Although the exact year of his birth is still disputed, the brilliance of Turkish architect Mimar Sinan, which translates as Sinan the architect, is not. Fathered by a stonemason, Mimar Sinan became a military engineer in the Ottoman Empire where he rose through the ranks to become first an officer and finally a commander in…
Here are some of my favourite Istanbul neighbourhood parks on the Asian side of the city. Istanbul is a densely populated city sprawling over both banks of the Bosphorus Strait. It is a metropolis full of high rise apartments and office blocks. Nonetheless, Istanbullu (people who live in Istanbul) value their green spaces and make…
Imagine the time – almost 35 years ago. Imagine the place – Istanbul, Eminönü and the old Galata Bridge over the Golden Horn. “Up on the terrace of the hostel, the six of us ploughed our way through three bottles of reasonable red wine and one or two bottles of remarkably cheap Black Sea cognac,…
For my first Turkish Ramazan I was living in Istanbul. It was November 2000 and I was living in Erenköy, a leafy suburb on the Asian side of the city. At that time there were no natural gas connections so the air was thick with coal smoke from apartment heating systems, darkness fell around 5pm…
This story comes from my book Exploring Turkish Landscapes: Crossing Inner Boundaries. When I was at high school I studied history. Learning dates wasn’t something I was any good at and while I didn’t actually fail, it was a struggle. The facts and figures the teacher wrote on the board lacked colour and excitement and…
Discover the everyday extraordinary of Turkey Who am I? I’m Lisa Morrow, an Australian born sociologist, author and travel writer originally from a quiet leafy suburb in Sydney, Australia.. I’ve lived in Istanbul for more than 15 years and have travelled around the country for even longer. I first came to Turkey by chance in…