Istanbul hilton
iü
iit
iii
TC. EM EKLt SANDIGI
(TU R KISH REPUBLIC PEN S IO N F U N D )
is proud to b e making a contribution
to the development of tourism in Turkey
with these fine hotels;
:|Hp
M A Ç K A OTELİ Tel : Jf01053 Telex : 2311k Maco TR B Ü Y Ü K A N K A R A Tel. 171106 Telex : m 0 8 OTEL TR B Ü Y Ü K T A R A B Y A Tel. 621000 Telex : 26203 HTRB TR L i ^ ^ m w m gFmWırrtrm w ^w ı_J Pff!«WP!W!PKİBII!^irT»IBI«r' JLJ p p p p p p p p i w i f n ' - w p r ; —_ ı P P P ll! P P H B lP ! !P H ip d ' f f f f f f '’ lÖppİİİfMİ(|İPVpjfKİT■ÜBİİ' L
w rrrrn ; mm^rnw^mW:W^rr.rımm\"¿sirT
n p p p P B i! H S P i! p r f - l! P ! j| i Z t f r i l! P P H P P * f!!» «P W r ^ «? n l ÇELİK PALAS T e l : 19600 Telex : 32121 CEP A TR B Ü Y Ü K EFES Tel. Ikk300 Telex : 523kl Efes TR r_"
i ş r W P
I S T A D OTELİ | TeZ: 1166kk/2k3215 Telex : k22k8 HOS TRVisit Turquoise Turkey
Please ask "Turquoise Turkey" to your travel agent and make him
reveal the unique beauties of Mediterranean culture and historical
richness of Turkey.
Better yet come and discover Turquoise Turkey. Turquoise Group
Hotels recognize individual choice and preferance. Beauty, gracious
service and unhesitating hospitality are a tradition at our hotels,
Our service exemplifies it. Our reputation honours it.
Divan
Divan in Istanbul, the sultry city, supremely beautiful, according to Busbequins in 1744 "to be naturally placed as fit to be the mistress of the world". The best this city has to offer is near you when you stay at
Divan Hotel.
Altinyunus
Altinyunus in Çeşme, Izmir is for relaxing and for sports and for health. Not just a hotel but a complete holiday resort. Altinyunus enables you to enjoy a most memorable vacation at one of the best holiday spots on the Aegean Sea. Altinyunus also extends you the history of Pergamum,
Ephesus and Virgin Mary.
Talya
From the picturesque mountains of the Southern Turkey to the golden
beaches of Antalya, Talya is a place where you will live the unforgettable experiences on the Turquoise Coast, located on the Turkish Riviera amidst the historical and archeological surroundings.
Turquoise Group Hotels
To find out more about what we canoffer you, such as travel arrangements and Turquoise Tours, contact your travel agent. Or better give us a call.
Setur:
İstanbul Cumhuriyet Caddesi, 107 Elmadağ-İstanbul Tel: 48 50 85-48 46 22 T elex: 22718 stur tr Teig.: Seturistik-lstanbul Antalya Hotel Talya-Antalya Tel: 5600 T elex: 56111 İzmir Birinci KordonAtatürk Caddesi, 294/A Alsancak-lzmir Tel: 13 77 49-13 77 13 T elex: 52183 mizm tr Ankara Kumrular Sok: 6/B Kızılay-Ankara Tel: 25 46 76
Bintur:
Şehit Fethi Bey Caddesi 120/A, İzmir
Tel: 14 17 88-13 92 59- 126622
A letter
from the Editor
Luxury hotels are common things all over the world. But some of them are very special such as the Is tanbul Hilton. This hotel paved the way to modern tourism in Turkey and opened doors as well to a vast and successful future of Hilton International Company.
To commemorate the Silver Jubilee the article titled "The Istanbul Hilton Story" gives all the details from its inception to the opening of the hotel. A collection of articles which appeared in the pre vious issues of the hotel magazine was selected to give a glimpse of what Turkey offers in the field of tourism when the country herself celebrates the
“25
years of modern tourism ”This year we celebrate 25 years of success. The story of this hotel is a success story that we are all proud of .Our standards and services have become symbols for modern tourism and hospitality in Tur key.
We hope you can share with us the joy over our success by joining our festivities and that you w ill continue supporting us as you have in the past. We owe our success to you and our pledge to keep the standards and continue to improve them is our way to say thank you.
Our SOS Children’s Village project expresses our special thanks to the city of Istanbul and its com munity.
Yours Sincerely,
George W. Engelhardt General Manager
Istanbul hiton
suMMtn Mac ‘•v’tA.T*
COVER : A rtist’s concept of the hotel as integral part of the city and its unique location.
Istanbul Hilton
S U M M E R 1980
M A G A Z IN E
Vol : 1 1
N o :4 2
Table o f
contents.-MESSAGE BY SÜLEYMAN DEMİREL
Prime Minister of Turkey ... 12 MESSAGE BY CURT R. STRAND
President, Hilton International ... 14 MESSAGE BY BARLAS KÜNTAY
Turkish Minister of Tourism ... 16 MESSAGE BY NEJAT SEVDİR
Acting Director General,
Turkish Republic Pension Fund ... 18 THE ISTANBUL HILTON STORY
by Gülseren Ramazanoğlu ... 20 3 MILLION ROOMS, 14.000.000 MEALS
by Cengiz özülkü ... 25 OUR ANNIVERSARY - THANK YOU
by George W. Engelhardt ... 26 ISTANBUL
by Ronald Higham ... 28
THE HISTORY-MAKING BOSPHORUS BRIDGE
by İsmail İşmen ... 30 MOSQUES OF ISTANBUL by Gülseren Ramazanoğlu ... 32 TURKISH TILES by Gülseren Ramazanoğlu ... 36 MOONSCAPE ON EARTH by Marcus S. Brooke ... 38 PAMUKKALE: ANCIENT HIERAPOLIS
by Gülseren Ramazanoğlu ... 40 SIGHTSEEING IN THE SOUTH
by Alfred Friendly... . ... 42 SANTA CLAUS
by Gülseren Ramazanoğlu ... 45 ANCIENT HALICARNASSUS : BODRUM
by Gülseren Ramazanoğlu and
Anne T. Bruno ... 46 COVERED BAZAAR
by Gülseren Ramazanoğlu ... 49
Yayınlayan (Published by) THE ISTANBUL HILTON - İstanbul Hilton adına Sahibi (Owner-Publisher) Muhasebe Müdürü CENGİZ ÖZÜLKÜ - Yazı işleri Müdürü (Editor) GÜLSEREN RAMAZANOĞLU - Kapak (Cover) SÜHEYL AKTARI - İllüstrasyon, grafik desen (Illustrations, graphic design) AYDIN ERKMEN - Basıldığı Yer (Printed by) APA OFSET BASIMEVİ, İstanbul - Turkey - Fotoğraflar (Photographic credits) ARCHIVES OF THE MINISTRY OF TOURISM, SAMİ GÜNER, AYDIN ERKMEN, TAMER GÜVENÇ, MARCUS S. BROOKE, ŞEMSİ GÜNER, HENRY ANGELO - CASTRILLION, TEKNİKA LABORATORY - Yazarlar (Editorial Contributions) GEORGE W. ENGELHARDT, CENGİZ ÖZÜLKÜ, ALFRED FRIENDLY .RONALD HIGHAM, MARCUS S. BROOKE, İSMAİL İŞMEN, ANNE T. BRUNO, GÜLSEREN RAMAZANOĞLU - Makaleler yazarın ve Magazinin ismi ile başka yerde yayınlanabilir - (Articles may be reproduced by crediting the author and the Istanbul Hilton) - Ücretsiz (Free of charge).
