Click on any image to enlarge and jump to that page.
 |  |
Please note that I'm not an expert on architecture, never mind an expert
on Ottoman architecture.
This section contains buildings that appeared, to my eye, to represent
every day Ottoman architecture. In other words, the Ottoman vernacular:
houses, stores, and common design elements.
There's certainly a lot more to Ottoman architecture than what I show here.
A bathhouse in the present-day village of Selçuk, near Ephesus.
| | | | |
|  |
Antalya is located on the south-central coast of Turkey. Surrounding
the quite charming harbor area is the Kaleici (Kaleiçi) -- old
Antalya.
| | | | |
|  |
The whole district is packed with old Ottoman houses.
| | | | |
|  |
Note the wooden soffits.
| | | | |
|  |
A nice restoration, with a beautiful curved wooden soffit.
| | | | |
|  |
Dramatic soffit woodwork.
(Where's Waldo?)
| | | | |
|  |
A house in disrepair.
It's sad to see, but chances are it will be restored if the tourist
economy picks up again.
| | | | |
|  |
A typical alleyway in Antalya Kaleici.
| | | | |
|  |
A large grand old place that could use a little attention.
| | | | |
|  |
The quite-far-gone on the left, and the even-worse-off on the right.
The white building has endured an awful restoration job, in my opinion.
If the tan accent lines look fake, it is because they are.
Nice woodwork, though.
| | | | |
|  |
Antala Kaleici isn't all touristy. As you go farther south and west,
the neighborhood becomes a bit more 'authentic'... whatever that
might mean.
| | | | |
|  |
An Ottoman bay window (for lack of a better term) frames a minaret.
Note the old wiring scheme on the house. Open insulators and stapled
cloth-insulated wire. Nice!
| | | | |
|  |
A much simpler house.
The window sill planters are made from square metal olive oil drums.
| | | | |
|  |
An enclosed courtyard in Antalya.
| | | | |
|  |
Istanbul.
Squeezed between the Aya Sofia and the Topkapi Palace is a pleasant narrow
alleyway called Sogukcesme Sokak (Street of the Cold Fountain).
The old houses along both sides have been carefully restored, by, of all
people, the Turkish Touring & Automobile Association.
| | | | |
|  |
On the north end of the street is the Cistern Restaurant (Taverna
Restaurant Sarnic). It's an unusual place to have dinner -- deep below
the earth in a Roman water-tank -- but it can also be quite romantic.
| | | | |
|  |
Just off the Hippodrome in Istanbul is the Palace of Ibrahim Pasa, which
now hosts the Turkish & Islamic Arts Museum (Turk ve Islam Eserleri Muzesi).
Ibrahim Pasa was Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent's aide-de-camp, vizier,
and eventually his serasker (commander-in-chief). Then, well, he was
executed in 1536.
A great location for a palace though.
| | | | |
|  |
Other Ottoman buildings just off the Hippodrome, Istanbul.
| | | | |
|  |
The Four Seasons Hotel in Istanbul was converted
from an old prison. FWIW: The hotel literature describes the building
as "Neo-classical Ottoman."
| | | | |
|  |
A street in Istanbul's Sultanahmet.
| | | | |
|  |
More in the Sultanahmet, this time very close to the Blue Mosque.
| | | | |
|  |
A row of unpainted houses in the Sultanahment.
Note the delicate, and mostly missing, details under the window sills.
The minaret is probably the Blue Mosque, but I'm not sure.
| | | | |
|  |
Some sort of niche in the Sultanahment, Istanbul. A water fountain,
perhaps?
There's a whole mess-o-words inscribed on the top.
| | | | |
|  |
A door, now quite below street-level in Sultanahmet, Istanbul.
| | | | |
|  |
An old house near Balat, Istanbul.
| | | | |
|  |
A row of shops just outside Istanbul's Covered Market (Kapali Carsi).
| | | | |
|  |
A row of shops just outside Istanbul's Covered Market (Kapali Carsi).
| | | | |
|  |
A few shops along Istanbul's Divan Yolu -- between the Sultanahmet tram
stop and the Cemberlitas stop.
The brick parapet is a nice touch.
| | | | |
|  |
A "Traditional Water Pipe and Tea Garden" on Istanbul's Divan Yolu.
| | | | |
|  |
Moorish arches on a bridge crossing the Golden Horn.
This could be the Galata Bridge, but I don't really recall.
| | | | |
|  |
A modern re-interpretation.
This is a quite new, probably purpose-built, building in Cappadocia.
It is a Turkish carpet showroom and museum, of sorts. A tourist trap,
really, but a very nice one.
I especially like the window at the top of the stairs.
A few more images of
Ottoman architecture.
| | | | |
