"Why do you need all this space?!" Emily asked as we walked through the Hagia Sofia. "You don't NEED all this space," I said, "It's about showing the glory and grandeur of your religion, city and empire." Later I added that it's also about the effect of making people feel small and drawing their eyes upward as the Gothic cathedrals do.
The Hagia Sofia is interesting for its interior, which is far more grandiose than the impression the building gives off outside. Maybe it's the amalgam of older church and newer (in a very relative sense) addition of mosque structure and fixtures. Inside, despite the additions of Arabic script in various places, I could only see the old Byzantine church. It felt like a church to me. Of course the Madonna and Child and remnants of the mosaic of the Arch-angel Gabriel over the basilica stood out to help remind people of what the Hagia Sofia was and who built it.
I'm sure this difficult to ignore juxtaposition is what prompted Ataturk to annex the Hagia Sofia into state property and turn it into a museum, rather than allow it operate as anyone's place of worship. It represented conflicts which the Turkish state in its secular approach preferred to move past.
We walked the Hagia Sofia immediately after visiting the Sultanahmet or Blue Mosque just across the park from it. The Blue Mosque was more impressive to us outside than inside - but by no means disappointed anywhere. The gorgeous structure completed at the beginning of the 17th century is architecturally and artistically inspired and truly deserves its place among world heritage and religious sites. It is - for lack of better words - profound and awesome.
As we finished this most routine but very wonderful of tourist trails, I found Emily's question percolating in my mind. It wasn't the architectural issues so much as the greater social purpose.
The Blue Mosque was built just after the Gothic period in Europe came to a close and Hagia Sofia was constructed using Romanesque stylings more than 600 years before Gothic architecture in Europe. And while neither meet the definition of Gothic architecture - the purpose was the same. They demonstrated both the power and glory of their religions and their civilizations. They remain symbols of Byzantine and Ottoman era greatness and points of pride for Turks today.
Rulers throughout history have created monuments as points of pride and celebration for their people - markers of their civilization and grandeur. As Orhan Pamuk aptly points out in "Istanbul", European countries preserve these monuments as if the countries are giant, living museums. Their histories, their art, their culture, their moments of greatness as epitomized in statues, bridges, sculptures, churches, monuments, palaces and architecture are the treasured heirlooms that help define them.
To me, no place exemplifies this like Paris where people literally drive around the Arc de Triomphe and play soccer on the grasses of the Tueilleries at the foot of the Louvre. They live among their immaculately kept cultural and artistic treasures. France devotes tremendous public funds to the upkeep of their public art and architecture - which is the collection of every government in every era.
Then I thought about American society. What are our public treasures? What pieces of art and monuments do we live with that inspire us? Emily's question and my having to explain suddenly bothered me. We have a number of monuments, buildings and statues in and around Washington DC. New York has Grand Central Station, the Statue of Liberty and the New York Public Library. We blew up a mountain in South Dakota in the image of a few of our better presidents.
Every city has a few statues honoring public and social figures. Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles has a statue. That's one I can think of for my hometown. And I strained to think of that.
It seems to me that in America we name parks for people. We have presidential libraries. We name streets for people sometimes. But what sadly came to mind is that we take great interest in skyscrapers and the homes of the wealthy. We preserve the Hearst Castle, Huntington Gardens and Library and a number of turn of the century mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. Private wealth is turned to public monument and adoration.
Americans spend money our public dollars on so many things and we debate which worthy cause and use is most important when budgets tighten. Americans have little appreciation or value on spending millions to erect a piece of public art just because. We consider it frivolous.
Indeed, many European and Ottoman rulers were spending countless sums on their public art and monuments while people died in the streets of dysentery, poverty ran unchecked, people were illiterate, and there were no resources for the mentally ill.
At the same time, no one in France seems bitter when they walk through the splendor of their capital. There is no economic value or contribution to the Arc De Triomphe. I have never heard a Brit curse Trafalgar Square or spit on Buckingham Palace. Even in Cannes, Grasse and Nice - so far removed from Paris - public art adorns the streets. You can't walk more than two blocks without a statue or sculpture.
Istanbul is littered with gorgeous mosques and monuments - some forgotten and badly kept, others resplendent. However, it is clear this has been a place and culture which takes pride in its history. These monuments are part of the fabric of their lives - a tie to their culture and a reminder of what links generation to generation.