O Z E L
r^tanbul H ilton'
ary o f the introduction
■ Annivetsary the m tr
. g a t i n g the SilVS s ilv e r a n n i v e « * « ern hotel
In “ ate in feet the ^ p ioneer o f ficiu,t
- ^ tou r is » * has also- 4 - * • * " with 356
°f - " " ¿ l —
manage» en ke y 's « raiZ ^
25 y e a « -eT
»U. - « * *
also- " " i6U tlT la r e -o u g h t 1» ^ ^ xstanhul 5ociai l i f e
„1111°" 4 » 1“ hotei „anageeen^ altered
- *
introduced o-
standa
, our country- deVe lo p ^ e n t '
o£ , A o f t ° urlSm • to Antalya
. th e t h r e s h o l d fron Izmir o f the
T.th Turkey at coasta l regr° Comple t l
W1 „-Mediterranean ^ Cr»ted e f f o r t - uate road
Aegea selected fo r c o f h i g h « can sv/n"
has b®en develop ^ the tourr Given
Palawan unigue area, i n v e s t ^ , ^
systems, ■ »* suited f ° r „ e «oul io „al
gear-round, ^ fo r to u ris » « ^ ^ Hli t on « « ^ o£
T u rle y 's waJ° , major le a p fo r t0 this and o
p i— d tC uansion o f 1 « operat
chain ha exP natu ral heautu
* - COUn“ ^ Tulkey, and understanding
t see »o re to u rists r ^ ^ „ „ t o r to P" ^ ^ coal, an
* ""T -sto ric a l wealth- As ^ o r e„P»a z in o
* * ; a country are s t a„dard ° * X o f th is
we 3 Hilton on the lc ng cDnt
satulate n il h fo r a
con9 ertend every »
We exw e f fo rts-
M v E T A « ' ” “ ■ ', K * È a * a S I Ozel r o f modern ho t i j e as th e p i °
Turkey
The
as amanagement re S ponse, and t he ca
, th e w o rld - Government
a r ° erve d s u p p o rt from the
weld deserve
illae rs to keep
“ I k e '3 '
edo . e r
the 1 « * 25 w respect . HlJtoo has managed, and p r o fit a b ilit yTstanhul Hir standard a
rhe nerformadoe/
D its class, P
P
oration-
elem ent rtheir operatr^ o p e r a t . n . ^ hotel m a n a ^ t *
d d itr o n « - « - •
u t u H
uton
” 3 rince 1 « ^ ^ economy ° f
T u rk e y i sin ion to the
tant contrrhutr iIto n has caI
im po rta n I s ta n h u l H r r
the -‘•aA- _..^flssfur
e’J' ^ c o n t r ib u t io n to the to captured
"P
f
« « o u « * ru rk e s in ‘
our h<!3r . „re working or » l U
pCT successful
tea has
pt°',ed
“ «ords' «•arS
n experiment i» TUl
nati°n»l- In °
ational«
both f°t ^ the Hilton m
hapPP t o 533 J,, T u rk e y • l s m p o t e n t ia l
happy » “°rk U 1 evaluate her tour We
Turkey Wl1 its tourrs hotels
In the near f ^ i s h e - - “ and m a n a ^
ead - U j ^ t i l t o n .untry the ^
deSirS areas of Tur 6 Rational' « remises a
in
^ ta„tial. tourism ^ J t i o n s and «tourism potencountia ^ r e the ^ lts opera
P10^ ^ as future, ^ all our SUPP°
pr°SPer° desire- they « invest in our
not easy fen , chains who
recently » waS international ^ projects*
V . „ sector* Therefor ^ ^ re a l ^ fo r eign
tourism uCt hotel i t p0ssrh f oUr
. hed
tocon
has ma
parj.980.
U e r , our to I«»* beg—
-"asures package announ
economic me tourism >«> ' ^ re .tels m
„1tr goal 1 . „ 0r manege
in order to — —
^international hotel
Turkey * a/ o/ / . “V
BhPIhO KUNTf f T ourism T u rk is h M in is te r
f i e l d .
17 16
\
G en eV
oZ&Lhe «ta n h u l B i l » » '
„„Iversa« •* th; 25 ae,rs of
. the Silver . f the firS Qf modern
C°”Ple“ as the count« - * *
mod ament was f i r
n o « ! — ^ . ^ n a t i o n a l l y «
thiS h0te1' is also « c o ^ - d ^ hotel cnain
fa„hul Hi!ton very a « 01* ion of
The Istahh r-es of a expans
the corners „ay to
° " e the world- « le d
ar°U" international• „„dlord of *■
Hilton I"
round the » ° r j . 0f the hotel.
3ilto n internet as “ " ' to u ris * t o * * ” * ’
v l i c pensr011 in the tou Tc:tanhul
m rkish ReP1^ 1 f investment o f the I
The , the concept o f the ca Tur]cish
i n “ ° dU* * 1 m » “ “" t e d snnstanti.!» from its
^ ^ n a s n o n t r i ^ ; hard ^ o h t a r
Hilton, he input or
economy w company
e lit e gueeta- landlord and th« ^ tM
relations b * — ’ ^ l a r y . -> £or „a„y year
The n over the ^ ar s in Turkey
have been, ^ Hilton •»
continuât^" < n ejat sEVDiRcenerai
- T
P
^
" rpension
T u r k i s h PeP Fund 18L v o v ' S
^ODduo V\\d'2^r ^anKt^.^69
v e O í * f e \s \a n b ^ -19THE ISTANBUL HILTON STORY
The very first hotel inTurkey marking
the beginning o f modem Turkish tourism________
I
t all started thirty years ago when a Turkish dele gation and the King of Ho tel Chains happened to beunder the same roof in the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel in New York. Mr. Con
rad N. Hilton, the then president of Hilton International, who had an in stinct for hotel courtesies, invited the delegation for refreshments. During the conversation he was asked wheth er he would be interested in construct ing a hotel in Istanbul, a hotel that would be the firs t modern one in the country. He was also invited to visit Istanbul. In the coming days Mr. Hilton and his Vice-President John Houser were going to Paris for business and they extended their trip to Istanbul to explore the possibilities of such a venture.
