TA - JEWISH HERITAGE

JEWISH HERITAGE – TURKEY PROGRAM

​

Tour Suggestion for Day 2 in Istanbul : Jewish Heritage in Beyoglu & Galata Area

Departure from the hotel

Walking tour in Beyoglu

Visit of Chief Rabbinate

Visit of Neve Shalom Synagogue

Visit of Jewish Primary School

Lunch at a local Restaurant

Visit of Italian Synagogue

Visit of Ashkenazi Synagogue

Visit of Kamondo Staircase

Visit of Zulfaris Synagogue

Return to hotel

 

The Chief Rabbinate has been here since 1876, when the sultan still reigned.

 

NEVE SHALOM SYNAGOGUE

Neve Shalom is one of the larger synagogues in the city, designed and decorated in a modern style. Inaugurated on March 25, 1951, it is used for major functions of the community such as weddings and funerals. The bema and ark are at the front of the hall, with seating around three sides.

 

Jewish primary school under the aegis of the Turkish National Education Ministry. Though the entrance to the school is around the corner from the synagogue, the buildings are actually adjoining.

 

THE ITALIAN SYNAGOGUE

The Italian Synagogue was founded in the 1880s by Istanbul Jews who, because of factional disputes within the community, placed themselves under the protection of the Italian ambassador. The front entrance of the synagogue's Gothic-like facade and marble staircase.

 

The interior is appealing, harmonious, and well preserved, with double hanging arches in the balcony, a deep dome with stars and stained glass windows, and Turkish carpets on the floor.

 

ASHKENAZI SYNAGOGUE

Inaugurated in 1900, the facade of the Ashkenazi Synagogue is especially imposing, with three Oriental arches and octagonal rosette windows. Inside, the floors are of marble, the lofty dome is painted with stars, and the elaborately-worked ark of dark wood blends eastern European and Arabesque styles.

 

Kamondo Staircase; The staircase was built in the nineteenth century on the order of the Kamondos, the Jewish community's most prosperous family.

The Zulfaris Synagogue, dating from 1671, is presently being restored as a museum of Turkish Jewish life. The Zulfaris was the main venue for weddings and funerals until the construction of Neve Shalom.

 

Tour Suggestion for Day 3 in Istanbul : Highlights of Istanbul

Departure from the hotel

Visit of Hippodrome

Visit of Blue Mosque

Visit of St.Sophia Museum

Visit of Underground Cistern

Lunch at a local restaurant

Visit of Grand Bazaar

Return to hotel

 

HIPPODROME SQUARE

Originally constructed by the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus back in 203 BC, the Hippodrome was the center of secular life in Byzantium. Enlarged into a vast stadium to enable to seat 100,000 spectators by Emperor Constantine, among all the other entertainment activities the Hippodrome  also the four-horsed chariots raced around beneath the gaze of the Byzantine emperors. The monuments of spina (central line) which survived until our days are the Egyptian Obelisk, the Serpentine Column and Constantine’s Column.

BLUE MOSQUE

Sultanahmet Mosque, also called The Blue Mosque, was designed and built in the early 17th century and since then became the famous silhouette of Istanbul with its six minarets. But it owes its name to the glazed earthenware Iznik tiles (21,043 of them) that face the lower walls of the mosque and those of the balcony. The Blue Mosque is still one of the symbols of Istanbul.

HAGIA SOPHIA

Originally a church converted into a mosque and now a museum, this superb building wins admiration for the splendor of its Byzantine artwork. First by Emperor Constantine, then re-built by Emperor Justinianus in the 6th century, the Hagia Sophia was transformed into a mosque in the 15th century after the city was captured by the Ottomans who added its minarets and mausoleums. Today this magnificent example of architecture rises with dignity in the Old City. Besides the dome, which wins admiration by its height and size, the mosaics and frescoes decorating the walls are unique examples of Byzantine art.

 

UNDERGROUND CISTERN

Undoubtedly the most suprising monument from the Justinian era. In 532 the emperor ordered that columns (336 of them), lying unused from dilapidated temples, to be used to hold up the roof of this underground cistern with a capacity of 80,000 cubicmeters. During Ottoman times it has been used by weavers for a while. Its name came from a law school that was housed in a basilica nearby. In 1980’s the water has been drained, electric lights are installed and now strain of Beethoven symphonies echo against the dark walls.

Tour Suggestion for Day 4 : Jewish Heritage in Balat & Hasköy

Departure from the hotel

Visit of Kamondo Mausoleum

Visit of Alliance Israelite Universelle

Visit of Aynalıkavak Mansion

Visit of Kol Kadosh Kushta Synagogue

Lunch at a local Restaurant

Visit of Rahmi Koc Museum

Visit of Ahrida Synagogue

Visit of Ahayim Jewish Hospital

Return to hotel

 

HASKOY

Rich vineyards and forests covered the south-facing slopes of the Golden Horn in Byzantine times. The Ottoman sultans came to what they called Hasköy to hunt and to enjoy its natural beauty. In the 1700s, they built an imperial pleasure villa, Aynalikavak Kasri. Residential areas grew up later, including a lively Jewish one. Today Hasköy has the Jewish Home for the Aged, the Kamondo mansion, and a large Jewish cemetery which includes the Kamondo mausoleum.

The Jewish Home for the Aged, is a handsome classical stone building originally constructed in 1874 by the Alliance Israélite Universelle as a modern European-style school. The Home is located on a quiet street in a residential district with vibrant street life. As you walk to the school, picture these narrow streets as they were a century ago, alive with the sounds of Judeo-Spanish, and dotted with small synagogues.

