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As a cultural capital with over a thousand years of history and hundreds of historic sites, Islamic Cairo was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list back in 1979. However, due to the noisy environment, traffic congestion, and concerning sanitary conditions, few Chinese tourists seem willing to explore deep into the old Islamic city, except for the Khan el-Khalili market which specializes in tourist souvenirs. I spent four days in the old city of Cairo this time, visiting almost all the mosques, gongbei, religious halls (daotang), mansions, inns, and madrasas inside.

To make it easier to walk around the old city, I started looking for suitable accommodation online. Most tourists visiting Cairo choose to stay in the embassy district where the environment is slightly better, as there are almost no places suitable for tourists inside the old city. However, I still managed to find the Gamaleya Heritage Hotel, which only opened in 2021.

The owner of Gamaleya, Ibrahim Kassissia, and his family have lived here since the 1930s. He moved to Canada 40 years ago, but while traveling in China, he got the idea to return to his hometown to open a heritage hotel. He later bought back the long-abandoned old house and renovated it into the current heritage hotel.

The first floor of the hotel is a cultural workshop where master craftsmen in silver, copper, wood, and leather work and teach apprentices on-site. Every morning when we head out, we see a group of students learning diligently from the masters. The second floor is where breakfast is served. It is a semi-buffet style where food is made fresh every morning based on the guests' requests. The third floor and above are guest rooms. Although the accommodation conditions cannot compare to large hotels, it is undoubtedly the best choice for visiting the old city of Cairo.



















The Gamaleya Heritage Hotel features crafts made by various veteran artists, including copperware from Mousaad Mohamed Abd El-Maqsoud.



















The current old city of Cairo was built in 969 by the Fatimid dynasty. It later went through the Ayyubid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and Muhammad Ali dynasties, leaving behind hundreds of historical buildings over the past thousand years.

As dawn breaks, the entire old city gradually wakes up to the sound of the adhan. Then, roosters crow and dogs bark, people get up for namaz, and breakfast shops set up their tables and chairs to open. This is how a day in the old city of Cairo begins.

After the morning prayer (fajr), people rest for a while. Most mosques and ticketed attractions in the old city open after nine o'clock. The old city is very quiet at this time, making it perfect for wandering through empty streets and feeling a thousand years of history.

Since we kept eating breakfast at the hotel, we missed the chance to try the local breakfast in the old city of Cairo. The most classic combination is various appetizer dips (Muqabilat) served with flatbread (Eish Baladi). After breakfast, some breakfast shops turn into tea and coffee houses where people chat and let time slowly drift by.



























The main street of Cairo's old city, Al-Mu'izz Street (Al-Mu'izz), at night. Al-Mu'izz Street is named after the fourth Fatimid Caliph, al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (reigned 953-975), who moved the center of the Fatimid dynasty from Tunisia to Egypt and officially built the current old city of Cairo in 969. For a thousand years, Al-Mu'izz Street has been the north-south artery of the old city, commonly known as the main road (Qasaba), and is lined with markets, mosques, and madrasas.

During the Fatimid dynasty, only the Caliph's court, the army, and officials could enter Cairo, while ordinary people were not allowed inside. It was only after Saladin ended the Fatimid dynasty and established the Ayyubid dynasty in 1171 that the old city of Cairo became an economic center fully open to the public. Later, the Sunni Mamluk dynasty wanted to erase the influence of the Shia Fatimid dynasty on the old city, so they gradually demolished the Fatimid palaces in the north and turned them into markets, making Al-Mu'izz Street a busy commercial street from then on.



















Khan el-Khalili market in the old city of Cairo at night; this is the liveliest place in the old city.

Khan el-Khalili market was first built in the 1380s by Barquq, the first Sultan of the Mamluk Burji dynasty. At that time, the Sultan sent his subordinate Jaharkas al-Khalili to demolish the Fatimid royal tombs and build the first structure of the market on the original site, which is why it has been called Khan el-Khalili ever since. Legend has it that al-Khalili dumped the remains of the Fatimid royal family into the garbage hills on the east side of the old city of Cairo.

The Mamluk dynasty continued to expand the market until the second-to-last Sultan, Al-Ashraf Qansuh al-Ghuri (reigned 1501-1516), rebuilt it on a large scale in 1511, finally forming the appearance we see today. The market built by al-Ghuri is quite similar in style to the Bedesten market of the Ottoman dynasty, with the most precious goods sold in the center and a roof that can be locked.

Today, Khan el-Khalili market is mainly a souvenir market for tourists, though a few craft workshops still operate inside, along with some famous cafes.



















Roasted corn on the streets of Old Cairo.





Hibiscus tea (karkadeh), a drink that has lasted since the time of the pharaohs, as the hibiscus flower is native to Africa.





Roasted chicken served with tahini sauce (tehina, a mix of sesame paste, lemon juice, and garlic) and village salad (salata baladi).







Pastry shop.





At a restaurant in an alley across from the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, I had beef tendon rice and pasta in white sauce, and drank lemon mint water.









Koshary is the most classic street snack in Cairo. It is a mix of spaghetti, macaroni, Egyptian rice, and lentils, topped with tomato sauce, garlic sauce, chickpeas, and fried onions. As early as the ancient Egyptian period, people ate a dish called koshir made from lentils, wheat, chickpeas, garlic, and onions cooked in clay pots. It only gradually developed into the modern koshary after the introduction of pasta and tomatoes in the 19th century. This snack is vegan and very cheap, often called the food of the poor.



















A dark street snack in Old Cairo is grilled lamb offal, which includes lung, rice sausage, lamb brain, large intestine, meatballs, and cartilage. It is spicy and eaten with flatbread.













Roasted sweet potatoes on the streets of Old Cairo.







I had fried fish and seafood soup near the Citadel of Saladin in Cairo; the soup contained fish chunks, shrimp, and small crabs.



















Egyptians cannot eat without their local flatbread (eish baladi). Seeing delivery guys riding bicycles with stacks of bread on their heads is a real sight in Old Cairo.













I had lunch at The Citadel Restaurant inside Al-Azhar Park on the east side of the old city.

Al-Azhar Park was originally a trash heap that had existed in Old Cairo for 500 years. In 1992, the 49th Imam of the Ismaili sect, Aga Khan IV, donated funds for its transformation. His Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme led the project, which restored the Ayyubid wall on the west side while building the park. The park officially opened in 2005 and became the best leisure spot for residents of Old Cairo.

The Citadel Restaurant is on the north side of Al-Azhar Park, with a direct view of the Ayyubid Citadel. The restaurant is built in a traditional Egyptian style and has a great atmosphere.











We ordered an appetizer platter, Shawaya grilled chicken, and the traditional Egyptian dessert Om Ali.

The appetizer platter included chickpea dip (hommus), bread salad (fatoush), parsley salad (tabula), eggplant dip (mottabal), Alexandrian beef liver, fried pastry triangles (sambosak), and fried vegetable balls (kobeba), which we ate by dipping with flatbread (eish baladi); it felt very worthwhile.