When the Hilton delegation arriv ed in Istanbul they had' a royal wel come which was arranged through the government. As a guide, Mr. Hilton was given Mr. Nazif Bolukbasi, gover nor-mayor's chief of protocol, and a most charming young man, who even tually became assistant manager of the Istanbul Hilton.
D ecision to Build a H otel in Istanbul
T
J L h e guests were taken to all possible sites for a big hotel of inter-20
by G ulseren Ram azarroglu
national standards; the exciting and historical places were toured. Mr. Hil ton was convinced that this fabulous city of Istanbul had a lot to offer to visitors, and its geographic location between East and West would be the ideal place to start his projected inter national hotel chain. Although Istanbul had some known Victorian-style hotels at that time, it had no hotels of Hilton standards. When he was taken to the actual grounds of the hotel, then and there he made his final decision on the construction of the firs t Hilton International hotel in Europe.
On December 15, 1950 an advan ce agreement in principle was signed between the government and the Hil ton company. The main emphasis was on the construction of a very modern hotel of those days’ standards. The building was to be constructed and owned by the Turks and the hotel was to be managed by the Hilton Interna tional Company.
H o te l's Landlord
r
B e nterprising Turkish authorities were pushing the realization of a hotel that would mark the beginning of mod ern Turkish tourism. Coincidentally, a few blocks away, a young Turkish
man was frustrated over the lack of modern hotels in Istanbul. This young man was Mr. Ulvi Yenal, president of the Turkish Football Federation, and general manager of the newly-estab lished Turkish Pension Fund. He was trying to place members of the Swe dish Football Team in Istanbul's ho tels. Unfortunately, as the better ones were full, they had to resort to second best. Mr. Yenal, who had been to Swedish hotels, knew the difference.
Later, in his office, he found some clippings from the Swedish press quoting the poor state of Istanbul hotels. He was embarrassed and de pressed, and put on his coat, ready to leave the office. A t that moment the door opened and he had some visitors, including three Americans. The pur pose of the v isit was to find a landlord for the Hilton hotel to be constructed in Istanbul. The status of the Turkish Pension Fund allowed it to invest in the tourism field. What a God-sent thing,thought Mr. Yenal, so depressed only a few minutes ago. With excite ment he immediately started studying the papers with Mr. Miibin Manyasig, another of the future assistant man agers of the Istanbul Hilton, and Mr. John Houser. He was so carried away that he did not realize how late it be came. Finally, Mr. Houser remarked “ don’t you have tomorrow in this country, it is already 3:30 a.m. and the building is ice-cold.”
The enthusiasm of some govern ment officers was not enough to re alize this project. It was a firs t of its kind venture, a new approach and the pensions of retired people were thought to be at stake. It was not all that easy to obtain the necessary per mission before signing the final con tract between Hilton and its landlord. The land chosen alone was a problem, as it belonged to the Municipality and was designed to be a public park. A special law was required. The govern ment was so keen on the construction of such a hotel that they immediately passed the law.
Finally, the contract was signed between the Hilton and the Pension Fund on August 9, 1951. The 29-page contract covered all possible details for twenty years, a contract which since then has been renewed.
C onstruction Starts
T
- J ^ h e architectural designs were prepared by Skidmore / Owings and M errill (American) and Professor Sedat H. Eldem (Turkish) both amongthe leading names in their countries. The plans of the hotel were sub mitted to the authorities for necessary permission for the construction. At long last the ground breaking cere mony took place in Summer, 1952. Soon after the leveling of the ground started, the general manager of the Pension Fund was assigned to another job. His successor, Mr. Nuri Kinik, was even more enthusiastic, so much that he practically lived at the construction site for almost two years and supervi sed, pushed and helped whenever ne cessary. It is d ifficult to speculate on the reaction of the constructing firm Julius Berger and Dickerhoaf Viedman (West German). Mr. Kinik had to face all the difficulties to make the impos sible possible. Hilton International in terior designer Miss. I. Beck needed 2,40 m long marble slabs for the walls in the ball room and in the lobby corri dor. Turkey had been a country produc ing marble but the maximum length of marble quarried in one piece was nev er longer than 1,50 m. It had to be 2A0 m. not less, said she. Mr. Kinik had to fight to obtain a very special permit for the importation of marble from Italy. Then came the special needs for the landscaped garden... importation of special shrubs, trees,
etc. The officials concerned never heard of such a request. We have so many trees and flowers in this coun try, why don’t they use them, they said.
Pumping water from the sea to the swimming pool of the hotel was considered. Pipes had to be laid from the shore uphill to the grounds of the hotel. Nobody wanted to spare expens es. However, the man who owned a piece of land in between, where he had been growing vegetables (he is still there!) flatly refused to let pipes go under his land. So, the project had to be abandoned.
The construction progressed with full speed under the keen eyes of Mr. Rudy W. Basler, the project manager of the Hilton. Workers ranging from 200-500 daily worked like bees. The building had to be finished in record time for Turkey of those days. A f ter twenty one months of concentrat ed effort, toil and dedication, the con struction of the Istanbul Hilton was completed.
The hotel had 300 deluxe rooms with private balconies. The original public areas were the Main Dining Room (the present-day ball room), the Marmara Roof (now turning into a spacious function room), Şadırvan Supper Club( today’s casino), Karagöz Bar (now Pilsen Pub), Club Room (to day’s carpet shop) and Lalezar Meet ing Room (the present Lalezar Bar).
Some twenty young Turkish men and women spent over a year in Hil ton hotels in the United States train ing for key positions in the new hotel. Necessary staff was recruited; prac tically all of the employees were Turk ish.
D ecoration and Furnishing
T
J L . h e modern conveniences of the hotel was complimented with the use of local art which became a principle in future Hilton hotels around the world. All of the faience that deco rates the walls of the public areas was designed by Professor Sedat El dem, who stylized and adapted it from the interior decoration of the sixteenth-century mosque. They were done in the centuries-old Kütahya Tile Factories in Turkey.
