Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of maps
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Who's who
- Map 1 Istanbul and its environs
- Map 2 Locations within the city
- Introduction
- 1 Conquest
- 2 The palace and the populace
- 3 Fear and death
- 4 Welfare
- 5 The consuming city
- 6 Outings and excursions
- 7 The hamam
- 8 The nineteenth century
- Beyond the city
- Select bibliography
- Index
Beyond the city
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of illustrations
- List of maps
- Acknowledgements
- Chronology
- Who's who
- Map 1 Istanbul and its environs
- Map 2 Locations within the city
- Introduction
- 1 Conquest
- 2 The palace and the populace
- 3 Fear and death
- 4 Welfare
- 5 The consuming city
- 6 Outings and excursions
- 7 The hamam
- 8 The nineteenth century
- Beyond the city
- Select bibliography
- Index
Summary
[Istanbul] is a city surrounded by places for promenade, a city which gives joy to the heart, a place which gives relief to the soul. In truth it is not a city but a world of its own, or a great country embracing seven hills which resembles seven climes of Ptolemy. For one mangır a man may cross to the other side [Galata] to see Frengistan [Europe]. Those who have not seen Algeria and Tunisia find consolation if they go to Kasımpaşa.
An ornament of the world, a meeting point of nations beyond compare which afforded the delights of Europe and the pleasures of Asia, Istanbul contained the splendours of the universe, all the world within its walls. Some even went as far as to say that to see Istanbul was to see heaven, and for Latifi his arrival in Istanbul certainly produced that effect, for he ‘like Adam while seeking heaven in the skies found it on earth’. For Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, writing in the twentieth century,
If there were a second life
And a return one day from the other world
And every soul were set free into the universe
And could according to its pleasure find a place to settle
If fortune were to turn to me and graciously grant a star as my abode
This favour would leave me cold
I would want to return to Istanbul.
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- Chapter
- Information
- A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul , pp. 328 - 331Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010
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