Meanwhile, in a very different aspect of the role of public and private, we have had discussions with many people from many places about healthcare. People from the Netherlands, Greece, Britain, Turkey, Norway, and Russia have all told us how shocking it is that there are people who cannot either receive or afford their medical care in America. People in France - each and every time - consider American healthcare their worst nightmare. Even the most American friendly French feel our healthcare situation is shockingly out on synch with the values and wealth of our country.
Hussein, my cafe conversation friend of two days ago, told me that Turkey gives 100 percent free national healthcare. However, people go to the doctor whether or not they really need it and it has begun to tax the hospital system to the brink. The government is rolling back coverage and instituting co-payments so that people bear some responsibility for their healthcare.
When I explained that we have that concept with our private health insurance, he felt that it was going too far to have people pay for their insurance and then pay deductibles and co-payments on top of that. Hussein - a successful producer who has earned his way in life and who says Turks work hard from early until late - feels that everyone needs healthcare. The idea that someone can go bankrupt over being ill is disgusting to him.
At the end of our day yesterday, we took a public ferry to Kadikoy on the Asian shore. This interesting and happening neighborhood has amazing backstreets with a crowded and gorgeous fish and produce market. Happenings restaurants, bars and shops like the streets and the energy is positive. Kadikoy is very alive.
Our ferry costs us 1.5 Lira - about $1. Every train or tram ride costs the same - no matter which stop you choose. If you change lines, you pay again. Locals with passes receive a discount on their transfer to make the entirety of the trip more affordable. Between the trams, light rail, funicular, subway lines and suburban train lines - Istanbul has a phenomenal public rail network with very affordable fares. No wonder people pack into the trains like sardines.
Public ferries run perhaps 20 or more different lines along the water and we haven't even figured out the bus network. Public transportation is fantastic. Istanbul is an old city which spend most of its existence without public transportation. It has roads built long before cars for that matter. Much of its public rail improvements have come in the past 20 years. What a pleasure it is to be able to get quickly and efficiently through this ancient city. The affordable prices that make it so Istanbullus can really make use of these systems are fantastic.
As we zipped along the water on our 15 minute ferry ride to Kadikoy which cost us $1, I looked out at the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace on the hill and thought of home. Where is the art? Where is the value on splendor? And why can't I get to the Westside in less than an hour on the freeway?
The Hagia Sofia is interesting for its interior, which is far more grandiose than the impression the building gives off outside. Maybe it's the amalgam of older church and newer (in a very relative sense) addition of mosque structure and fixtures. Inside, despite the additions of Arabic script in various places, I could only see the old Byzantine church. It felt like a church to me. Of course the Madonna and Child and remnants of the mosaic of the Arch-angel Gabriel over the basilica stood out to help remind people of what the Hagia Sofia was and who built it.
I'm sure this difficult to ignore juxtaposition is what prompted Ataturk to annex the Hagia Sofia into state property and turn it into a museum, rather than allow it operate as anyone's place of worship. It represented conflicts which the Turkish state in its secular approach preferred to move past.
We walked the Hagia Sofia immediately after visiting the Sultanahmet or Blue Mosque just across the park from it. The Blue Mosque was more impressive to us outside than inside - but by no means disappointed anywhere. The gorgeous structure completed at the beginning of the 17th century is architecturally and artistically inspired and truly deserves its place among world heritage and religious sites. It is - for lack of better words - profound and awesome.
As we finished this most routine but very wonderful of tourist trails, I found Emily's question percolating in my mind. It wasn't the architectural issues so much as the greater social purpose.
The Blue Mosque was built just after the Gothic period in Europe came to a close and Hagia Sofia was constructed using Romanesque stylings more than 600 years before Gothic architecture in Europe. And while neither meet the definition of Gothic architecture - the purpose was the same. They demonstrated both the power and glory of their religions and their civilizations. They remain symbols of Byzantine and Ottoman era greatness and points of pride for Turks today.
Rulers throughout history have created monuments as points of pride and celebration for their people - markers of their civilization and grandeur. As Orhan Pamuk aptly points out in "Istanbul", European countries preserve these monuments as if the countries are giant, living museums. Their histories, their art, their culture, their moments of greatness as epitomized in statues, bridges, sculptures, churches, monuments, palaces and architecture are the treasured heirlooms that help define them.
