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The Internet extension of Cornucopia, the magazine for connoisseurs of Turkey

cornucopia.net

ONCE A DECADE WE CELEBRATE ISTANBUL.
 
Explore the metropolis in all its glory with area-by-area commentary on Istanbul's palaces and pavilions, mosques and markets, shops and shrines, waterways and watering holes, plus feature articles on the city past and present by leading historians, journalists and writers.
Photographs by Jürgen Frank
 
The Articles
The new Istanbul: Crossroads of the world,
by Andrew Finkel
Going shopping: the spend of history,
by Elizabeth Meath Baker
After Crimea: A metropolis is born,
by David Barchard
Ottoman renaissance: The Conqueror’s dream,
by Heath W Lowry
Byzantium: Mystery and imagination,
by Robert Ousterhout
 
The Guide
 
THE OLD CITY
Sultanahmet, the Bazaars, the Golden Horn
Andrew Finkel, Elizabeth Meath Baker, Owen Matthews, Robert Ousterhout and Godfrey Goodwin
 
THE NEW CITY
Beyoglu, Çukurcuma, Nisantasi
Maureen Freely, Elizabeth Meath Baker and Suna Erdem
 
THE BOSPHORUS
Patricia Daunt, Claire Karaz and John Carswell
 
THE PRINCES ISLANDS
Owen Matthews
 
RESTAURANTS
Andrew Finkel, Hettie Judah and Anastasia Ashman
 
Regular Features
Book Reviews, by Norman Stone, Antony Wynn and David Barchard
Cookery: Fish from the Bosphorus, by Berrin Torolsan
Village Voices, by Azize Ethem
Istanbul Diary: Jazz Notes, by Tony Barrell
 
THE ISSUE INCLUDES A 4-PAGE PULL OUT PANORAMA
OF ISTANBUL IN 1850
Cover: The domes of Sultanahmet, by Jürgen Frank
 

CORNUCOPIA

Issue 32, 2004

Price: £60 (US$120)

Due to unprecedented demand,
Cornucopia Issue 32, the Connoisseur's Guide to Istanbul,
is now available only to subscribers.
Limited stocks are still available on a first-come first-served basis.
Subscriptions may be ordered concurrently.

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Back issue highlights:
 
Volume 1
No 1
No 2
No 3
No 4
No 5
No 6
 
Volume 2
No 7
No 8
No 9
No 10
No 11
No 12
 
Volume 3
No 13
No 14
No 15
No 16
No 17
No 18
 
Volume 4
No 19
No 20
No 21
No 22
No 23
No 24
 
Volume 5
No 25
No 26
No 27
No 28
No 29
No 30
No 31
 
No 32 ISTANBUL ISSUE Special Edition
 
Volume 6
No 33
No 34
No 35
No 36
No 37
No 38


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THE CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE: THE OLD CITY

THE OLD CITY I
SULTANAHMET
WALKING THE GOLDEN MILE
 
This is the starting point for any visitor, the very heart of two great empires. Andrew Finkel explores a world of beauty and grandeur dusting itself down for a third millennium
 
Introduction by Andrew Finkel
The Mosque of Sultan Ahmet I ­ known as the Blue Mosque to the rest of the world ­ was completed in 1616 and shares pride of place with the other monumental dome on the Istanbul skyline, the Byzantine cathedral basilica of Ayasofya. The district in the shadow of these two buildings, separated not by great distance but by over a thousand years of history, is the obvious starting point on most visitors’ agendas.
 
What t o see: Ayasofya - Hippodrome - Topkapi Palace - Archaeological Museum - Sokollu Mehmet Pasha Mosque - Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art
 
Where to shop: At the Arasta Bazaar
 
Photograph: The Intercession, by Jürgen Frank

 

WHO TOOK PART?