The greater part of the designs for all furniture was executed by the Hilton Design Office. A substantial part of all upholstered furniture was produced under the direction of the Design Office, by the Teacher’s techni cal College in Ankara. This was a gov ernment-sponsored project to train teachers to help advance technical in dustries throughout the country.
Other furnishings, not locally a- vailable, were imported from fourteen different countries.
Carpeting throughout the hotel was handwoven in Konya, in Central Anatolia, renowned in the carpet in dustry. Approximately 15,000 square yards of carpet in 17 colors had 1.200,000,000 carpet tufts hand-knott ed by women workers. All this work was organized and controlled by Ke mal Seli, a Turkish businessman who initiated the revitalization of the Turk ish carpet industry.
International Inauguration of the Hotel
A
JL.
l i f t e r the actual construction of the building was completed, another phase of activity started. Furniture moved in, final touches were made. One would need to write a book on the last-minute activities. Excitement was at its peak. Everybody, including top foreign executives and their wives were physically moving furniture, sew ing pillows, etc. Literally, everybody gave a hand for the Grand Opening.The 300-room modern and deluxe hotel, equipped with the latest techni cal installations and embodying the best that Hilton standards can offer, was opening its doors to public. Long advance preparations were carefully planned and carried out under the guidance of Mr. Rudy W. Basler, now general manager of the hotel, with the teamwork of his colleagues around the
world and enthusiastic local staff. On May 20, 1955, the hotel was o- pen to the public for the trial run. Then came the Grand Opening from June 10 to 14. Nothing was spared for the success of the official international inauguration in the course of a five- day period of unmatched splendor. While Turkey was opening its doors to modern tourism, Hilton Internation al was marking the beginning of its global development.
THE ISTANBUL HILTON STORY
The Turkish and A m erican flags fly in g proudly fro m The J e ffe r son H otel in New Y o rk in 1955 in honor o f The Istanbul H ilton.
Turkish coffee g irls serving M r. H ilton w ith th eir famed Ann M ille r ( l e f t ) and Diana Lynn w ith the brew,
coffee girl.
said “ m erhaba” (hello) in Turkish, and raised both his arms in the air to sa lute the cheering crowds. He was the man who owned 29 hotels in the world. He made a brief statement indicating his pleasure to serve the city of Istan bul.
Then, Mr. Hilton accompanied by more than a dozen general managers from his various hotels, paid a cour tesy visit to Mr. Fahrettin Gokay, the then Governor-Mayor of Istanbul and a staunch supporter of the Hilton pro ject. The Governor-Mayor, with an im pressive ceremony presented the scroll of Freedom of the City to Mr. Hilton. The honorary Turkish citizen then placed a wreath with "Istanbul Hilton" inscriptions on the Republic Monument in Taksim Square.
D-day came on June 10. Mr. Hil ton, the Governor-Mayor and the guests gathered in front of the en trance door under the flying-carpet- design canopy which was inspired by the "Gate of Felicity” in the Topkapi Palace of the Sultans. Mr. Hilton pull ed a box from his pocket, opened it carefully while the excited guests looked on, took out a golden key and put it in the keyhole of the entrance door. It was 12:00 noon on the dot. He turned the key once and then turned to the Governor-Mayor who looked a little bewildered as he was used to ribbon-cutting ceremonies, and re quested him to turn the knob and enter the building. Thus, the opening of the building was officiated.
The Governor-Mayor, who had been taken private English lessons for some time, made his firs t public speech in English. The guests entered the hotel, Turkish girls in national cos tumes started serving special
cock-President Conrad N . H ilton holds a poster bearing nearly 1.000 signatures o f m em bers o f The W ald orf-A storia s ta ff as a greeting to the fam ily fold to the s ta ff of The Istanbul H ilton. On the rig h t is Mr. Wallace W. Lee, Jr., the manager o f The W aldorf.
re, Irene Dunne, Sonja Henie, Diana Lynn, Merle Oberon, Ann Miller, Lon Me Callister, Keefe Braselle and Leo Carillo. In addition came well-known representatives of Life, Time, Look, Readers Digest, Esquire, Fortune and Holiday, including the United States newspaper tycoon William R. Hearst Jr. Movie columnists Louella Pearsons and Hedda Hopper, representatives of U.S. radio and television, businessmen such as the owner of Empire State Building, and diplomats such as America's popular ambassadors to Turkey Mr. G. Vadsworth and Mr. G. McGhee joined as well.
The festivities started at the air port. More than a hundred photo graphers and newsmen, city officials, thousands in cheering crowds and special Istanbul Hilton hostesses in national costumes were at the airport to meet the guests. When the door of the plane opened thousands of people started applauding as Mr. Hilton ap peared on the stairs. He smiled and
M r. Conrad H ilton (second fro m r ig h t), M r. Fa h rettin K erim Gokay ( r i g h t ) , gov ern or- m ayor o f Istanbul, and M r. N u ri K i- m k (c e n te r ), general manager o f the Pen sion Fund, and guests at the gala opening.
Jeanne Hansen ( l e f t ) , executive secretary, H ilton International in 1955; Mrs. Harold Gray and Mrs. Jesse Boynton, wives o f top Pan A m erican executives.
The two PANAM double decker special planes called "the Flying Carpet" and "the Magic Carpet" flew in Mr. Conrad N. Hilton and his per sonal guests. More than one hundred guests included a galaxy of Hollywood and other stars such as Olivia de Havilland, Mona Freeman, Terry
tails. A t 1:30 p.m. the gong was heard and with the official inauguration lun cheon, the firs t meal in the hotel was served with great efficiency.
Speeches started with Mr. Nuri Kınık, general manager of the Turkish Pension Fund and the landlord of the Istanbul Hilton, Mr. Conrad N. Hilton and Mr. Fahrettin Gökay, the Governor -Mayor of Istanbul. Mr. Hilton in his speech emphasized the importance of the city of Istanbul and Turkey. “ Stand ing here today in the shadow of a score of history’s most hallowed shrines is indeed a precious experi ence. To the average American - and I consider myself such - mere mention of this metropolis on the beautiful Bosphorus invokes a maze of impres sions gathered from a thousand sour ces.... That Istanbul has played a large role in human history is certainly no accident. Pitched on the very cross roads of two great continents, it was destined from the beginning to be the witness of great historical happen ings.... For the Western World, the transforming events of 1923 in Turkey have been of supreme importance when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk revita lized Turkey...”
