If the world can truly be said to have a crossroads, then surely it is Istanbul.
Now the largest city in Turkey, it was originally the Greek city-state of Byzantium before becoming the capital of the Eastern Roman (or Byzantine) Empire as Constantinople. Conquered by the Ottoman Mehmed II in 1453, it became an important centre of Islamic culture. Sitting on the Bosphorus Strait, it bridges Europe and Asia, Africa and Russia, and has been a vital trade hub for literally millennia.
Founded around 660 B.C., and with the area it dominates continuously occupied since at least 5500 B.C., it links modern civilisation with almost the entire sweep of human history. Agatha Christie was inspired to write Murder on the Orient Express while staying there, and exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky sojourned in the city on his way to Mexico and his eventual assassination.
It is, essentially, simply drenched in history, and as such is a difficult city to summarise. Luckily, we have Treasures of Istanbul at hand, with author and historian Bettany Hughes as our guide to some of the ancient city’s most notable sights. In a brisk 45 or so minutes Hughes, an enthusiastic and deeply knowledgeable host, takes us on a tour that’s both geographical and historical, painting a vivid picture of a place that is both a dynamic, thriving modern city and a complex and valuable artifact.
Dome of the Hagia Sophia in ‘Treasures of Istanbul’. Source: Sandstone Global
Inevitably that means we jump from topic to topic and era to era, but that’s okay; the result is never less than utterly fascinating, and history fans will find something to savour no matter when or even where their pet period may lie. We spend time with Byzantine Emperor Justinian and his wife, Theodora and learn about the construction of the Hagia Sophia, which was the largest Christian Church in the world when it was built in 537, and as of 2020 is now a mosque. An architectural marvel at the time of its construction thanks to its great domed roof, it remains stunningly impressive today.
Istanbul’s status as a trade centre is underlined by a trip to the port of Yenikapi, where the ancient Harbour of Eleutherios once stood. In 2005 excavations for the Bosphorus Tunnel Project uncovered over 35 shipwrecks from between the 7th and 10th centuries, as well as trade goods and pottery dating back even further. We get a glimpse of the ongoing project to recover and restore these artifacts, which offer valuable insight into how both ancient and medieval cultures traded and communicated with each other.
‘Treasures of Istanbul’ host, historian Bettany Hughes. Source: Sandstone Global
Elsewhere we take in the luxurious hotels and resorts of the Prince’s Islands, a summer playground for the wealthy in the 19th and 20th centuries, and – on the other end of the economic scale – the Prinkipo Palace, the second largest wooden building on Earth. Originally intended as a luxury resort when built in 1898, it was later used as an orphanage that housed up to 1000 children. Now heavily deteriorated, it resembles nothing so much as the world’s largest haunted house, and a stark reminder of the toll time can take.
But perhaps the most impressive site is a simple metro station, whose expansion uncovered a wealth of buried archaeological finds from across the entire sweep of Istanbul’s city. Indeed, the earliest recovered fragments predate the founding to the original Greek city and indicate that the earliest inhabitants of the region travelled from Central Asia, crossing the Black Sea and the Balkans to settle on the shore of the Sea of Marmara.
Prinkipo Palace, one of the treasures of Istanbul. Source: Sandstone Global
We know vanishingly little about who they were, but it’s compelling to consider how such a vibrant and dynamic city grew from a settlement founded by a small group of far-ranging nomads, beginning an epic story that is still being told today. While each individual element of Treasures of Istanbul is fascinating in its own right, it’s the way the documentary asks us to consider that ongoing saga that makes it essential viewing for history buffs.
Treasures of Istanbul aired on Sunday 16 January on SBS and is now streaming at SBS On Demand for a limited time:
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