The Shawaya includes various grilled chicken pieces, including shish taouk, a traditional Ottoman chicken skewer marinated in yogurt and lemon juice before grilling.

Om Ali is made by mixing cake with pistachios, coconut flakes, raisins, and sugar, then pouring cream over it, sprinkling it with cinnamon, and baking it in the oven until golden brown.

Om Ali means "Mother of Ali" and refers to the mother of Al-Mansur Ali, the second sultan of the Mamluk dynasty who reigned from 1257 to 1259. Legend has it that the Mamluk dynasty's founding sultan, Aybak, and Queen Shajar al-Durr had major conflicts in their later years. Shajar al-Durr plotted to have servants kill the sultan, after which the sultan's son, Al-Mansur Ali, took the throne. Ali's mother and the servants beat Shajar al-Durr to death together and served this dessert to everyone to celebrate the queen's death.









Khan Shaheen Cafe on the main Al-Mu'izz street in Old Cairo is located inside a historic caravanserai building. I had coffee inside; the service charge was a bit high, but the environment was truly quite nice.











I bought a handmade traditional Al-Azhar fez (tarboush) at a hat shop in Old Cairo, where students from Egypt's Al-Azhar University buy their hats.

The tarboush hat is a fez, and the term tarboush is mainly used in the Levant and Egypt. In 1829, Ottoman Sultan Mahmud issued a decree requiring all officials to wear the fez, and from then on, the fez became a symbol of the Ottoman dynasty.

After the Ottoman Empire collapsed, the Republic of Turkey led a hat revolution in 1925 and banned the wearing of the fez hat. In 1954, the Republic of Egypt also ordered a ban on the fez hat, which symbolized the Ottoman Empire, as part of its modernization movement. Before this, Cairo had always been a major production center for the fez. Although fez production later recovered in Egypt, it shifted mainly to cater to tourists.

Today, in the textile market west of the Al-Azhar Mosque in the old city of Cairo, there is still a century-old shop called Al Trapiche tarboush that insists on making Tarboush hats by hand. The Trapiche family has run this hat shop for over a hundred years. Their main customers today are imams from various mosques in Egypt and students from Al-Azhar University.

The machine used in the shop to heat and shape the wool felt is called a Waga. It was bought by the owner's great-grandfather a century ago. The last master craftsman who knew how to build a Waga passed away decades ago, and this machine is now out of production.

After we arrived at the shop, the owner measured my head, used a reed-woven hat mold to test the size, then put the red felt on the machine to press and shape it. He then sewed in the lining and the black tassel, and finally wrapped it with white cloth. After about forty minutes of work, a Tarboush hat was finished.



















Al Trapiche tarboush mainly makes two types of Tarboush hats. One version is for the teachers and students of Al-Azhar University; it has a cross-shaped ridge with a black tassel, and the bottom is wrapped in white cloth, leaving only the top exposed, with a fabric lining inside. The other is the traditional 19th-century version. It is cylindrical, has no tassel on top, is not wrapped in white cloth, and has a reed lining inside.



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Outside the southern gate of Old Cairo sits the Souq al-Khayamiya, a textile market built in 1650 during the Ottoman period. It is the last place in Old Cairo that specializes in selling traditional Egyptian appliqué textiles known as Khayamiya.

Souq al-Khayamiya is also called Radwan Bey Qasaba. It was built by Radwan Bey, a Mamluk leader who dominated Egyptian politics from 1631 to 1656. The market stands as an important witness to Radwan Bey's efforts to expand Old Cairo southward in the 17th century.

Khayamiya is a traditional type of textile that dates back to ancient Egypt. It was generally used inside tents like curtains. These textiles feature colorful cotton appliqué decorations and help protect against the hot, dry, and dusty climate. Khayamiya pieces are all hand-stitched. The patterns come from Islamic geometric designs and arabesque motifs, as well as ancient Egyptian pharaonic art. Khayamiya from the 19th and early 20th centuries usually featured large appliqué designs, while today's pieces are made with much finer detail.

We bought a Khayamiya textile featuring traditional Arabic calligraphy at one shop and a small shoulder bag at another.



















Next to Al-Azhar Mosque, we bought a traditional inlaid book stand. This inlay technique dates back to the ancient Egyptian pharaonic era around 3000 BC. It uses geometric mosaic patterns and is inlaid with mother-of-pearl.









We watched a performance of traditional Sufi music and the whirling Tanoura dance by the Al Tanoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe at the Khanqah of Sultan al-Ghuri, a Mamluk-era building in Old Cairo built in 1504. Since it was built, the Khanqah of Sultan al-Ghuri has been a place for Sufis to perform dhikr, or the remembrance of Allah. Today, the Al Tanoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe regularly performs Sufi music and dance here.

We left the Al-Azhar Mosque area around 6:40 PM to line up. We bought our tickets and went inside shortly after, taking seats in the middle section. People kept buying tickets and coming in, and by the time the show started at 7:30 PM, the place was completely full. The entire performance was divided into three parts: the first was a display of traditional music, the second was a demonstration of the Sufi whirling ritual (El Darwish), and the third was a musical and dance improvisation.

In Arabic, Tanoura originally refers to the colorful skirts worn by Sufi practitioners. This form of dhikr developed from the Sama whirling dance of the Mevlevi Sufi order in Turkey. Today, the Tanoura is not only used for Sufi practice but has also become a part of folk dance.

















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After finishing the Umrah in Makkah, we took a train to Madinah and caught an Uber straight from the station to the Prophet's Mosque.

The Prophet's Mosque (al-Masjid an-Nabawī) is the mosque the Prophet built next to his home after arriving in Madinah in 622 AD. It is the second holiest site in the faith, right after the Sacred Mosque. The mosque has been expanded many times throughout history. The central core was built during the Ottoman era, while the surrounding areas were added by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia after the 20th century.

The most important area of the mosque is called the Rawdah (Garden), which is where the Prophet used to pray. According to a Hadith, 'Between my house and my minbar (pulpit) is one of the gardens of Paradise,' which is why it is also known as the Garden of Paradise.

You need to book a slot on the Nusuk app to enter the Garden of Paradise, with separate times for men and women. My appointment was for 6:30 PM. After finishing the Maghrib prayer on the west side of the mosque, I walked a long way around to the east side to line up. After a while, those with a Nusuk booking were directed to wait on the carpets outside Gate 39. Staff handed out plastic bags for our shoes, and after waiting a bit longer, I finally entered the Garden of Paradise.









I first performed two rak'ahs of prayer inside the Garden of Paradise, then pushed through the crowd to see the layout. The minbar used by the Prophet was originally made of date palm wood, later changed to tamarisk, and had ebony steps added. The minbar you see today was rebuilt in 1590 by the Ottoman Sultan Murad III using marble. I also saw an imam resting to the right of the minbar. There are six pillars inside the Garden of Paradise that mark the spots where the Prophet used date palm trunks to support the original structure. Each pillar has a special meaning.













