Istanbul ’17 | Day 4: The Mystics & the Magnificent

25th July ’17. Day 4 of 9.

After a long (yet rewarding) day yesterday, we took the morning off followed by a late lunch at the highly recommended Cafe Rumist. Our first experience was great – excellent food, good portion sizes and the Ottoman Turkish juice is magical.

We received our Istanbul travel cards yesterday, bundled with our WiFi box, and it made travel much easier and much cheaper. We spent much of the afternoon at Ismail Aga, a residential area not far from Eminonu, heavily populated by Naqshbandi Sufis. The streets here are quietly busy, a feeling of tranquil contentment in the air, young mystics walking into the distance with their cloaks trailing brilliantly in the breeze.

I wouldn’t label Ismail Aga as a tourist-y place; it’s a slice of ‘real’ life in Istanbul, and hardly any English is spoken here. We were fortunate enough to have a Turkish friend with us, showing us the ins-and-outs, and so we spent a few hours browsing shops, welcomed by elegantly-dressed wise old uncles with smiling faces offering us tea or water, or something to eat.

We prayed ‘Asr at the Ismail Aga Camii, a beautiful little mosque with an adjoining madrasa.

By sunset, we reached Fatih Camii; the timing allowed for a breathtaking view of the mosque under the fading twilight. We prayed our Maghrib here, and then took a while to admire the interior.

Whilst most people were still praying, we took the opportunity to pay our respects outside at the resting place of Sultan Mehmet, known as ‘Fatih’ (the Conqueror i.e. of Istanbul). It appears that renovation work is happening at the tomb (I may be wrong, though) as there doesn’t seem to be an entrance. Visitors paid their respects outside, and some stood on the steps to look through the peepholes into the sacred burial chamber.

We then made our way back – after playing with the kittens in the grass, of course! – and headed to our final destination of the night; Suleymaniye Camii, the mosque of Suleyman the Magnificent.

This is the second largest mosque in Istanbul, and the term ‘magnificent’ is apt indeed. We got here just after the final prayer of the day, so it was quite empty. This allowed us to lose ourselves in the beauty of our surroundings, and there was a great deal to be admired..