[HN Gopher] Istanbul's blue tile paradise ___________________________________________________________________ Istanbul's blue tile paradise Author : keiferski Score : 72 points Date : 2023-07-12 10:39 UTC (12 hours ago) (HTM) web link (onthearts.com) (TXT) w3m dump (onthearts.com) | DrJokepu wrote: | Interesting thing about these tiles: the earliest ones were | trying to imitate tiles from China, but Ottoman artisans didn't | have access to the same dyes, which is why they have this | distinctive blue color. | sithadmin wrote: | The Rustem Pasha mosque is truly a gem, and much less frequently | trafficked than many other tourist-destination mosques. I always | advise people visiting Istanbul to stop in, but almost feel bad | about it because too much traffic would sort of kill its 'hole in | the wall' charm. | arbuge wrote: | Traditional handmade Maltese tiles, believed to be inspired by | the Turkish ones, might also be of interest in this context. | | Wikipedia doesn't have an entry but Googling gets you some good | pictures. | fatihpense wrote: | A bit tangential, but while choosing a logo idea for Rust | Istanbul community, I went with something that resembles blue | tile tulip motif. As another commenter noted there are so many | objects/animals/historical artifacts to choose from... | | https://rustistanbul.org/ | | If you are a Rust developer and planning to visit Istanbul let us | know! (We know good kebap/baklava places ;) ) | thriftwy wrote: | Saint Petersburg mosque is decorated with blue tiles on its | exterior. It is also built in Art Nouveau style. Local Buddhist | temple also got built in it, though. | earino wrote: | I was in Istanbul recently, and what surprised me was the | absolute depth of the cities attractions. I stayed in the Kadikoy | and Sultanahmet districts, and it was so incredible to walk | through a society which had been Monkey Patched through | millennia. The runtime behavior of the objects, streets, | buildings and the city had been adapted time and time again. | Roman temples becoming Churches becoming Mosques becoming | Museums, sometimes simply with some new tiles or a freshly laid | down carpet. Each layer rich in artifacts. My favorite attraction | was the Great Palace Mosaics Museum, some of the most detailed | and vibrant mosaics I had ever seen. I hope to return soon. | mkoubaa wrote: | "the runtime behavior of the objects" took me from Istanbul | right back to my day job which I thought I was taking a break | from on HN | Lacerda69 wrote: | You can take a break but you can never leave | mrtksn wrote: | Istanbul is in the same league with London, Paris, Rome and | probably nothing else. | | Not only the endless layers of multi-millennial history, even | the current state of the inhabitants is extremely diverse. It's | also surprisingly safe. | | IMHO the city got ruined in so many ways during the Turkish | economic boom the last 5 decades and yet you can tell that the | city "still got it". In your runtime analogy, the current state | of the modern istanbul is like everything new being like | bloated Electron app. | | The current mayor is from the secular Turks with western values | and he is doing some great things to reduce the bloatware and | re-surface the hidden gems through full rewrites. | | But sometimes he encounters unexpected behaviour. Just | recently, he converted Feshane(old factory where they used to | produce Fez style hats during the Ottoman times) into an art | gallery but due to some undocumented API the islamist started | protesting him for not respecting their values. | | Here is the Feshane after the conversion: | https://twitter.com/ekrem_imamoglu/status/167157892814888143... | | Here is the protest: | https://twitter.com/tcbuyuksehir/status/1678147852453683206 | | Note: Before the conversion, Feshane was used for food markets | and such. | objektif wrote: | You are doing Istanbul and Rome a disservice by putting them | in the same league with London and Paris. | ChainOfFools wrote: | Seconding this, these cities have a rich history but it's | hardly a footnote compared to the chronology baked in to | the stratigraphy of Rome and even more so, Istanbul. The | latter city bridges two continents, and it shows it and | feels it in every respect. | | plus, cats. In what city can you double your entertainment | just by carrying a small laser pointer with you everywhere. | objektif wrote: | Istanbul is an incredibly complex city with endless | things to do. However, it is just that I have never had | this feeling of being in an ancient metropolis in any | other city other than Istanbul. It may be the huge | mosques on the hills combined with the natural beauty of | the Bosphorus strait. | goodbyesf wrote: | > Istanbul is in the same league with London, Paris, Rome | | London and Paris do not belong on that list. Rome is on | another level. Paris and London are a few levels below | somewhere. Heck I'd say istanbul is a level above rome since | the turks added onto constantinople and added a richness and | extra layer that rome never got. Not to mention that the | eastern roman empire was far more impressive that than the | western roman empire. | | > and probably nothing else. | | No, it is in the same league with many of the ancient cities | in the region and elsewhere around the world. Cities tend to | be built on top of each other not just today but throughout | history. | | > the islamist started protesting him for not respecting | their values. | | Good. Considering turkey isn't a western nation, why should | their mayor peddle 'western values' as you stated. Last I | checked, turkey is a muslim turkic nation and lets hope they | hold onto their values. | mrtksn wrote: | Turkey is not a muslim turkic nation at all, Turkey is an | ethnically diverse