Inside the Garden of Paradise, there are two mihrabs (prayer niches). One was originally built by the Prophet, and the other was built by Caliph Uthman. A walkway separates the two mihrabs.









Next to the prayer area is the burial site of the Prophet and the first two caliphs, Abu Bakr and Umar. This was originally the home of the Prophet and his wife, Aisha, and the Prophet passed away here in 632 AD. After a fire at the Prophet's Mosque in 1481, the Egyptian Mamluk Sultan Qaitbay rebuilt the tomb from a wooden structure into a brick one and added metal railings. No one has entered the interior of the tomb in the more than 500 years since. Directly above the tomb is the Green Dome, built in 1817 by the Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II. It got its name after being painted green in 1837.

I did not stay in the Garden of Paradise (Rawdah) for long before security guided me to the east side of the tomb, known as the Mawajaha (sacred meeting point). Here, you can offer salaam to the Prophet and the two Caliphs through three circular holes. Between the circular holes is the closed Gate of Aisha, which features a silver plaque added by the Ottoman Sultan Ahmed I in 1617.

I wanted to pray two rak'ahs in the Garden of Paradise, but because of the crowds and entry limits, I had to follow security out of the mosque. I regret not seeing the imam lead the prayer in person.









This time in Medina, I stayed at the MIAS HOTEL on the west side of the mosque, so I usually entered through the gates on the west side for prayers. After the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was established in 1932, the mosque underwent three major expansions: the first from 1951 to 1956, the second from 1985 to 1994, and the third from 2012 to the present. The expanded sections surround the Ottoman-era core from the east, north, and west. They use reinforced concrete, marble, granite, and artificial stone, making them taller and more spacious than the Ottoman area. In 2010, German Muslim architect Mahmoud Bodo Rasch added retractable umbrella-like canopies around the mosque. They open between the Fajr and Maghrib prayers and can spray a cooling mist.

























I prayed Maghrib at the mosque, but it was so crowded that the core area was full and closed off half an hour before the adhan. I barely found a spot in a small courtyard on the north side of the core area. The sunshades were open there during the day, so I was not in the sun. From here, you can clearly see the difference between the Ottoman core and the Saudi expansion. The Ottoman area is lower with painted domes on top, while the Saudi area is taller with a flat roof.











I was very grateful to receive water, dates, and yogurt handed out in the mosque. You can really find dates everywhere here.









On the square on the west side of the mosque is the site of the famous Saqifa event. After the Prophet passed away in 632 AD, some of his companions gathered at the Saqifa (a covered meeting place) of the Bani Sa'idah tribe. They pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr, making him the successor to the Prophet and the first Caliph.

There is almost no record of the later history of the Saqifa, only that a man named Ali Pasha built a structure there during the Ottoman period in 1620. In the 20th century, this was a park, but by the time I visited, the park had been demolished and reconstruction work was underway.







Banda later went to the Al-Baqi cemetery on the east side of the Prophet's Mosque to visit the graves of the Prophet's family and friends. When the Prophet arrived in Medina in 622 AD, this land was covered in Arabian boxthorn (gharqad). The Prophet led everyone to clear the thorns and opened this place as a Muslim cemetery.

The Prophet's family members buried in the cemetery include his wet nurse, most of his wives, his cousin, his children, his uncle, and the wife and descendants of Caliph Ali. Because four Shia Imams are buried here, it has become a famous holy site for Shia Muslims.

Historically, the Al-Baqi cemetery had many domed structures (gongbei), but they were demolished twice by the Wahhabis in 1806 and 1926. Because the Wahhabis consider marking graves to be heresy, even the tombstones with writing on them in the cemetery were completely destroyed. The demolition of Al-Baqi cemetery drew criticism and protests from both Sunni and Shia Muslims. Many Shia Muslims consider the day of the demolition, the 11th of Shawwal in 1926, a 'Day of Sorrow' and hold memorial events every year. To this day, the Saudi authorities ignore all criticism and have blocked many paths in the cemetery, making it difficult for people to visit the graves.







The area with the blue boards in the distance is the grave of Caliph Uthman, and the path leading to it has been blocked. On June 17, 656 AD, Caliph Uthman was assassinated by rebels in his home. Because the rebels would not allow Uthman to be buried in Al-Baqi cemetery, he had to be buried in the Jewish cemetery right next to it on the north side. Decades later, the rulers of the Umayyad Caliphate tore down the walls between the two cemeteries and included Uthman's grave within Al-Baqi cemetery.



In the distance are the graves of the Prophet's wet nurse Halima, and two companions of the Prophet born in Medina, Sa'd ibn Mu'adh and Saʽid al-Khudri, which are also impossible to approach. Sa'd was the leader of the Banu Aws tribe. He was seriously wounded in the Battle of the Trench in 627 and passed away shortly after returning to Medina. Sa'd was a noble companion recognized for his close relationship with the Prophet, and the Prophet continued to praise him after he passed away.

Abu Sa'id al-Khudri lived his whole life in Medina and reportedly fought in the Battle of al-Harra in 683, where the people of Medina stood against the Umayyad Caliphate. Abu Sa'id narrated 1,170 hadiths, making him the seventh most prolific narrator among the companions of the Prophet.



The tomb of the Martyrs of al-Harra. The people of Medina opposed the hereditary rule and policies of the Umayyad Caliphate, so they started a war on August 26, 683. They were quickly defeated, and the Umayyad army looted the city of Medina.





The grave of Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, the young son of the Prophet. Ibrahim died of illness at only two years old, and the Prophet was deeply saddened. The Prophet led Ibrahim's funeral prayer and buried him in the Baqi cemetery. He filled the grave with sand, sprinkled some water on it, and placed a marker.





The graves of the 8th-century jurist Malik ibn Anas (711-795) and the Quran reciter Nafiʽ al-Madani (689-785). Imam Malik founded the Maliki school, one of the four major Sunni schools of Islamic law. The Maliki school places great importance on hadiths and is currently found mostly in North Africa, outside of Egypt. After Malik passed away in Medina in 795, the Abbasid governor of Mecca led his funeral prayer.

Nafiʽ al-Madani was originally from Isfahan, but he was born and passed away in Medina. His method of reciting the Quran is the most common style used in North and West Africa today.



The two nearby graves belong to the Prophet's cousin Aqil ibn Abi Talib and his nephew Abd Allah ibn Ja'far. Aqil was the older brother of Caliph Ali. He fought against the Prophet in the early days but converted to Islam a few years before the Prophet passed away, and he appears in many hadiths.

Abd Allah settled in Medina with his family in 628, and the Prophet once said that his appearance and character were similar to his own. Abdullah Allah was one of the wealthiest men in Medina at the time and a famous philanthropist.

In the distance are the graves of several of the Prophet's wives, including Sawda, Aisha, Hafsa, Zaynab, Umm Salama, Safiyya, Umm Habiba, and Maria. Security guards watch over the graves of the Prophet's wives and do not allow anyone to get close or linger.