Andrew Finkel

David Barchard

Heath W Lowry

Robert Ousterhout

Owen Matthews

Elizabeth Meath Baker

Maureen Freely

 

Additional contributions
by
Hettie Judah
Godfrey Goodwin
John Carswell
Anastasia Ashman
Izzy Finkel
Suna Erdem
Claire Karaz

 

PHOTOGRAPHS
Jürgen Frank

 

You might also enjoy
Cornucopia 4, the Absolute Guide to Istanbul

THE OLD CITY II
THE BAZAARS
SILVER, SAFFRON AND MELTING-POTS
 
Istanbul’s bazaars are vast cities in themselves.
Cornucopia brings you three of the best: the Grand Bazaar of Mehmet the Conqueror, the aromatic Spice Bazaar and the gritty metalworkers’ market across the Golden Horn
 
The Grand Bazaar: This labyrinthine landmark is a world of eccentric experts and raffish raconteurs. Elizabeth Meath Baker guides you round. Contributions by Andrew Finkel and Isabel Finkel
 
The Egyptian Spice Bazaar is a real treat for the senses. Use this handy shopping list to find the essential buys
 
Persembe Pazari: In Istanbul, a city filled with objects of desire, none of the bazaars comes as close to being a paradise of male shopping as the Perþembe Pazarð. By Owen Matthews
 
Photograph: meerschaum pipe, by Jürgen Frank
 
Click image for highlights of Old City II

THE OLD CITY III
THE GOLDEN HORN
 
A STROLL WITH THE MASTER
 
Once it was the hub of commercial life, its shores lined with bustling quays and the biggest concentration of mosques, churches and synagogues in the city. Now the tide has turned on this famous Bosphorus inlet, and it has become a backwater. Owen Matthews wanders around the Golden Horn’s heady past with John Freely, the man who made strolling through the city a fine art
 
What see: Robert Ousterhout et al on Christian and Muslim monuments
 
Plus: The Rahmi Koç Museum - a Big Man's Toybox
 
Photograph: gravestones in Eyüp, by Jürgen Frank

THE CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE: THE NEW CITY

BOULEVARDS OF DREAMS
Beyoglu is Istanbul’s Latin Quarter. Built by European bankers, diplomats and merchants in the nineteenth century, it has now been recolonised by a new tribe dedicated to urban pleasures. Its imposing embassies and crumbling palazzos make it the ideal setting for the arts, and for a club-and-café scene that never sleeps. Beyo€lu’s labyrinthine streets spill down the hill to Çukurcuma, where bargain hunters stalk antiques. At one end of Beyo€lu is the medieval Galata Tower; at the other is Taksim Square and the monument to the new Republic which marks the start of modern Istanbul. Beyond is Nsantasi, the super-smart district for fashion, design and expense-account lunches
 
THE NEW CITY I
BEYOGLU
BOHEMIA AT ITS BEST
 
As an impressionable child in the Sixties, Maureen Freely encountered a cast of colourful characters who enriched Istanbul’s Left Bank
 
Photograph: Tünel Square, by Jürgen Frank
 

THE NEW CITY II
CUKURCUMA
COLLECTORS' CORNER
 
Elizabeth Meath Baker introduces a round-up of the best places to forage in Beyoglu’s antiques district
 
Photograph: A la Turca, by Jürgen Frank
 

THE NEW CITY III
NISANTASI
FOR SEEKERS OF CHJC
 
This is unquestionably the smartest part of town, where beautiful people browse for designer clothes ­ and hungry shoppers can lunch in style
 
Photograph: Hakan Yildirim, fashion designer, by Jürgen Frank
 
 
Browse the full Nistantasi shopping story online
 

THE CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE: THE BOSPHORUS

THE BOSPHORUS
ALONG THE WATERFRONT
 
The strait that divides Istanbul is a cool antidote to the hustle and bustle of the city. It is also a potent channel of myth and history ­ and a destructive force as well as a lifeline, says Patricia Daunt
 
Photograph: The Bosphorus at Istinye, by Jürgen Frank

 

 

THE BOSPHORUS
PALACES OF THE LAST SULTANS
 
Istanbul boasts no fewer than four of Europe’s finest nineteenth-century palaces. Philip Mansel provides a who’s who of the colourful sultans who commissioned them
 
Photograph: Beylerbeyi Palace, by Jürgen Frank

 

 

THE CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE: THE PRINCES ISLANDS

THE PRINCES ISLANDS
PALACES OF THE LAST SULTANS
 
Owen Matthews succumbs to the romance of the Princes Isles, where cars are banned and you can relax in a genteel nineteenth-century time warp
 
Photograph: Büyükada, by Jürgen Frank
 

PLUS


COOKERY: FISH FROM THE BOSPHORUS, by Berrin Torolsan
 
THE ISTANBUL JAZZ FESTIVAL, a review by Tony Barrell
 
VILLAGE VOICES, by Azize Ethem
 
BOOKS: Reviews by Norman Stone, Antony Wynn and David Barchard
 
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