Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar
Considered one of the first shopping malls of the world, construction of the Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar began soon after the conquest of the city by the Ottoman Turks in 1453.
Whirling Dervishes of Beyoğlu, Istanbul
A whirling dervish performance in one of Istanbul’s few remaining Sufi dervish houses.
Ayten Tiryaki, master calligrapher and illuminator of Istanbul
Through a contact at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts, I had been put in touch with a calligraphy and illumination Hodja (master) living on the Asian side of the Bosporus.
Sufi mystics, Istanbul
On the outskirts of Istanbul lies one of the few remaining Sufi monasteries in Turkey. Here, the local community gather to watch a performance of ‘whirling dervishes’ - a practice which originated from the teachings of the 13th-century Persian poet, Islamic theologian and Sufi mystic, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Balkhi-Rumi.