Behind the iron fence in the distance are the graves of several of the Prophet's daughters, and further away are the graves of his daughter Fatima (though this is disputed), his uncle Abbas, and four Shia imams: Hasan, Ali Zayn al-Abidin, Muhammad al-Baqir, and Jafar al-Sadiq. A tall dome (gongbei) once stood over the graves of the four Shia imams, serving as the most prominent landmark in the entire Baqi cemetery, but it was destroyed by the Wahhabis twice, in 1806 and 1926.



Al-Ghamama Mosque is located southwest of the Prophet's Mosque, on the site where the Prophet led the Eid al-Fitr prayer in 631. Ghamama means cloud. People say the Prophet once performed a prayer for rain here, and then clouds covered the entire city. Al-Ghamama Mosque was first built during the reign of the eighth Umayyad Caliph, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz (reigned 717-720). It was renovated in 1340 and 1622, and in 1859, Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I (reigned 1839-1861) rebuilt it into the black volcanic basalt structure seen today. It is currently one of the very few mosques in Medina that retains its Ottoman-era appearance.













Abu Bakr As-Siddiq Mosque is located next to Al-Ghamama Mosque, also on the site where the Prophet led the Eid al-Fitr prayer in 631. It is named after Caliph Abu Bakr, who continued to lead the Eid al-Fitr prayer there. The current mosque was built in 1838 as a black volcanic basalt structure by order of Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II (reigned 1808-1839), and the Sultan's tughra (calligraphic emblem) is still at the entrance. Because it is small and very close to the Prophet's Mosque, Friday prayers (Jumu'ah) are not held here.













The Medina Hejaz Railway Station was built in 1908 and is an important historical site of the Hejaz Railway constructed by the Ottoman Empire. For thousands of years, the Hejaz region, where Mecca and Medina are located, relied on camel caravans for transport, which had a high mortality rate when crossing difficult mountainous terrain. After the 1860s, a railway construction boom began, and the Ottoman Empire started studying a rail line to connect Damascus with the two holy cities. This line was not only meant to make the Hajj pilgrimage more convenient but also held significant strategic importance. In 1900, the Ziraat Bankasi (Ottoman Agricultural Bank) provided the first loan of 100,000 liras, and construction of the Hejaz Railway officially began.

The construction of the Hejaz Railway faced many difficulties, including labor and resource issues while passing through uninhabited areas, bridge construction in desert terrain, and attacks by Arab tribes along the route. Fearing that the railway construction would ruin their livelihood based on pack animal transport, local Arab tribes organized in 1907 to threaten a work stoppage. The Ottoman Sultan eventually decided to end the railway at Medina. Under the supervision of chief engineer Mouktar Bey, the Hejaz Railway officially reached Medina on September 1, 1908, covering a total length of 1,300 kilometers.

However, less than 10 years after it began operating, the Ottoman Empire collapsed during World War I. The Hejaz Railway was officially abandoned in 1920 due to a lack of maintenance. People say the wreckage of trains destroyed during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918 still rests where they fell a century ago.

In 2005, Saudi Arabia restored the tracks and sheds of the Medina station of the Hejaz Railway, and in 2006, it opened as the Hejaz Railway Museum. However, it is now closed again, and you can only view the exterior of the Medina station.









Near the Medina station of the Hejaz Railway are two black volcanic basalt mosques from the Ottoman period. Enclosed within the train station and inaccessible is the As-Saqiya Mosque. It is located where the Prophet inspected his troops before participating in the Battle of Badr in 624. It is said to be the place where the eighth chapter, seventh verse of the Quran was revealed, which is also the first chapter of the Quran revealed in Medina.





The Anbariya Mosque is a mosque built in 1908 by Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (reigned 1876-1909) for the Medina station of the Hejaz Railway. The architectural style follows the traditional Ottoman design, but it uses local hard basalt stone. There is no pulpit (minbar) in the main hall because Friday prayers (Jumu'ah) are not held here.















Quba Mosque is located in the southern suburbs of Medina. It was built by the Prophet after he migrated from Mecca to Medina in 622 and is the first mosque in the history of the faith. The Prophet often went to Quba Mosque to perform namaz during his lifetime, which is frequently mentioned in the Hadith. Sahl ibn Hunayf narrated that the Prophet said: 'Whoever leaves his house and comes to Quba Mosque and performs prayer in it, it is equal to performing an Umrah.' This makes it a place that Muslims from all over the world visit when they come to Medina.

Quba Mosque was originally just a circle of walls. It was expanded several times and rebuilt into its current structure in 1986. Today, Quba Mosque is surrounded by date palm orchards. Beside the mosque, there are people offering dates and black tea (hongcha) as a gesture of hospitality (dawa), and you can drink Zamzam water inside the mosque. It is a great place to rest while following the footsteps of the noble Prophet.



















Musabbih Mosque is located southwest of Quba Mosque, and you have to cross a dusty parking lot to reach it. Legend says the Prophet Muhammad prayed namaz here when he first migrated to Medina in 622 AD. The old mosque still keeps its black volcanic basalt walls and contains the remains of a mihrab. The small courtyard is quiet, filled with blooming flowers and a friend (dosti) cleaning the area, which contrasts sharply with the crowded Quba Mosque nearby.













North of Medina is the site of the Battle of Uhud, fought in 624 between the Muslim army led by the Prophet and the Quraish tribe alliance from Mecca. The Muslim army suffered heavy losses, but the Meccans failed to capture Medina.

At the center of the Uhud battlefield is a small hill. Muslim archers stationed there left their posts to collect war spoils, which turned the tide of the battle and led to the Muslim army being surrounded.







On the north side of the hill is the cemetery for the martyrs of the Battle of Uhud, which is now blocked off by wire mesh and fences. The cemetery holds many of the Prophet's companions and relatives, most importantly his uncle Hamza ibn Abd al-Muttalib. The Prophet once said, 'My best brother is Ali, and my best uncle is Hamza. May Allah be pleased with them.' Buried next to Hamza is the Prophet's cousin, Abd Allah ibn Jahsh.





On the east side of the cemetery stands the Sayyid al-Shuhada Mosque, built in 2017 and named after the title the Prophet gave to Hamza.





On the west side of the cemetery is a shed where water and bread are given out as charity, and you can rest there.





The Battle of the Trench was a conflict in 627 AD where the Muslim army led by the Prophet defended the northwest of Medina against an alliance of the Quraish and Bedouin tribes. The Prophet followed the advice of Salman the Persian to dig a trench, which eventually helped them defeat the enemy. This event is recorded in detail in the Quran and Sunnah.

Historically, seven mosques were built on the battlefield of the Trench. Five remain today, all built during the reign of the Umayyad Caliph Umar II (who ruled from 717 to 720) and renovated at different times.

The mosque on the northern hillside is called Al-Fath Mosque, and 'Fath' means 'conquest'. This is said to be the place where the Prophet performed namaz during the Battle of the Trench.