To me, no place exemplifies this like Paris where people literally drive around the Arc de Triomphe and play soccer on the grasses of the Tueilleries at the foot of the Louvre. They live among their immaculately kept cultural and artistic treasures. France devotes tremendous public funds to the upkeep of their public art and architecture - which is the collection of every government in every era.
Then I thought about American society. What are our public treasures? What pieces of art and monuments do we live with that inspire us? Emily's question and my having to explain suddenly bothered me. We have a number of monuments, buildings and statues in and around Washington DC. New York has Grand Central Station, the Statue of Liberty and the New York Public Library. We blew up a mountain in South Dakota in the image of a few of our better presidents.
Every city has a few statues honoring public and social figures. Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles has a statue. That's one I can think of for my hometown. And I strained to think of that.
It seems to me that in America we name parks for people. We have presidential libraries. We name streets for people sometimes. But what sadly came to mind is that we take great interest in skyscrapers and the homes of the wealthy. We preserve the Hearst Castle, Huntington Gardens and Library and a number of turn of the century mansions in Newport, Rhode Island. Private wealth is turned to public monument and adoration.
Americans spend money our public dollars on so many things and we debate which worthy cause and use is most important when budgets tighten. Americans have little appreciation or value on spending millions to erect a piece of public art just because. We consider it frivolous.
Indeed, many European and Ottoman rulers were spending countless sums on their public art and monuments while people died in the streets of dysentery, poverty ran unchecked, people were illiterate, and there were no resources for the mentally ill.
At the same time, no one in France seems bitter when they walk through the splendor of their capital. There is no economic value or contribution to the Arc De Triomphe. I have never heard a Brit curse Trafalgar Square or spit on Buckingham Palace. Even in Cannes, Grasse and Nice - so far removed from Paris - public art adorns the streets. You can't walk more than two blocks without a statue or sculpture.
Istanbul is littered with gorgeous mosques and monuments - some forgotten and badly kept, others resplendent. However, it is clear this has been a place and culture which takes pride in its history. These monuments are part of the fabric of their lives - a tie to their culture and a reminder of what links generation to generation.
Meanwhile, in a very different aspect of the role of public and private, we have had discussions with many people from many places about healthcare. People from the Netherlands, Greece, Britain, Turkey, Norway, and Russia have all told us how shocking it is that there are people who cannot either receive or afford their medical care in America. People in France - each and every time - consider American healthcare their worst nightmare. Even the most American friendly French feel our healthcare situation is shockingly out on synch with the values and wealth of our country.
Hussein, my cafe conversation friend of two days ago, told me that Turkey gives 100 percent free national healthcare. However, people go to the doctor whether or not they really need it and it has begun to tax the hospital system to the brink. The government is rolling back coverage and instituting co-payments so that people bear some responsibility for their healthcare.
When I explained that we have that concept with our private health insurance, he felt that it was going too far to have people pay for their insurance and then pay deductibles and co-payments on top of that. Hussein - a successful producer who has earned his way in life and who says Turks work hard from early until late - feels that everyone needs healthcare. The idea that someone can go bankrupt over being ill is disgusting to him.
At the end of our day yesterday, we took a public ferry to Kadikoy on the Asian shore. This interesting and happening neighborhood has amazing backstreets with a crowded and gorgeous fish and produce market. Happenings restaurants, bars and shops like the streets and the energy is positive. Kadikoy is very alive.
Our ferry costs us 1.5 Lira - about $1. Every train or tram ride costs the same - no matter which stop you choose. If you change lines, you pay again. Locals with passes receive a discount on their transfer to make the entirety of the trip more affordable. Between the trams, light rail, funicular, subway lines and suburban train lines - Istanbul has a phenomenal public rail network with very affordable fares. No wonder people pack into the trains like sardines.
Public ferries run perhaps 20 or more different lines along the water and we haven't even figured out the bus network. Public transportation is fantastic. Istanbul is an old city which spend most of its existence without public transportation. It has roads built long before cars for that matter. Much of its public rail improvements have come in the past 20 years. What a pleasure it is to be able to get quickly and efficiently through this ancient city. The affordable prices that make it so Istanbullus can really make use of these systems are fantastic.
As we zipped along the water on our 15 minute ferry ride to Kadikoy which cost us $1, I looked out at the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque and Topkapi Palace on the hill and thought of home. Where is the art? Where is the value on splendor? And why can't I get to the Westside in less than an hour on the freeway?
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