an increasingly modern-day solution such as Core Development plus the Marmara Taksim. Still others, for example Ibrahim Pasa Oteli, straddle the two two extremes, older and new, exactly like Istanbul.

via Istanbul, The planet\’s Hippest Area « Jxyouth.com.

September 28, 2011
‘Greek Painters of Istanbul’ to continue at Topkapı Palace

Greek Painters of Istanbul at the Topkapı Palace exhibition has been extended until July 4.

Some 100 selected pieces by Greek painters are being exhibited at Topkapı Palace.

The groundbreaking “Greek Painters of Istanbul at the Topkapı Palace” exhibition, which brings together 100 paintings and icons from Istanbul, has been extended until July 4.

Visitors to the Topkapı Palace Museum will have the chance to see approximately 100 carefully selected portraits, landscapes and still-lifes, as well as a special hall dedicated to icons by various hagiographers, all dating back as far as the early 17th century.

The paintings and icons, some of which were restored especially for the exhibition, come from various collections, including the Topkapı Palace Museum, the Halki Theological School, various Greek Orthodox communities, churches and private collections.

Artists Armenopoulos, Andreades, Olga Andoniades, Thalia Flora-Karavia, İgum (Igoumenides), Economides, Xanthopoulos, Michelidakes, Platonides, Savvides, Scarlatos, Sofroniades, Stavrakes and Vakalopoulos. A series of portraits of sultans commissioned by Sultan Selim III and a monumental composition of the Crucifixion of Christ by court painter Konstantinos Kyzikinos (Kapıdağlı Kostantin) are all on display at the exhibition.

The works of art were rediscovered thanks to the support of the director of the Topkapı Palace Museum, Yusuf Benli, as well as the efforts of Greek Consul General Vasileios Bornovas and curator Mayda Sarris.

The exhibition was organized by the Directorate of the Topkapı Palace Museum and the Consulate General of Greece in Istanbul under the auspices of the Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay and Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew.

via ‘Greek Painters of Istanbul’ to continue at Topkapı Palace – Hurriyet Daily News.

July 2, 2011
Monday in Istanbul

Another whirlwind day of visiting here there and everywhere.

Today’s agenda includes Topkapi Palace, the Post Office, A ferry trip to Kadikoy which is the Asian side of Istanbul and going past the Maiden Tower followed by another night out eating.

Topkapi palace was made in 1500’s by a Sultan and occupies the most wonderful piece of land overlooking the sea and Golden Horn. It has many pavilions, large grounds, and was home to a harem, many wives and many more servants. The treasures of the day are carefully preserved and displayed including so many jewels. One area was devoted to the artifacts of the prophet Mohammed including his footprints. This area included an Iman chanting from the Koran making it very atmospheric.

The Asian side of Istanbul includes spice markets, fish markets and many alleyways of people eating and drinking and enjoying life out and about.

Ferries cross the Bosphorous often with people using this for the daily commute to work.

via Monday in Istanbul.

June 29, 2011