South of the Al-Fath Mosque is the Salman Al-Farsi Mosque, named after the Prophet's companion, Salman the Persian. Salman was originally a Zoroastrian from the Sassanid Empire. He later traveled through the Middle East with a Nestorian group and converted to Islam after meeting the Prophet in Medina. He used the military skills he learned in the Sassanid Empire to dig the trench, which helped the Prophet win the Battle of the Trench.

After the Prophet passed away, Salman took part in the Arab Empire's conquest of the Sassanid Empire and became the first governor of Ctesiphon, the Sassanid capital. He was also the first person to translate the Quran into a foreign language, which was Persian. Salman holds a high status among both Shia and Sufi Muslims. He is honored as the most noble of the four great companions of the Prophet in Shia tradition, and he is even respected in the Druze and Baháʼí faiths.











South of the Salman Al-Farsi Mosque is the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque, named after Caliph Abu Bakr. In recent years, Saudi Arabia rebuilt this site into a large mosque with a washroom and a courtyard, and the main hall provides bottled ice water.







South of the Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Mosque is the Umar bin Khattab Mosque, named after Caliph Umar.





South of the Umar bin Khattab Mosque is the Ali bin Abu Talib Mosque. It sits on a hillside in the south and is named after Caliph Ali, who is said to have joined the Battle of the Trench here.





West of the Ali bin Abu Talib Mosque is the Fatimah Az-Zahra Mosque, named after the Prophet's daughter Fatimah. It is a small mosque attached to the other mosques. This mosque was built during the reign of Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I (who ruled from 1839 to 1861), and today only the foundation walls remain.

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I was busy doing my religious studies and visiting the sites of the Prophet in Medina, so I didn't look for many restaurants and mostly ate fast food. This is a street food stall west of the Prophet's Mosque. I bought chickpea fritters (falafel) and meat wraps (shawarma), which are classic Middle Eastern fast foods. Middle Eastern falafel comes in two types. The Egyptian version is made from fried fava beans, while those in the Levant are mostly made from fried chickpeas. In places like Lebanon and Syria, they sometimes use both fava beans and chickpeas. Sometimes falafel is green inside because parsley and green onions were added during the grinding process.













Also, there are many people selling dates on the streets of Medina. This was my first time eating fresh Medina dates. The bright red ones are a bit astringent. They taste best after they sit and turn a darker color with wrinkled skin, which makes them taste just like honey.







I had breakfast at the Mias Hotel on the west side of the Prophet's Mosque, and it was very crowded after the dawn prayer (fajr). Breakfast in Saudi Arabia mainly features flatbread (pita) served with various dishes. A special one is fava bean stew (ful medames), a dish dating back to ancient Egypt. It is made with olive oil and cumin, and served with side dishes like parsley, garlic, onions, lemon juice, and chili peppers that you can add yourself.













Dar Al-Madina Museum

Located in the eastern suburbs of Medina, the Dar Al-Madina Museum displays the historical changes of the two holy cities and houses many artifacts from Medina's past. The staff inside the museum will pour you some Arabic coffee.







There is a huge sand table in the museum showing what Medina looked like 100 years ago. The historical districts of Medina have now completely disappeared.







The museum houses a ceremonial palanquin (mahmal) that the Ottoman Empire sent to Mecca during the month of Hajj in 1789. The mahmal was carried by a camel and featured intricate embroidery, including Quranic verses and the Sultan's monogram. Behind the mahmal was a grand Hajj procession, which included the Kaaba cover (kiswa) guarded by heavily armed soldiers.







Models of the Prophet's Mosque (Al-Masjid an-Nabawi) from different periods.

When the Prophet first built the mosque in 623, it had a roof made of palm leaves supported by palm trunks, and it faced north toward Jerusalem.



In 624, the Prophet received a revelation to change the direction of prayer to face the Kaaba, so the mosque was rebuilt to face south.



After the Battle of Khaybar in 628, the Prophet expanded the mosque, but its design stayed the same.



The era of Caliph Umar in 638. To expand the mosque, Caliph Umar tore down several houses around it, including the homes of the Prophet's wives. During this time, the mosque had walls made of sun-dried mud bricks and a floor covered with pebbles.



The era of Caliph Uthman from 649 to 650. Uthman spent 10 months rebuilding the mosque, using stone and mortar for the walls, replacing palm trunks with stone pillars, and using teak wood for the ceiling.



The era of the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I from 707 to 710. Al-Walid I ordered a massive three-year reconstruction of the mosque, sourcing materials from the Byzantine Empire and hiring Greek and Coptic Christian craftsmen. The expanded mosque enclosed the graves of the Prophet, Caliph Abu Bakr, and Umar, changed from a rectangle to a trapezoid, and added porticos and four minarets.



During the era of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mahdi from 779 to 782, the mosque was expanded 50 meters to the north.



The era of Sultan Qaitbay of the Mamluk Sultanate in 1481. A fire broke out in the mosque that year, so the Sultan rebuilt the Prophet's tomb from a wooden structure into a brick one and built a dome over it. No one has entered the interior of the Prophet's tomb in the 500 years since.



This was during the reign of Sultan Abdulmejid I of the Ottoman Empire from 1848 to 1860. The Sultan spent 12 years rebuilding the mosque. He used red bricks for everything except the core area of the Garden of Paradise (Rawdah), and carved verses from the Quran into the walls. He added a religious school (madrasa) and a water room on the north side of the mosque. He also doubled the width of the main hall on the south side and covered it with small domes. The courtyard was paved with marble and red stone, and a fifth minaret was built on the west side.



Artifacts from Medina housed in the Dar Al-Madina Museum.

Floor tiles from a palace built in the 8th century by Hisham ibn Isma'il al-Makhzumi, the governor of Medina, in the Valley of the Blessed (Wadi al-Aqeeq) west of the city. This palace was restored in recent years, but it does not seem to be open to the public yet.





The key and lock for the golden door of the Kaaba from the reign of King Khalid of Saudi Arabia (1975-1982).



Cooking utensils and furniture once used by the people of Medina.













Praying at the mosque near the airport entrance before leaving Medina.











The Burger King inside Medina Airport. The taste is not as good as the one at Istanbul Airport, but the price is reasonable.







The prayer room at the boarding gate of Medina Airport. Because there were so many people for the evening prayer (Isha), one group (jama'ah) would finish and another would immediately take their place.

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Four 14th-century stained glass oil lamps from the Mamluk era usually hang from the prayer hall ceiling by iron chains and feature beautiful Thuluth Arabic calligraphy. These four lamps come from the Sultan Hassan Madrasa, the Qalawun Madrasa, and the Al-Zahir Barquq Madrasa in Cairo. In the middle sits a Mamluk-era copper candlestick, which was typically placed on both sides of the mihrab prayer niche.











Copper basins and ewers with silver inlay from the Mamluk period (1250-1517) represent a cleaning tradition that has continued in Egypt since the time of the Pharaohs.







Wood carving and inlay craftsmanship from the Mamluk period.