nation where almost all the population | claims to be muslims but they all practice at different | levels and the devote muslims are a small minority of the | population. The country itself is the legacy of the Ottoman | empire which was partly in Europe for centuries, thus was | influenced by western values for hundreds of years already. | | Also, an old hat factory which was used as a market is not | something islamic. The mayor wasn't paddling any western | values to islamists, the mayor was elected by the popular | vote and he is still very popular. He does what the | electorate demands and significant portion of the | electorate demands art galleries. | | I think you need to update your understanding of Turkey, | it's very lacking and almost offensively shallow. Are you | taking any red pills by any chance? Anyway, don't form your | opinions from James Bond movies. | cpursley wrote: | It was blown away by Istanbul. Highly recommend that city. | Qahlel wrote: | I recently visited Istanbul as well. Too my surprise, I ate the | best burger I had in my lifetime. It was a smash burger joint in | Emirgan district. Forgot the name. but remember finding it on | google maps. Give it a try if you are passing by. | fsniper wrote: | In Istanbul you can possibly find best examples of many if not | all of international cousines. It is a city for the all types | of foodies. | objektif wrote: | I would definitely disagree with this. Apart from Turkish | food you will probably only find good American, French and | Italian ( may be few more) food in Turkiye. | | But the good news is you really do not need anything other | that Turkish food because it is just amazing. | treesciencebot wrote: | Especially true for south / far-east Asian cuisines. Unlike | many other major western metropolises, Istanbul simply | lacks any authentic chinese, indian, vietnamese or japanese | places. I wish (as a resident) we had more exposure to | those cultures through better / relaxed immigration | policies in the past. | m00dy wrote: | that's right. Turkish food is the best one Ive experienced | so far. | luuurker wrote: | You'll find similar tiles in Portugal, usually inside old | churches. Probably not exactly the same, but similar style at | least. | pirate787 wrote: | The Hagia Sophia "mosque" was a Christian orthodox church that | dates from Roman times and was a secular museum from the 1930s | until 2020. That decision to reclassify as a mosque is widely | condemned by historians and others. | resolutebat wrote: | It was an actual scare quote free mosque from 1453 to 1934, so | if anything the secular museum phase was out of character. | ChainOfFools wrote: | They will never fully convert back to a mosque, absolutely no | way they want the loss of tourism that will result from making | probably the most iconic draw for tourism to the city a place | that isn't open to the public in all respects. | | Last time I was there a few years ago I recall there's a small | section near one of the lower galleries off to the side that | has been reopened for use as a sort-of-mosque but it's the size | of a couple double wide trailers and not really part of the | main structure as people think of it. It might be a test of the | waters to see how far they can go but I promise you, money will | trump religion in this case no question about it. | njpwerner wrote: | They have changed it since you last visited. It is now | primarily used as a mosque instead of a museum. The old | floors have been covered by a carpet and it hosts several | prayers a day. | | https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/istanbul/istanbuls- | reverte... | twelve40 wrote: | the floor is now covered, the upper levels are closed off to | visitors. it seems to be working just like any other mosque, | which you can also visit (like the one in the article, for | example) | nashashmi wrote: | A tidbit info: Today's Hagia Sophia is version three of the | original church. The original was made of wood and burned down. | The second version was of stone and collapsed in an earthquake. | The third version took 20+ years to build. | | Another tidbit: Hagia Sophia can be translated to english as | Saint Sofia. It is pronounced in Turkish as Aya Sofia. Aya is | from an arabic word that means "sign" like sign of god (similar | to "aya"-tullah in Iran). The similarity between "Hagia" and | "Aya" is so strong as though it follows the concept of changing | the "j" sound to "h" or "y" sound. When applying that same rule | to "Ayatollah", you could basically translate the word to | "Saint of God". Every time I think of this, it gives me the | jitters. | pazimzadeh wrote: | > What makes the mosque truly special, however, isn't simply that | it's hidden. It is the balance between its understated view from | the street and an extravagant, richly adorned interior | | This is the exact same feeling you get when visiting Iran. Except | for Isfahan, which is also beautiful on the outside | m00dy wrote: | Just got back from Istanbul and let me tell you, the city's | attractions blew me away! I stayed in Kadikoy and Sultanahmet, | and it was mind-blowing to walk around a place that has seen so | many changes throughout history. I mean, we're talking Roman | temples turned into churches, then mosques, and now some cool | museums. They just keep adding new stuff like tiles and carpets, | giving the city a whole new vibe each time. And the best part? | The Great Palace Mosaics Museum! Seriously, those mosaics were | next level--so detailed and vibrant. I'm already planning my next | trip back. Istanbul, you've got me hooked! | egello wrote: | Is this a paraphrased copy of the top comment on the page or am | I tripping? ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2023-07-12 23:00 UTC)