That was not all. A series of col orful functions took place for five days in the hotel and there were sev eral official functions in the c ity ’s old palaces to celebrate the happy event. Even some 6629 miles away in Puerto Rico's Caribe Hilton (first hotel of the chain) a carefully planned com memorative buffet was held to wel come the sister hotel to the family. The highlight of the evening was a beautiful ice carving of a mosque, symbolic of Turkey.
Foreign guests and state digni taries stayed in the hotel during the festivities and the celebrities who were flown in for the occasion toured the city day and night. They were the pioneers of millions of tourists to come to the Istanbul Hilton. They were truly enchanted and one of them, the movie star Lon McCallister, took miles and miles of colored films of the city for projection on TV stations in the United States. He was very happy to take back “ all the beautiful sights of
Istanbul in his suitcase ”
On June 15, 1955, the Istanbul Hil ton, the 29th Hilton hotel, the third Hilton International in the chain (the second being the Castellana Hilton in
Madrid, Spain which was managed opened doors to a vast and success- only, not constructed by Hilton), ful future. No other opening ceremony, took its place at the side of the others neither in Istanbul nor in the Hilton and opened its doors to the public. world surpassed the grandiose open- __________________________ ing of the Istanbul Hilton.
Istanbul H ilto n ’s C ontributions --- --- --- Expansion of the H otel
Istanbul H ilton Served as a School s for the employees, they have risen high in their profes sions and eventually
became top executives or general managers both in other Hilton hotels and in other chains. Then came a new generation. Thus, the Istanbul Hilton became a school for the tourism industry both inTurkey and in the Hilton chain being one of the oldest in the family. Many of the seventy sevenHilton International hotels have some
body who can reminisce about work at the Istanbul Hilton.
This hotel means a lot to Turkey as with its opening, modern tourism started in the country. It means a lot to Hilton International as well, as it
Keeping a devoted eye perpetual ly on the hotel, the management proudly expects coming generations to find this hotel always at its
the years to come.
T
J L
he eleven-story “ match-box” asit was cynically referred to by some conservative bureaucrats, not only marked the birthday of modern Turk ish tourism but also changed the sky line of Istanbul. Its simple and func tional architectural style influenced the city s as well as nation’s archi tects. The interior decoration also had its share. New concepts were intro duced in the social life of the country. Eventually the local people who were too shy in the beginning to step into the hotel started getting acquainted with this fascinating world and in the end the word Hilton became identified w th comfort, quality, high standard and efficiency. The word, "H ilto n ” be came a symbol, and is used in daily conversation.
l n a few years time the hotel needed extending. A 150-room fully- airconditioned extension was opened in 1965-1966 and in 1969 the whole building was climatized. The improve ment and modernization has never stopped, and planned rehabilitation and maintenance programs have been carried out to keep the high standard of the hotel at its highest.
Left to right (upper row) Rudi Nureyev, Robert McNamara, H.S.H. Prince Rainier and H.S.H. Princess Grace of Monaco (lower row) Dr. Kurt Waldheim, Henry Ford I I and Vehbi Koç, Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti, Pierre Cardin.
A FAMOUS PLACE A FAMOUS FACE
A selection from 25 years o f celebrity visitors
Left to right (upper row) Pele, Rafaella Carra, H.R.H. King Hussein o f Jordan (lower row) Mr. & Mrs. Nelson A. Rockefeller, Dr. and Mrs. Christian Bernard, Danny Kaye, Prince Bernard of Holland with Dr.N. Eczaciba§t.
3 MILLION ROOMS and
l4.ooo.ooo M EALS!
.... 25 YEARS Of
ASTOUNDING STATISTICS.
by C engiz Ö Z Ü L K Ü
In continuous operation since June 10, 1955, a grand hotel such as the Hilton International Istanbul has developed over this time some surprising and impressive statistics. The numbers .although at times hard to believe, speak for themselves:
To date, our hotel has hosted 3,826,800 guests in its elegant rooms. Con sidered that today there are 53,000 beds in the total Turkish hotel market, the Istanbul Hilton alone could totally have used this capacity 72 days in succession to house its guests!
14,556,550 persons have been served food and drink in our hotel in the past 25 years. That's more than enough meals to feed every man, woman, and child in the w hole city of today's Istanbul on three separate occasions! The meat consumed in the Hilton (over 3,000,000 kilograms) equals a herd of over 8,000 larg e b eef cattle!
White cheese, a national delicacy of Turkey, has been served in such abundance that if ail the tins of cheese used over the years were set end to end (150,000 tins!) both shores of th e Bosphorus could be comfortably lined from Black Sea to Marmara Sea, a total distance of over 60 kilo meters!
A hotel without linen is of course impossible. Our hotel, over 25 years has produced an unending stream of clean bed sheets, that if stretched continuously, 2 1/2 meters wide, would extend over 45,000 kilometers in distance, more than enough to comfortably tie a ribbon of white linens
aro un d the world!
The swimming pool of the Hilton is the largest in the city. The whisky, vodka, gin, rakı, and wine consumed by our customers since 1955 (over one and a half million bottles!), would fill it to the brim!
However one looks at it, the record of the hotel has been most impres sive. In particular, at a time when Turkey’s foreign exchange needs are critically high, we are proud to reflect on the statistics that over the past 25 years $ 356,000,000 of foreign exchange were brought to Turkey through our hotel.
C 3
o :
OUR ANNIVERSARY
THANK YOU...
by George Engelhardt
To commemorate our 25 anniversary year we have decided to contribute substantially towards the construction of the first SOS Children’s Village in Turkey. Several fundraising activities are planned for the remainder of this year and the first charity gala dinner is scheduled for Saturday June 14 to be followed by a poolside Bar BQ in August and an International Bazaar in November. All proceeds from these activities will be donated to SOS ÇO
CUK KÖYLERİ for its project in Sultan Çiftliği near Istanbul. What are the SOS Children's Villages?
They are a private social welfare organization, both politically and denominationally independent. The autonomous SOS Children’s Village Associations in each country are members of SOS Kinderdorf International, the head or ganization based in Vienna, Austria.
The purpose of SOS Children's Villages is to help children who are in need of care because they have lost their parents or are homeless for other reasons. They provide a permanent home for these children in small, family- type groups, the SOS families.
Six to eight children live in such an SOS family, boys and girls of various ages, who grow up together like brothers and sisters.
Each SOS family lives in a house of its own. The head of the family is the SOS mother. She provides the children entrusted to her care with the affection and sense of security which every child needs for its sound development. An SOS Children’s Village consists of 15 to 20 such houses and is supervised by a Village Director. He advises the mothers and represents the fatherly element in the Village. Educational therapy supplement the children's up bringing.
The children grow up in conditions very similar to those in a normal family. They attend the local schools. Children are accepted by SOS Children's Villages irrespective of race, nationality or creed, solely according to their need of care.