The Abu Bakr bin Mazhar mosque is located in El Gamaliya in northeastern Egypt and was built in 1479 by the Mamluk vizier Abu Bakr bin Mazhar. In 2018, the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization moved the mosque's exquisite minbar pulpit inside for display, representing the craft heritage of the Mamluk dynasty. The entire minbar is made of ebony and peach wood, inlaid with ivory and mother-of-pearl, and carved with floral, star, and geometric patterns, as well as Kufic calligraphy.

13th to 14th-century ivory-inlaid wooden doors featuring complex geometric decorations.



















Mamluk-era copper carving includes 14th-century copper basins and bowls, as well as a copper table with silver inlay from the time of Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad (1285-1341), which features beautiful floral vine patterns, star-shaped geometric designs, and Thuluth calligraphy carvings.



















Quran cases from the Mamluk dynasty.

The first Quran case is made of wood wrapped in copper with gold and silver inlay, carved with both Thuluth and Kufic calligraphy, and is said to have belonged to the Mamluk Sultan Al-Nasir Muhammad (1285-1341).









The second Quran case is made of wood and carved with Thuluth calligraphy that mentions the name of the Mamluk Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri (1501-1516), so it was likely made between 1503 and 1504 during the construction of the al-Ghuri mosque and madrasa in Cairo.









An 11th-century Fatimid dynasty lusterware plate, which is a pottery technique where a white glaze is applied and fired, then painted with a mixture of copper and silver oxides and fired a second time. The pottery center in Egypt at that time was in the old city of Fustat, where the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization is now located.

Compared to the Abbasid dynasty, which had Baghdad as its pottery center, the figures on Fatimid lusterware are more vivid and the decorative patterns are more diverse, especially the floral Kufic Arabic calligraphy featuring vine motifs.







Starting with the Mamluk dynasty in the 13th century, Egyptian rulers had a tradition of sending a ceremonial palanquin (Mahmal) and the Kaaba cover (Kiswa) to the Sacred Mosque in Mecca before the annual Hajj. This ceremony was known as al-Mahmal. Camels carried the Mahmal, which featured intricate embroidery including Quranic verses and the Sultan's monogram. Inside, it held two silver-plated cases containing the Quran. A grand Hajj procession followed the Mahmal, with the Kaaba cover also carried by camels and guarded by heavily armed soldiers. When the procession arrived in Mecca, crowds gathered to watch. Mahmal palanquins from various Muslim countries would compete for the best spots in front of the Kaaba. After the Hajj ended, the Mahmal returned home carrying blessings. Parents would bring their children to touch the Mahmal to seek these blessings. The Mahmal palanquin finally retired from history after the Republic of Egypt was established in 1952.

The tradition of covering the Kaaba began in the pre-Islamic era. The Prophet Muhammad first covered the Kaaba with a cloth in 630. Starting in the era of Caliph Umar, Egypt provided the Kaaba cover. At first, it was placed directly over the old cover each year. Beginning in 777 during the Abbasid dynasty, the old cover was removed before the new one was put on. On the 9th day of the month of Hajj each year, the Prince of Mecca covers the Kaaba. The old cover is cut into small pieces and given away as gifts.

For over a century starting in 1817, the Mahmal and the Kaaba cover were produced at the Dar al-Kiswa textile workshop in Cairo, founded by Ottoman governor Muhammad Ali. In 1962, tensions between Egypt and Saudi Arabia over the North Yemen Civil War led Mecca to return a Kaaba cover made in Cairo. Since then, the covers have all been produced in Mecca. According to memories, craftsmen at Dar al-Kiswa would bathe and wash their hands with rose water before starting work. They would then recite the Al-Fatiha chapter. The entire production process took a full year.

The first one is the Mahmal sent by King Farouk I of Egypt in 1936.









The second one is the Mahmal and Kaaba cover sent by King Farouk I in 1940.





The third one is the last Kaaba cover sent by Egypt to Mecca in 1961.







This is the key to the Kaaba and its silk storage bag from the 19th-century Ottoman period, featuring Arabic embroidery in gold and silver thread.













Because Egypt's textile industry was very famous even in the pre-Islamic era, the Kaaba cover has been provided by Egypt since the time of Caliph Umar. The earliest Kaaba covers were embroidered white linen woven by Coptic Christians in Egypt, known as qubati. During the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, both silk and linen were used to make the Kaaba covers.

During the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, the Caliphs funded many textile workshops across Egypt. Besides making Kaaba covers, many workshops produced goods for the public, known as Al-Tiraz. The earliest recorded Al-Tiraz workshop dates back to the reign of the fifth Umayyad Caliph, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan (reigned 685-705). This was when Arabic calligraphy first appeared in textile decorations. Textile decorations from this period were mostly simple and used dark colors, influenced by Byzantine, Sassanid, and Egyptian Coptic art.

















Between 868 and 905, Ahmad ibn Tulun, a Turkic governor of Egypt under the Abbasid dynasty, established the Tulunid dynasty (Tulunids) in Egypt and Syria. Ibn Tulun carried out major economic reforms that helped the linen and wool textile industries thrive. During this time, Egypt competed fiercely as a textile hub with Baghdad, the Abbasid capital. Egypt often produced higher quality and better craftsmanship, which showed in the precious fabrics like mattresses and curtains used by Tulunid rulers and nobles.









Textiles from the Fatimid dynasty (969-1171) were popular for their high quality, delicate designs, and rich decorations. The most precious silks were used to decorate the Caliph's palace, while other fine fabrics were used to make turbans, hats, and belts. The most striking feature of Fatimid textiles was the use of Kufic Arabic calligraphy, which featured the Caliph's name and titles in repeating and alternating floral patterns. Various plant, animal, and geometric patterns also saw significant development.













Although the Ayyubid dynasty (1171-1250) was short, Egypt's textile industry continued to grow. It was especially famous for soft and thin linen called al-Shoroub, produced in Tinnis and Alexandria. With mass production, new techniques were introduced, including weaving gold, silver, and colored silk threads into the warp and weft, layering wool or cotton between two layers of fabric, and embroidering on silk threads. Ayyubid textile decorations continued to use Arabic calligraphy, geometric shapes, and floral and animal patterns, usually in black and blue.









During the Mamluk dynasty (1250-1517), the Sultan's court had a huge demand for textiles, which further boosted the industry. During this period, Egypt finally mastered wax-resist dyeing. Wax prevented dye from soaking into the fabric, and after boiling to remove the wax, it created complex, multi-colored patterns. Another technique of layering fabric to create bright, colorful appliqué is still used today.



During the Ottoman period (1517-1805), the textile industry suffered because Egypt was no longer the center of the empire. At the same time, textiles from other parts of the Ottoman Empire began to appear in Egyptian markets, including brocade (jin), satin brocade (duanjin), and velvet, all decorated with floral patterns in the Ottoman style.







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Walk down from Taksim Square to the Bosphorus shore, then head 500 meters upstream along the coast to find the Dolmabahçe Mosque (Dolmabahçe Camii). It was built between 1853 and 1855 by Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I (reigned 1839-61) and his mother, Bezmiâlem Sultan. After it was finished, the Dolmabahçe Mosque became the royal mosque for the Ottoman Sultans. Every Friday, the Sultan would come here to attend Jumu'ah prayers.

