Damascus: The perfumed city by Brigid Keenan with photographs by Tim Beddow and commentary by John Carswell
Cornucopia begins a series on the riches of the Ottoman Empire with a grand tour of Damascus. The perfect starting point is Brigid Keenan's new book on the old city, with photographs by Tim Beddow, extracted in this article. Like lsabel Burton, another diplomat's wife 120 years earlier, Keenan fell head over heels with Damascus, and in the 1990s spearheaded a movement to restore the city's beautiful old houses, with their cool courtyards and glowing interiors.
Top: A lovely arcade shelters he alcove in the courtyard of Bait Dahdah. It is a stunning surprise to pass through the dark streets of the old city into the sunlit courtyards of the houses with their trees and singing birds
Below: Bait Mujallid has been rstored to it's former glory since this photograph was taken. This is the south-facing qa'a (reception room) with raised seating area. Decoration runs riot.
Also on the heritage of the Ottoman Empire: Mount Athos Unveiled Cornucopia 15
The Germen Yali: The house that came out of the blue by Patricia Daunt with photographs by Jean Marie del Moral and Berrin Torolsan
It was only to stop a property dealer painting the selamlik blue that the Germen family acquired a Bosphorus yali to look after. This pavilion, on a glorious stretch of the Anatolian shore, enjoys southerly views all the way to the Topkapi and sunsets to die for. Patricia Daunt meets the latest owners of this former royal retreat.
Explore more beautiful Bosphorus yali's with Patricia Daunt
People & Places
Vita and Harold go east by Asli Aydintasbas
Cornucopia has been instrumental in issuing a forgotten novel by Harold Nicolson, set in Istanbul. First published in 1921, Sweet Waters draws havily on Nicolson's experience as a diplomat in the city in the 1910s. It is also a highly autobiographical reworking of his courtship of Vita Sackvile-West, as a new foreword by their son, Nigel Nicolson, reveals.
A Titan of the Victorian age, Lord Salisbury presided over a period of unprecedented peace. But his deeply flawed views on the Eastern Question were indirectly responsible for Turkey's entry into the Great War, says David Barchard.
Andrew Roberts' biography 'Salisbury: Victorian Titan' was published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson 1999
More Victorian heroes and anti-heroes assessed by David Barchard
The great south wind Yolande Whittall remembers her great-grandmother, Lady Whittall, descibing how the sea poured into her garden at Moda in 1925
Greenbelt or backyard by Andrew Finkel with aerial photography by Ali Ihsan Gökçen and botanical photography by Andrew Byfield
These are the last great heath lands of Eastern Europe, one of the world's rarest natural habitats. Unless they receive a last-minute reprieve, they will be bulldozed out of existence. Andrew Finkel reports on the dilemma facing the planners in Istanbul
Cookery
Green & green Purslane and spinach by Berrin Torolsan
The sweetmeat of kings, the fuel of warriors, spinach is bursting with colour, vitality and flavour. The brighter, tangier purslane is a delight still waiting to conquer the West. Berrin Torolsan eats greens with relish.
Seasonal encounter: the last purslane with the first autumn spinach
For a complete list of Berrin Torolsan's cookery stories in Cornucopia, see our cookery index. Selected recipes are also available online: menus.
Arts
Forever ambergris by Turhan Baytop with photographs by Simon Upton
Turhan Baytop reveals his rare collection of ambergris tablets, surely the most decorative of remedies.
Trade Secrets in this issue: Elizabeth Meath Baker hears the romantic tale of the family who have restored the imperial chandeliersat Dolmbahce
Dancers of the Steppes by El'vis Beytullayev with photographs by Sasha Güsov and John Garret
Theirs is one of the great ballet partnerships. Altynai Asylmuratova and Irek Mukhamedov, both descended from Turkic tribes, have taken the world of ballet by storm. El'vis Betullayev explores the roots of their success in Russia.
Scheherazade: Aslymuratova and Ruzimatov with the Kirov at Covent Garden for the late Queen Mother's 100th birthday
Altynai Asylmuratova
Books
Christine Thomson reviews Levni and the Surname: The Story of an Eighteenth-Century festival by Esin Atil