The SOS Children's Villages remain in charge of these children until they are able to look after themselves. While they learn a trade or profession, they can live in the Student and Apprentice Houses run by the SOS Children’s Villages.
The founder of the first SOS Children’s Village Hermann Gmeiner says "M illions of friends all over the world have helped me to found over 100 SOS Children’s Villages, this is a sensational wave of goodwill.
The development of our social systems is based on our efforts to cooperate with each other in our daily lives. Real progress depends on the contribution which each human being is prepared to make towards a better, juster and more peaceful world. Because of his imperfections, man lives in a permanent state of crisis, yet he possesses the ability to overcome this crisis bit by bit. He may gain deeper insight into the structure and functioning of our social interactions and change his attitudes accordingly. Those who do not think in these lines are neither huma nitarian or realistic. To think realistically does not mean resignation in the face of human shortcomings, but the determination to take up the challenge and fight against material and spiritual dilemmas. We do not become more human through hostile arguments nor by insisting on ever higher standards of comfort in our lives with the ever more complicated machinery invented to satisfy these needs. We become more human as we succeed in res pecting, loving and helping each other to overcome the acute problems in our lives.
I see it as my task to ask my fellow hurman beings all over the world for their understanding and help for the aban doned child. The more Friends of SOS Children’s Villages succeed in dedicating themselves to this task, the sooner will it be possible for the SOS Children’s Villages to make a modest contribution towards this social progress in our times.”
I believe you will share our enthusiasm in supporting our 25 th anniversary contributions so we can give these needy children a chance to grow up happily if they are to contribute towards a better future for all of us.
a 800 ır.-f. 44600 M m ■ 1I f e & S Q f l w ! i ■ Il m m I * ~ F
betwei
( I s t a n b u l
One^Man'S Obsession
by Ronald HIGH A MIstanbul is a city of mosaics, some of the loveliest — some would argue the loveliest — in the world. But for me the city itself is a mosaic. A mosaic of memories.
I write this sitting on the terrace of. one of these old, romantic wooden v ill
las — yalis to my Turkish friends — in the as yet unspoilt village of Kanlica on the Asiatic shore of the Bosphorus. Blue water, blue sky, gulls swooping and scaring, ferry-boats zig-zagging two Continents, cruise liners makintS their aristocratic progress towarcfl the Marmara, oil tankers
(even they look splendid in this sett ing) on their way to the Black Sea and, silhouetted like a theatrical backdrop, the dramatic outline of Rumeli Hisar castle. If earth has anything to show more fair I have yet to see it.
Of standing on Galata Bridge and watching fish being fried and sold from little boats bobbing up and down. Never mind those fancy five-star menus. You don't know w h a t fish ! tastes like until you have eaten grey mullet sandwiched between tw o hunks of bread.
Of seeing Santa Sophia for the first time and falling under the spell of its mysterious grandeur, a spell that never fails.
Of walking the five-m ile stretch of the Land W alls on a blisteringly hot day and finding half-w ay along an open-air cafe which served me with the finest nectar-like tea in a tiny glass.
Of sitting in a barbers and seeing the next chair occupied by a gipsy w ith a dancing bear.
Of kebabs, stuffed vine leaves, baby marrows, delicious cucumbers eaten straight from the barrow. And, of course, rakı, that potent, aniseed-fla voured national drink. (M y over-ge nerous host once had nearly to fish me out of the Bosphorus.)
Speaking of food, and w ho doesn't in Turkey?, my daughter spent one of her teenage years in Istanbul. She left London looking like a bean-pole. She returned like a roly-poly pudding.
Istanbul is no place for the dieter. There alw ays seems to be too much food. Mountains of m arrows, stalls festooned w ith artistically arranged fish, piles of pilav and sticky sw eets galore. Do not, I implore you, fail to buy a box of Turkish delight from Hacı Bekir's old shop (it is near Galata Bridge) where once the original Hacı made sw eetm eats for the Sultan and his harem.
Let me tell of a memorable meal I had not so long ago. Just opposite the entrance to the Suleymaniye M o s que is a lokanta — a lokanta being a sort of working man's restaurant where the food can be surprisingly good. The cook w as a jovial, grey-haired man who told me proudly that the had three daughters at university. He was equally proud of his cooking prowess and there w as no question of my choosing a meal. I w as to eat °as he directed and no argument. He brought me a morsel of meat on the end of a fork. "E at" he ordered. I ate and it w as m outh-w ateringly delicious. Then he produced a sample of his stuffed marrow. "E at" he instructed. I ate and the m arrow melted in my mouth. affair with Istanbul for the best part of 30 years, alas too often from afar. A kaleidescope of memories.
Of bargaining in the Grand Bazaar for an old lamp from a Sultan's palace and pretending I had w on. I hadn't of course. Anyone w ho beats a bazaar stall holder at his ow n game deserves the Order of Osmanli — but it's fun trying.
W hen I left after a splendid feast washed down w ith ice-cold w ater there w ere bows and smiles and handshakes and pledges of eternal friendship all round. The cost of this fit-for-a-Sultan meal w as ludicrously small but in these hurried, frenetic days you could not put a value on that kind of experience. A t home, when London is cold and grey and w e t (fo r the benefit of in tending visitors I m ust add that it is not alw ays like th a t) I can bring Is tanbul alive in a moment. W ith T u rk ish coffee in my Turkish cup, and by the light of my Turkish lamp, and sur rounded by prints of old Stamboul, 1 turn to a precious possession — "Constantinople — Tourist's Guide, by Ernest M am boury." This is a first edition in English published in 1925, tw o years after Turkey became a re public. In parts, of course, it is out- of-date but as a guide to the city's enthralling historic buildings it is still a vivid, compelling companion.
The advertisem ents too are intrigu ing. There is one for the Hotel T okat- liyan, now vanished, "open all the year round and frequented by the best so ciety and numerous travellers." A noth er is that for Sebah and Joaillier, photographer, w ho talk of their "great collection of landscapes, view s, chur ches, mosques, mosaics, antiquities etc. o rie n ta l costum es, statues and antiquities of the museums. Pera, Grand Rue No 439, next to the Russian Em bassy."
M am boury himself, admirably practi cal though he w as, seems to have missed some of the exoticism that departed when modern Turkey em erg ed. His geographical survey ends:
"Old Stamboul gives w a y to Euro pean modernism. "Loti's old Stam boul, with its mangy dogs, its dirty alleys and its dusty old shops is fast disap pearing. Adieu! the motley crowds in glistening costumes of bright colours, fluttering hither and thither under blue skies! Adieu! the red lancers circling in pompous and sparkling corteges on curvetting chestnuts! The wooden houses make w a y for buildings of con crete, the mosques are lighted by elec tricity. The local colour disappears un der w estern greyness."