 

ALLIANCE ISRAELITE UNIVERSELLE

Founded in May, 1860 in Paris, the Alliance Israélite Universelle was a mutual aid and protection society. Its mission was to promote closer cooperation among Jews throughout the world; to protect Jewish communities which were under pressure; and to promote Jewish community life through culture and education.

In the Ottoman Empire, the Alliance established schools first in Baghdad and Damascus, then in Volos, Edirne and Salonica. Istanbul and Izmir, with their large Jewish communities, had several schools each.

The Hasköy school was opened in 1874 for Jewish girls. The curriculum included sewing, knitting, cooking and other aspects of home economics. Many other Ottoman towns received schools as well. An agricultural school-the first one in the system-was opened in Jaffa, in Ottoman Palesine, in 1870. Though meant primarily for the Jewish community, the schools accepted non-Jewish students as well.

 

KAMONDO MANSION

The imposing stone building on the right-hand (northwest) side at the Golden Horn  is the former Kamondo Mansion, now used as the headquarters of the Turkish Navy's northern region. The house--actually a small palace--was built by the wealthy and influential Kamondo family. When the last of the Kamondos died without heirs, the mansion was willed to the Turkish government. As a military installation, it is not open to visitors, but even from the outside, in its beautiful situation on the Golden Horn, it is impressive.

 

KAMONDO MAUSOLEUM

To view the Kamondo Mausoleum you must take a ride on the Birinci Çevreyolu, the expressway which skirts the central area of the city to the north of Hasköy. Tragically, the path of the expressway passes directly through the midst of the large Hasköy Jewish Cemetery. The Kamondo mausoleum is set prominently on a hill just to the north of the roadway, a short distance northeast of the Golden Horn, especially when travelling westbound.

 

AHAYIM JEWISH HOSPITAL

Ahayim Jewish Hospital, built in 1897. A 120-bed hospital attended mostly by Jewish physicians, it's located in the swath of parkland created in the mid-1980s to beautify the Golden Horn's banks.

 

RAHMI KOC MUSEUM

Your next stop will be Rahmi Koc Museum; on the banks of the Golden Horn, Rahmi Koc Museum is a new complex, which is unexpected and delightful as a glimpse into Istanbul’s past. The Rahmi M Koç Museum is the first major museum in Turkey dedicated to the history of Transport, Industry and Communications. Housed in magnificent buildings - themselves prime examples of industrial archaeology - on the shore of the historic Golden Horn, the collection contains thousands of items from gramophone needles to full size ships and aircraft. The location is unrivalled - romantic, historic, convenient to both the Old City and the new.

 

KOL KADOSH KUSHTA SYNAGOGUE

Great conflagrations gutted Huskoy in 1756, 1883 and 1918, with disastrous results. The old Kol Kadosh Kushta synagogue was however reconstructed after 1918. During the nineteenth century, and especially after the Russian Revolution and World War II, the local community was joined by newcomers from Russia. The Karaites were merchants (especially of pearls), artisans (mostly goldsmiths) and clerks, but a few entered the liberal professions. In 1955 the Karaites numbered 350 persons. In the 1960's and 1970's the Karaites left the Haskoy quarter, and thus lost what little had been left of communal life. In 1982 only 150 were left.

 

AHRIDA SYNAGOGUE

The first building was thought to have been built in the early 1400s, but a disastrous fire in the 1600s did extensive damage. In 1694 the sultan issued a decree calling for its reconstruction. The work was done in the Ottoman Baroque style popular at that time, the so-called "Tulip Period" in Ottoman artistic and court life.During the extensive restorations carried out in 1990 and 1991, remnants of architectural details from the 1700s and 1800s were discovered. Architect Hitsrev Tayla, in charge of the restoration work, has included many of these earlier details in the final plan so as to symbolize the Ahrida's long and illustrious history.

Besides the synagogue's fascinating architecture, be sure to examine its priceless furnishings, including the bema (pulpit) shaped like the prow of a ship, said by some to symbolize Noah's Ark

 

Tour Suggestion for Day 5 in Istanbul : Explore the City

Departure from the hotel

Visit of Topkapı Palace + Treasury

Lunch at Zeyrekhane Restaurant

Visit of Chora Church

Visit of Süleymaniye Mosque

Return to hotel

 

TOPKAPI PALACE

In 1465, Sultan Mehmet, The Conquerer of Istanbul, ordered the construction of the first palace; his successors added new pavilions, thus spreading the palace to a total area of 70,000 sqm. The Ottoman Sultans lived in and reigned the empire from this palace until the 19th century. Today a museum, the kitchens house 12,000 pieces of porcelain including a rare Chinese porcelain collection. The treasury section displays one of the richest selections of jewels and precious stones and gold objects. The visit through the palace also leads to the collection of clocks, the relics of the prophet and the Baghdad kiosk, which is a beautiful sample of Ottoman interior.

 

CHORA CHURCH

The building in its present form was completed in the 11th century and adorned with beautiful mosaics and frescoes. The mosaics follow an iconographic order and have a rare quality. When in the 15th century the church was converted to a mosque after the conquest by the Ottomans, these were covered by whitewash; ironically enough, the Islam faith which forbids representation of human figures, preserved them until our century. After becoming a museum in 1950 it has been restored and cleaned by the Byzantine Institute of the U.S.A., the mosaics were revealed in their original brightness.

 

SULEYMANIYE MOSQUE 

One of the masterpieces by the great architect Sinan was built in the 16th century for Sultan Süleyman The Magnificent. The mosque towers over an extensive complex of institutions, including a hospital, a college, a hamam, a market and a primary school which surround it.