Leigh in Azerbaijan

Yesterday (Sat) I took a ferry to Balat to see some more ancient history.

Taking a ferry up the Golden Horn I went as far as Balat, a small suburb on the south side. Looking from the ferry it was just an uninterrupted wall of apartments.

I had been told to walk uphill following my nose and that is the only thing you could do. Nothing made sense in terms of town planning and I would assume that the street layout reflected the decisions of residents maybe 2000 years ago. While being wide enough for a couple of carts, the streets were short and went at unpredicatable angles at each intersection. The first two photos show the shopping centre of Balat. On going up hill I took some comfort that I was going in the right direction when a young family seemed to be taking the same route as me. I drew long stares from the locals, presumably being an oddity. I guess the streets weren’t exactly common tourist haunts.

At the top was Tekfur Sarayi (Porphyrogenetus) which is Constantinople’s last extant Byzantine imperial palace. It was built into the city walls around the late 12th Century and variously served as the sultan’s menagerie, a brothel, a pottery workhouse and a poorhouse before being abandoned in the later 1700s.

Here’s another shot from the back - or was it the front.

These boys set themselves up in a photo pose hoping for a donation to their pockets, with much giggling and whispering. “Let’s play a trick on the man.” (in Turkish of course - some things are universally understood)

Only just standing the wear of the years.

The view of the city walls from the inside.

From the top of the walls.

Still from the top but this time including someone giving someone else a tattoo.

Two more from the walls. The first a rather poor shot looking south, but it’s meant to show the wall trailing into the distance. The second shows the minarets almost more numerous than trees as I look back toward the old city. Thats Fatih Camii, the mosque of the conquerer, on the horizon.

The view of the city walls from the outside. The first photo is the main road going through with a newly restored tower on one side (there’s actually two of them but the other is on my left, out of the photo).

The real reason I went on this trip was that Tanya told me about the Chora Church or Kariye Museum as it’s now known. Chora means ‘in the country’ or really, outside the city walls. The church was enclosed in new city walls in 413 so it’s been inside the city walls for 1600 years. The current building dates from the 11th Century.

It’s amazing how such texture and detail can be created with mosaics. I saw it but it’s still unbelievable.

More astounding detail.

The previous photos were all from adjoining narthexes but these show the worship centre.

These painted frescos are in the adjoining Paracclesion, a side chapel built to house the tombs of the church’s founder.

Heading back to the ferry as it’s getting late, I passed a number of mosques but also…

the Aqueduct of Valens, built in the late 4th Century by the emperor Valens (Roman Empire). It was in use up to the end of the 19th Century.

Oh, here’s the tomb of Mehmet the Conqueror.

“Not much”, you say, but I reckon it’s revered by the Turks as he changed history with some brilliant strategies to invade Constantinople. Without him it maybe still would have been largely Greek, although who knows what would have happened with following empires.

As you may guess I returned home somewhat tired and ready for bed. To make it all worse I hadn’t realised that the last ferry to Kadikoy went at 8.30pm and I arrived at 8.45pm. After talking to a transport officer who had no English, I learnt that I had to walk across the Galata Bridge and catch another ferry from Kerakoy. I made it in time to catch the school ’service’ (not church service) bus at 10pm.