"You're not from around here"/ "Oglum sen burali degilsin"

Edirne, the capital of the Ottoman Empire from 1365-1453 was my first stop on the second round of my travels.  After Istanbul became the capital of the Ottomans in 1453, this city lost a lot of its flavor and interest, but the history in the city cannot be ignored.  Two 15^th century mosques, and one 16^th century mosque graze the landscape.  The oldest of the mosques, the Old Mosque, was built in 1414 and is the oldest monumental building remaining form the Ottoman Empire.  Large Arabic calligraphy engulf the walls of the mosque to exemplify the artistry of Arabic.  The second oldest mosque in Edirne is the three balconied mosque.  This mosque was built in 1437 as is given its name because the tallest of its minarets has three balconies.  The final and most grandeur of the three mosques is the Selimiye mosque.  This mosque was built by Sinan the Architect, the most historical architect in Ottoman history, in 1575.  This is a mosque that is believed to have been the pioneer to newly structured mosques.  The details of its structure I’m not suited to explain.  I can say that the interior design is quite beautiful.  In the middle of this mosque is a fountain which is claimed to bring water from Kabaa, the most sacred site in Islam which is located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia.  This pipeline would have to be over 1500 miles long which is why I was a little skeptical about where that water was actually coming from.  Nevertheless, there were people that were drinking the water as it was holy to them. 

The real highlight of this trip was the historic hospital I visited in the Beyazit Complex.  I had to take a taxi to this complex, and the driver gave me a brief history of it.  Noticing the accent in my responses, he said “you’re not from around here.”  I made up a story about how I was studying business in a university in Istanbul but that didn’t seem to satisfy him.  He said I was lying, which was true, but I didn’t want to deal with him finding out that I lived in the states, then having to answer all the silly questions that always pursue upon the discovery that I come from the US.  Now back to the hospital.  This hospital was built in 1488.  There are various wings to this hospital; a medical school, a physicians wing, and a wing for the mentally ill.  As you can see from the pictures below, the doctors came up with very sophisticated methods to cure modern day illnesses.  One cure I found very interesting was for a slipped disk in the spinal cord.  Taught in a classroom, the patient would be tied from his arms and legs to a board.  One assistant on either side would crank the strings and stretch the body of the patient enough so that the doctor could carefully push the slipped disk back into its place.  The highlight of this hospital was by far the wing for the mentally ill.  The sophistication in which the doctors healed or attempted heal the mentally ill astounded me.  The wing is in the shape of a huge dome with a fountain in the middle overflowing calmly with water and sunlight shining upon it.  This was used to calm the patients using sight and hearing.  There were also musicians whom came to play specific tunes three times a week.  Each tune they played was for a specific mental illness, and it amazes me how the doctors figured out the significance of each tune in those times.  As I sat there for only a few minutes observing the light shining on the water and listening to the tunes, I felt at peace and was sad to have to leave the wing.  I also ate the main dish of Edirne, fried liver, which might sound disgusting, but was in fact very delicious with hot peppers, onions, tomatoes to use as condiments.  Next location on the trip: Antep.

Bugunku ziyaretim Edirne’iydi.  Bu zamanin Osmanli baskenti benim gittigim Turkiye’deki en bati nokta olmus oldu Turkiye icerisinde.  Bu tarihisel sehirin ortasinda uc tarihsel camii bide bir kapali carsi bulunduruyor.  Tabi Edirne’ye gidip de ciger yemeden olmaz.   Kapali carsisinin bir yan cikisindan cikinca meshur Cigerci Niyazi Usta’nin lokantasinla karsilasiyorsun.  Buradaki yedigim kizartilmis ciger gercekten cok guzeldi.  Bi de yanina biraz aci biber, sogan, domates, ve ekmek ekleyince butun gun tok tutuyor insani.  Carsi cevresini biraz gezdikten sonra, tek tek uc camiileri gezdim.  Aralarindaki en eski camii ise 1414’te kurulan Eski camii’iydi.  Bu camii Osmanli Imparatorlugun en eski ve ayakta kalan en gorkemsel binasiymis.  Uzerinde ve icerdeki duvarlarinda cok guzel Arapca yazilar bulunuyor.  Bunlarin amaclari da Arap yazinin guzelligini gostermekmis.  Ondan sonraki gezdigim camii ise uc serefli camii’iydi.  Bu camii ise 1437 yapilmis.  Ucuncu ziyaret ettigim camii ise aralarindaki en meshur ve en gorkemli camii’iydi.  Selimiye camii’si 1575 Mimar Sinan tarafindan yapilmis.  Gercekten disi ve ici goze alici, ve benim ilgimi en fazla ceken noktasi ise ortasindaki musluk’tu.  Sozde bu musluk Kabaa’dan su getiriyor, ama bu demektir ki bir 2500 kusurluk bir boru hat yapilmasi gerekmis, ve onun icin o suyun kutsalligina pek inanmadim.  Ama icen yine de vardi.