W estern greyness? M am boury w as, I think, too pessimistic.
I look up in early spring to see a blue, curved fishing boat make its lei surely w a y tow ards the bustling city, red-roofed villas against a background of flowering M ay trees and green hills, yalis casting friendly shadows over the lapping w ater.
Soon the sun will set in a blaze of pink and purple and my city of mosaic memories w ill sleep.
As someone once said, the more things change the more they stay the same.
T
urkey is the landbridge b etween East and W e s t while Istanbul’s Bosporus is the w a te rw a y that separates Europe and Asia.As is related in the myth, Zeus made a heifer out of lo, w ho sw am across the currents of the Bosporus to give it its Greek name of "crossing of the c o w ."
The history of Istanbul is full of attem pts tow ards the realization of the actual bridging of tw o conti nents.
The efforts to establish a bridge betw een Europe and Asia goes back to the sixth century B.C. As an historical illustration, the Persian Emperor Darius the Great ordered his engineer Mandrokles of Samos to build a bridge of boats across the Bosporus in 590 B.C. Ten years la ter, Emperor Xerxes did the same technique on the Hellespont, or Dar danelles, the tw in strait about 200 miles south of the Bosporus.
B
osporus is not the only w a terw ay in the city. Istanbul's European side has an arm of w a te r extending from the Bosporus in the shape of the horn of a cow , and separating the Old City from the new one.Due to the glowing sunset and daw n reflecting on its w aters, this inlet rightfully earned the "golden" title.
The need of the bridging of the tw o parts of the city w as more ur gent than the bridging of tw o con tinents and needless to say much easier to realize.
Byzantine Emperor Justinian I w ho built St. Sophia, also construc ted a bridge called St. Kallinikos on the Golden Horn. The Byzantine chain that closed the Golden Horn during the siege of Istanbul — the then C onstantinople— by Turks, w as a pseudo-bridge linking the G e novese in Galata, now new Istanbul, w ith the Byzantine capital in the old city of Constantinople.
As a reaction to this chain, O t toman Sultan M eh m et II, later known as the Conqueror, built tw o bridges - one real one and one figu rative one. He constructed a floating bridge by tieing together more than a thousand barrels between the sho re points of the Golden Horn for the Turkish army to enter the walls of the old city.
The sultan's figurative bridge turned a new page in the history. On April 23, 1453, Sultan M ehm et's men pulled 67 different navy boats overland on greased logs from the Bosporus to the Golden Horn. This w as ju st the reverse of an usual bridge for it w as a bridge over land and connecting tw o pieces of w ater. By crossing this bridge, M eh m et w e n t from the M iddle Ages to the Modern Age; he helped to begin the Renaissance.
The Golden Horn w as not only a source of inspiration for poets and painters of many nationalities but also interested a genius such as Leonardo da Vinci. In 1504, Leonar do da Vinci proposed to Sultan Ba- yezit II the erection of a single ar ched bridge over the Golden Horn. The manuscript showing his design sketch is in the library of Topkapi Palace. The Ulem a or religious au thorities of the tim e said that such a bridge w as impossible. Actually, only the techniques of the tw entieth century made possible the dream of Leonardo da Vinci to put a bridge across the Golden Horn.
Sultan M ah m u t II, a very pro gressive Ottom an ruler, in the nine teenth century ordered the building of new roads, steamships from Euro pe, more modern finance and postal system s to make a census- and also to build a bridge across the Golden Horn. Since it w as a bridge on w a ter, the A dm iralty constructed this first bridge betw een Unkapam and Azapkapi shores, just about where the Golden Horn's A tatürk Bridge is today. Called the Hayratiye (m e a ning donation) Bridge because the sultan donated it and forbade the collection of tolls from the people crossing it, the bridge w as tw o long causeways from the shores and then a curved elevation in the center. The rom antic and attractive design m ark ed an im portant step and symbol of modernization in Turkey.
A second bridge was put up over the Golden Horn in 1845 at the present location of the Galata Bridge at the waterway's mouth. Just a little later in the Crimean War, nu merous Scottish soldiers posted in Istanbul constantly hummed a song which was picked up by the popu lace. It became the world-wide fa mous «Üsküdar» song, first sung in the west by Eartha Kitt. The song notes of the soldiers became a bridge to the Turks and the rest of the world.
About mid-1800's, the govern ment bought the first ferryboats to connect the shorelines for the peo ple. The steamships replaced many of the rowboats and caiques. Their angry, unemployed rowers and sai lors rebelled, although the new fas ter ferryboats gave better and faster transport to the city.
All the bridges on the Golden Horn were wooden but in 1875 the Ministry of Public Works ordered that a British firm put up an iron structure on the present site of the Galata Bridge.
The actual building of the Galata Bridge by the German Firm, MAN, took place in 1911. They made the metal pieces here, spread them out over the wide delta of the Sweet Waters of Europe, and there put to gether the 65 feet sections. Then the total structure was lifted into position above its present location, no easy matter with the cranes of those days.
This bridge had a role to play in the liberation of Istanbul on October 6, 1923. The Turkish army walked over that crossing only three weeks before the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed.
I
n the early twentieth century, people began to think about connecting not only the Golden Horn but also the East and West across the Bosporus. The French En gineer F. Arnodin proposed two bridges: one between Sarayburnu, where Topkapi Palace is, and Üskü dar which would be a "trans-border" bridge, and also a suspension one between Anadolu Hisar and Rumeli Hisar, the Turkish citadels on the Asian and European shores of the Bosporus. However, this ambitous plan was not carried out as the sul tan of the time did not want modern or easy transport that would make- it easy for a popular uprising to reach his palace.In the same years, engineers were even thinking of a tunel bridge - a metal tube - that would go about 100 feet under the water.
During the Second World War, millions died and hundreds of bridges collapsed. After the war, na tions began to remember the words of Atatürk, father of modern Turkey: "Peace in the country, peace in the world." In trying to combine their efforts to create a lasting peace, the
A rtis t’s drawing o f Mandrokles’ pontoon bridge
idea of connecting Europe and Asia again comes in this period. Joint technical studies by the Istanbul Mu nicipality, the Technical University of Istanbul, and the Ministry of Pub lic Works prepared ground for the building of the intercontinental Bos porus Bridge. The American Com pany of De Leuw, Cather and Com pany of Chicago made the feasibility studies and planned the roadways and location of the present Bospo rus Bridge. It was designed by Free man, Fox and Partners of London.