The Dolmabahçe Mosque was designed by Garabet Amira Balyan, a member of the Ottoman Armenian Balyan family of architects. He built many structures in Istanbul, the most famous being the nearby Dolmabahçe Palace. The Dolmabahçe Mosque blends Rococo and Empire styles. It is a prime example of the eclectic architecture that emerged in the mid-19th century after Ottoman modernization reforms brought European influences.

The original dome of the Dolmabahçe Mosque sits directly on rectangular walls. To support the weight, a tower was built at each of the four corners, which is completely different from the methods used in classical Ottoman architecture. The walls feature huge arches and windows that let plenty of light into the interior. The two minarets mimic ancient Greek Corinthian columns, both showing the influence of the Empire style. The Empire style is a type of Neoclassical style created by Napoleon to imitate ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. The Empire style strictly follows the architectural proportions, color schemes, and decorations of the ancient Roman era. It favors straight lines and geometric designs, using structural proportions to show the beauty of the building.







The decorative details of the Dolmabahçe Mosque are mainly influenced by the Rococo style of the late Baroque period. The use of gold and oil paintings creates a highly dramatic effect, while the overall color tone remains very soft.













Keep walking from the Dolmabahçe Mosque to reach the Dolmabahçe Clock Tower (Dolmabahçe Saat Kulesi), built between 1890 and 1895 by Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II (reigned 1876-1909). The architect was Sarkis Balyan, a member of the Ottoman Armenian Balyan family and the second son of the mosque's architect, Garabet Balyan.

The clock tower was built in the Ottoman Baroque Revival style. Baroque Revival, also called Neo-Baroque, was born in late 19th-century France and became popular across Europe and America by the end of the century. The clock on the tower was made by French master clockmaker Jean-Paul Garnier and installed by the Ottoman court clockmaker Johann Mayer. However, the original mechanical clock was replaced by the current electronic clock in 1979.



Continue walking forward to reach the Dolmabahçe Palace (Dolmabahçe Sarayı). Since its completion in 1856, this place served as the royal palace for six Ottoman Sultans. It was also the summer presidential residence and the final home of Turkey's first president, Kemal. Dolmabahçe Palace has quite a lot of tourists, and the ticket price for foreigners is not cheap, but it is truly worth a visit. Although it does not look that grand from the outside, the interior is truly magnificent, and the visual impact of the main hall is no less than that of the Hagia Sophia. The interior route is designed so you see all the rooms in one path, and the whole process takes a long time, requiring as much physical energy as walking through the Forbidden City in Beijing. It is a pity that photography is not allowed inside, so I will just post photos of the outside.

Dolmabahçe Palace was built by Ottoman Sultan Abdulmejid I (reigned 1839-61) between 1843 and 1856. The architects were Garabet Balyan, his son Nigoğayos Balyan, and Evanis Kalfa from the Ottoman Armenian Balyan architectural family. The building is in an eclectic style, incorporating Baroque, Rococo, Neoclassical, and traditional Ottoman architectural elements, reflecting the growing European influence during the Ottoman modernization reforms in the mid-19th century.

Unlike the exquisite Iznik tiles of the old Topkapi Palace, the new palace uses a large amount of gold and crystal for decoration. The ceiling gilding alone used 14 tons of gold, and the main hall hangs the world's largest Bohemian crystal chandelier, sold to the Sultan by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, as well as the world's largest Hereke carpet.



















Looking at the Bosphorus Strait from Dolmabahçe Palace. This place was originally an anchorage for the Ottoman fleet, became a royal garden for the Ottoman Sultans in the early 18th century, and eventually formed the Beşiktaş waterfront palace complex.











I was already very tired after leaving Dolmabahçe Palace, so I took the funicular subway back to Taksim Square to eat at the famous old Ottoman restaurant Hacı Abdullah Lokantası. This restaurant was founded by Hacı Abdullah Efendi in 1888, and the business license was personally issued by Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II. It is the first officially registered restaurant in Turkey, and many high-ranking officials and politicians have visited it.

In 1943, because none of Hacı Abdullah's descendants wanted to run the restaurant, a long-time employee, Hacı Salih Efendi, took over and continued to operate it. After Hacı Salih passed away in 1982, a regular customer named Ferit İntiba took over the restaurant. Because Ferit İntiba wanted to sell alcohol in the restaurant, head chef Abdullah Korun led his team to leave. Later, the restaurant was poorly managed, Ferit İntiba was forced to leave, and head chef Abdullah Korun led his team back to continue making traditional Ottoman and Turkish cuisine.

For over a hundred years, Hacı Abdullah Lokantası has insisted on making Ottoman palace dishes and Anatolian home-style dishes. Depending on the season, they can offer up to 6,000 types of dishes, including stews, grilled meats, salads, desserts, various candied fruits, and soups. Their stews are slow-cooked in copper pots and taste very fragrant.

We ordered spinach yogurt (Yoğurtlu Ispanak), beef stew (Tas kebabı), roasted chicken (Tavuk Firin), meat broth (Çorba), white pilaf (Şehriyeli Pilav), and

black pilaf (İç Pilav). Everything tasted wonderful. It was easily the best meal we had in Turkey. The seasoning was perfect—not too salty or greasy—and the flavors really soaked into the food. We heard the chefs here have 25 to 30 years of experience. You can really tell the food is made by masters.

In Turkish eateries (Lokantası), you often see two types of pilaf. The black pilaf is made with black currants, while the white pilaf uses a rice-shaped pasta called orzo (Arpa şehriye), which is made by shaping coarse flour into grains that look like rice. I think both types of pilaf go great with stewed meat.



















Finally, I want to recommend a century-old chocolate brand we bought on Istiklal Avenue called Elit, which is as old as the Republic of Turkey. On September 1, 1923, Todori Efendi, who ran a chocolate factory near the Beyoğlu Fish Market in Istanbul, registered the brand Ménage with the Turkish Ministry of Commerce. This was over a month before the Republic of Turkey was officially declared on October 29, 1923, making it the first chocolate trademark in Turkey. In 1924, Todori Efendi went on to register the Elite chocolate brand. By the 1930s, Elite had become a famous Turkish chocolate brand, known for its advertising cards featuring beauty queens and Hollywood stars. To make it easier to spell, the brand was re-registered as Elit in the late 1930s, which is its current name.









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During the Middle Ages, Christian countries persecuted and massacred Jews for a long time, while Muslim countries protected and helped them many times. I recently saw in the news that some Jewish people are standing up against Israel's crimes in Palestine and calling for peace. I believe not everyone has forgotten this history.

During the First Crusade in 1096, Christian peasants in France and Germany carried out a series of massacres against Jews in the Rhine Valley, which started a wave of anti-Semitism in Christian countries. Between 1189 and 1190, massacres of Jews broke out in places like London and York in England, until the King of England ordered the expulsion of all Jews in 1290. At the same time, under Muslim rule, Jews thrived in Baghdad, Cairo, and Damascus, which helped lead to a cultural boom.

