The City

I can not remember if I ever watched the ‘great blessing of the waters’ ceremony in Ta Fota feast live in the shores of Golden Horn or on TV. My memories are quite vague about it. The only clear thing is I watched it always with excitement. And with a thrill, the moment I see the men jumping into the cold waters of Bosphorus without any hesitation. I am talking about the feast Ta Fota, called by the Greeks of Istanbul. It is also known as Ton Foton (in modern Greek pronunciation, ‘the day of the lights’), Theophany (vision of God) or Epiphany (striking appearance). The traditional date for the feast is January 6. In this feast, Eastern Christians commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. The feast celebrates th...

We have a saying; “when cities were not even named in Europe, the cats were the inhabitants of Istanbul.” Rumour has it, the first kittens has been settled in the city by the Byzas of Megara, the eponymous founder of Byzantium, the city later known as Constantinople and Istanbul. In each street of each neighbourhood in Istanbul, you see the cats habitants. In fact we may say, each street of each neighbourhood is truly ruled by the cats in Istanbul. If I say it has become the symbol of the city, nobody would deny it. They are the distinguished neighbours of native Istanbulers. It is not a coincidence to see water and food stations for them in front of the apartment buildings especially in the older established neighbourhoods such as Moda, Balat, Harbiye, Cihangir, Kurtuluş. There ...