The Turkish State Highways Department designed a high-speed way between Istanbul and İskende run on the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The Istanbul ring roads and crossing of the Bosporus was one of the key items in this technical study. The project was put into the Second Five-Year Plan of 1968-1973 and implementation of the project was accepted by Turkey's Grand National Assembly on July, 3, 1967.
Ground was broken for the construction of the twin-towered suspension bridge across the Bos porus on February 20, 1970. The ceremony was held at the Asian
tower site of Beylerbeyi, right next to former royal, lovely white palace. The then Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel keynoted the ceremony with the expressed "wish that this bridge will serve humanity and the Turkish people in the spirit of peace."
The Anglo-German Bosporus Consortium composed of Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Co. Ltd. (British) and Hochtief A.G. (Ger man) undertook the construction of the bridge, the fourth largest sus pension bridge in the world.
The majestic two towers were completed and then the first thin, later thick steel cables connected the towers standing on two different continents. Finally a catwalk and a service road was constructed bet ween the towers.
In 1972, for the first time people walked the catwalk from one tower to another. By April 1973, the bridge roadway was finished between the two towers. Some 2.500 years had elapsed since Mandrokles had his pontoon bridge on boats link the two continents. But now it was a per manent structure, not a temporary one, serving mankind.
T
he Bosphorus Bridge wasopened to the traffic on October 29,1973, following the passage of the firs t winner of the race participated by Lord Mon tague of Beaulieu's vintage cars.
Needless to say, Istanbul had a prize monument to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the found ing of the Turkish Republic.
Turkish poet Yahya Kemal cal led this city "Dear Istanbul." The great Mustafa Kemal Atatürk called "Istanbul the iris of the eye, the light in the eyes of the Turkish people." So that Istanbul which has been a treasury of Turkish history and also a landbridge between East and West, now has a real bridge bringing together the old continent where ci vilization was born and the new one which developed it so highly.
PRINCIPAL D A TA ABOUT THE BOSPORUS BRIDGE
Main span 1074 m. Side span (east) 255 m. Side span (w e s t) 231 m. Total length 1560 m.
Clearance over high w ater 64 m. Carriage- ways-dual three lane plus footpath. Overall deck width 33,4 m.
Power hight 165 m.
Main cables - tw o of 19 strands of 550 wire of five mm. diameter. Load in backstays 15.400 ton. The bridge is a toll bridge and it is estimated that the bridge will carry 7.500.000 vehicles per year.
THE FOUR LARGEST SUSPENSION BRIDGES IN THE W ORLD
The Verrazano - Narrows Bridge, New York - 1298 m.
The Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco - 1280 m.
The Mackinac Bridge, Michigan - 1158 m. The Bosporus Bridge - 1074 m.
Head of his own construction and con sulting engineering Birim Company,
Ismail Işmen received his master’s degree in civil engineering from the Istanbul Tech nical University and his doctorate at Stranford University in California. Ismail Işmen who believes that a story of a bridge is also a history of humanity and civiliza tion, wrote a book called İnsanlar ve Köp rüler (M en and Bridges) which was pub lished in Turkish in 1972 by Turkish Iş Bank.
By G ÜLSER EN RAM AZANOĞLU
■[ ISTAN
B
U
L
Istanbul’s skyline is embellished with slender minarets and the imposing
domes of more than 450 mosques, which are the symbol of the Moslem religion.
No other city in the world can boast of so many mosques enhancing
its beauty.
i
|
The very first mosque in Istanbul was built in the early part of the eighth century by the Arab military commander, Muslime Ab- dulmelik, whose armies besieged Constantinople in the fifth attack of the Moslem Holy War on the city. Located in the Galata area of the New City, it is still called the Arab Mosque. A temple constructed during the time of the Byzantine Emperor Tiberius II was also converted into a mosque for the Moslem warriors. It is called Yeraltı Camii (Underground Mosque) and can be visited in Karaköy.
Fatih Sultan Mehmet, the conqueror of Constantinople, ordered the construction of the most important mosques in Old Istanbul. The Fatih Mosque, with its huge complex of theological study, worship, and social facilities is supposed to have been the first cultural center in Istanbul. The conqueror and his wife are buried in the türbe (tomb) of the mosque courtyard and an inscription from the Holy Koran on the main entrance indicates the importance the sultan attached to the freedom of conscience and faith. After Fatih Sultan Mehmet, most of the Ottoman sultans built mosques in Istanbul either in their own names or in the memory of their mothers, fathers and children. The wealthy statesmen and leading citizens also followed the sultans' path to construct numerous small mosques and mescids, a very small mosque without minaret. This tradition explains Istanbul's great number of mosques and about 500 mescids. Those who built mosques were aware of the importance of maintenance so that all mosques have been looked after with the funds obtained from the foundations established for that purpose.
A Moslem must pray five times a day, but praying in a mosque is not an obligation in the Moslem religion. Any clean place is good enough for performing the nam az (prayer ritual). While reciting the prayers, the Moslem stands, then kneels, then touches his forehead to the ground. He wears a hat that does not shade his face and the women wear a head scarf while praying.
Istanbul's hundreds of mosques are always full as they provide an opportunity to listen to the preaching of the imam (the Moslem priest), and the devout Moslem feels himself nearer to God in a mosque. The devout are called to prayer by the müezzin, the man who chants the ezan (call to prayer) in one of the şerefes (the small circular balcony on the minaret).
The minarets have another purpose. The breaking of the fast each evening during Ramazan (the Moslem holy fasting month) is announced by the placing of lights around the minaret's bal conies. A row of lights hanging between the two minarets of a mosque is called the m ahya, which conveys special messages during the holy month, such as "Welcome Ramazan" and "Fasting purifies the body."
Moslem prayers have a prescribed ritual. First, one washes the hands and feet at the ablution fountains, which are conveniently placed in the mosque courtyard. In performing the namaz, the Mos lem always faces Mecca, the Holy City of Islam in Saudi Arabia where the Prophet Mohammed, founder of the religion, was born. The mihrab (prayer niche) usually built opposite the main entrance, indicates the direction of Mecca, and the im am stands here during the prayer time.
Non-Moslems are also permitted to enter mosques in Turkey. Although Moslem women are expected to cover their heads and to wear long-sleeved garments, these are not a must for other women visitors. However, everyone must remove his shoes before entering a mosque.
The mosques not only immortalize their architects but are also a treasury of the best examples of Turkish tiles, marble, woodwork, bronze work, stained glass windows, and calligraphy. Inscriptions from the Holy Koran are always the essential decorative elements
in the mosques.