Ama bunlarin hepsinin disindaki gorulmesi gereken Beyazit Kulliyesi ve icindeki Darussifadir.  Bu lokasyona taksi almam gerekti, ve sofor bana kulliyesinin gecmesini kisacasi ozetledi.  Cevaplarimi dinleyince aksanimi tespit edip, “oglum sen burali degilsin.”  Ne kadar bu kesif dogru olsada, ugrasmak istemedim ve Marmara Universitesinde isletme okuyorum dedim.  “Bana yalan soyluyorsun ama neyse” deyip gecti.  Napim, ABD duydugu an, birsuru hakkinda gereksiz soru alicaktim, ve onlarida tek tek cevaplamak istemedim.  Neyse Darussifa’ya geri donelim.  Bu muzenin degerini Avrupa anlamiski, 2004’te Avrupa Konseyi Avrupa Muze Odulu’nu, 2007 yilinda ise Avrupa Kultur Mirasi En iyi Sunum Odulunu almis.  Bu Darussifa 1488 acilmistir.  Ameliyat yontemleri son derece ilginc ama modern bir sekilde yapilmis bu hastenede.  Altdaki resimlerde bunlari biraz gostermeye calisdim.  Benim ilgimi ceken ameliyat yontemlerinden birtanesi disk kaymasi icindi.  Hastanin Kollarini ve bacaklarini baglayip yavas yavas iki uctan cekerek, bel kemigini gevsetiriyor doktor.  Ondan sonra ise titiz bir sekilde doctor kaymis diski yerine itiyor ve boylece hasta iyilesmis oluyor.  Daha bunun gibi cok yontemler gosterildi.  Ama en guzel bolumu akil hastalari icindi.  Bura kubbede sus sesleri ve gunes isiyila tedavi olan hastalar, hafta da uc kez muzik esliginde de tedavi oluyorlarmis. Belli hastalar icin de belli muzikler varmis, ve muziklerin hakkinda okurken hayretler icinde kaldim.  O zamanki doktorlar nasil tespit edipde, hangi muzigin hangi akil hastaligi icin iyi geldigini tespit etmis.  Kendimi orada o az zamanda resmen huzur icinde buldum ve cikmak da istemedim, ama ne yazikki zaman kisitli oldugu icin ayrilmam gerekti.  Simdi ise Antep beni bekliyor.  Haydi bakalim.

Pictures:  Although it is very uncharacteristic of me to show food as it might creat envy, I will show food throughout this trip that is famous in the cities I visit.  The first photo is the famous liver dish of Edirne, otherwise known as Ciger.  It is absolutely delicious.  Pictures 2 and 3 are the Old Mosque.  Pictures 4,5,6 are of the Suleymaniye Mosque.  The fountain at the Suleymaniye Mosque has some people convinced that the water comes directly from Saudi Arabia.  People drink the water as if it is holy.  The remaining pictures are of the hospital.  The first picture from the hospital depicts a doctor draining fluid from a child's head.  The second is the use of alternative medicine to heal a snake bite.  The third, fourth, and fifth pictures are from the mental institution wing of the hospital.  Here the patients were treated to sunlight, water sounds, and specific musical sounds to treat their mental illnesses.  This came at a time when the rest of Europe saw mentally ill people as a lost cause and burned them.  The last two photos depicts a classroom that is being taught how to put back a dislocated disk in the spinal cord.