Bir Demet İstanbul

"What gives a city its soul is the unique creation of that climate, that geography, that culture, and the people who built that city. This sometimes manifests itself in the form of a window, sometimes in the choice of a tree. For example, Judas tree is an indispensable tree for Istanbul and Bursa. The city needs Judas tree. A Bosphorus cleared of Judas tree is like a veil that has lost its bride in spring.

What gives a city its soul is sometimes a boiling water in that area, sometimes a meal cooked only in that region, a game played, a building style, a behavior, a grave, a hill, a place of pilgrimage, a promenade. These are old waters flowing from fountains as old as Halilü'r-Rahman in Urfa, Meram as old as Mevlana in Konya, houses in Safranbolu, and Çifte Minare in Erzurum.

It is the folk songs and nursery rhymes sung by children while playing that give a city its soul. It is the tradesman welcoming the customer. Pains experienced collectively are sorrows experienced collectively.

A city deprived of all these elements loses its soul. Maybe it will grow, modernize, even become wilder; But it is no different from the others, it has no attractive side, it no longer has anything to offer to the people living in it."
(From the Promotional Bulletin)



Number of Pages: 224

Year of Printing: 2016


Language: Turkish
Publisher: Dergah Publications

First Publication Year: 2016

Number of Pages: 224

Language: Turkish