In the Iberian Peninsula during the 12th to 15th centuries, anti-Semitism in Christian countries reached its peak. In 1492, the Spanish kingdoms of Castile and Aragon conquered Granada, the last Muslim dynasty in Andalusia. They then issued a decree to expel all Sephardic Jews who refused to convert to Christianity and banned them from taking any currency with them. Just four years later, in 1496, the Kingdom of Portugal also issued a decree to expel Jews.

When Ottoman Sultan Bayezid II heard the news, he sent his navy to transport many Jewish refugees to Ottoman territory and issued a notice across the country welcoming them. He mocked the rulers of Spain and Portugal, saying, "They have impoverished their own countries and enriched mine!" Sure enough, the Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal brought new technologies and crafts to the Ottoman Empire, contributing to its economic prosperity in the 16th century.

After that, Sephardic Jews began to settle in the Balkan Peninsula under Ottoman control, including in Sarajevo. In 1581, Sijavus Pasha, the governor of Rumelia in the European part of the Ottoman Empire, built a residential area and a synagogue for the Jews scattered throughout Sarajevo, which is now called the Old Synagogue. The Old Synagogue was damaged by fire in 1697 and 1788, and it was rebuilt in the early 19th century to its current appearance.





















After Germany occupied Sarajevo in 1941, the Old Synagogue was used as a prison for Jews and later became a warehouse. The Croatian Ustaše organization killed 85% of the Jewish population living in Croatia and Bosnia through massacres and the establishment of concentration camps. The museum now displays the clothes that Sarajevo Jews were forced to wear with armbands, as well as ID photos of Jews who were arrested and imprisoned.







Yugoslavia restored the Old Jewish Synagogue in 1957, and the Jewish Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina officially opened in 1966. The Old Jewish Synagogue was damaged by shells during the Siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995, and it was restored again in 2003. The museum also exhibits exquisite Jewish clothing.









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SANDYQ restaurant displays a variety of collections, including beautiful water pitchers (tangping), a sword used by a sultan during the Kazakh Khanate in the 17th-18th centuries, a robe worn by a khan, a Kaaba cover (kiswa) replaced in 2019, chests used in felt tents (yurts), and spinning wheels used for traditional weaving.

















The Arbat pedestrian street in Almaty and the halal signs found here.











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Early in the morning, I took a minibus from the Cola bus station south of Beirut, headed east over the Lebanon Mountains, and entered the town of Chtoura in the Bekaa Valley. From there, I took a three-wheeled taxi to the Umayyad ancient city of Anjar near the Syrian border. This place has been an important passage connecting Beirut and Damascus since ancient times. Anjar is the best-preserved ruin of an Umayyad dynasty palace city. It was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1984.

The Umayyad dynasty (661–750) was the first hereditary dynasty of the Arab Empire. It is referred to as the 'White-robed Dashi' in the Old Book of Tang. During the Umayyad period, the territory of the Arab Empire expanded rapidly, and the country was very prosperous. The Al-Aqsa Mosque built by the Umayyad dynasty in Jerusalem and the Umayyad Mosque built in Damascus are both masterpieces in architectural history.

According to the records of the Byzantine chronicler Theophanes the Confessor, the ancient city of Anjar was built between 714 and 715 by al-Abbas, the son of the sixth Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I (reigned 705-715). It is over 1,300 years old and is the oldest ancient Islamic city I have visited so far.

Prince al-Abbas was an important general of the Umayyad dynasty in the early 8th century. He made great military achievements in the wars against the Byzantine Empire and once served as the supreme military commander of the Umayyad dynasty. It is speculated that the ancient city of Anjar may have used a large number of captives brought back by Prince al-Abbas from his campaigns against the Byzantine Empire as laborers, which is why the architectural stone carvings have a strong Byzantine style. After the fall of the Umayyad dynasty, the ancient city of Anjar was buried for a long time. It was only rediscovered by archaeologists in the late 1940s, so many ruins have been preserved to this day, making it the best example for studying Umayyad urban planning.

The ancient city is designed based on the layout of an ancient Roman city. A rectangular city wall surrounds the area, and two main roads intersect to connect the four gates in the north, south, east, and west, dividing the city into four parts. There are colonnades along the main roads, with rows of shops similar to Roman tabernae on both sides. A classic ancient Roman four-sided gate (tetrapylon) stands at the intersection. The four areas of the city have different functions. The southeast contains the Great Palace and the mosque, the northeast contains the Small Palace (harem) and baths, and the northwest and southwest are residential areas.



















The Great Palace and mosque in the southeast of Anjar are the best-preserved areas. You can see the precious architectural facades and colonnade settings of the Umayyad palace. This layout of bayts (suites) is a typical Umayyad practice. The palace has two majlis (reception halls) with semicircular niches, which may have been two stories high. The colonnades seen today are the result of restoration after excavation.

Both the Umayyad Caliph al-Walid I and his son, Prince al-Abbas, may have ruled from here. During the reign of Al-Walid I, the Umayyad Caliphate enjoyed stability and economic prosperity, reaching the peak of its national power. At the same time, his massive military spending and luxurious lifestyle created a heavy financial burden for his successors.

In the early 8th century, the Umayyad Caliphate expanded rapidly, conquering Bukhara, Khwarazm, Samarkand, and the Fergana region in Central Asia. In South Asia, the Umayyad Caliphate reached the Sindh region in northwestern India. In the west, the Umayyad Caliphate conquered the Berbers of North Africa, invaded the Visigothic Kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula in 711, and took control of Spain.

The vast amount of war spoils brought back from these conquests allowed Al-Walid I to build many public works and social welfare projects. His brothers and sons built many transit stations and wells along the roads leading to the capital, Damascus, and installed streetlights within the city. He funded the construction of irrigation networks and canals in places like Iraq, restoring agricultural production that had been destroyed by war. To help pilgrims, Al-Walid I installed water dispensers in Mecca, improved roads through mountain passes, and built wells throughout the Hejaz region. Al-Walid I's greatest achievement was building the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. This great mosque and the ancient city of Anjar were completed around the same time, and both are precious historical sites left behind by the Umayyad Caliphate.



















Walking through the small palace (harem), the baths, and the streets of the residential area opposite in the ancient city of Anjar truly feels like returning to the Arab Empire 1,300 years ago. This method of alternating layers of stone and brick is a tradition inherited from the Byzantines. Judging from the two houses excavated in the southwest area, there may have been only 24 similar houses in the city. Therefore, some scholars speculate that this place may have just been a market on the road from Beirut to Damascus, or a large military camp providing supplies.



















Many beautifully decorated friezes were unearthed inside the small palace (harem), carved with rich geometric and plant patterns. Some of these are displayed at the small palace site, and one was placed directly at a boarding gate in Beirut Airport, likely because Lebanon wants tourists visiting their country to see them.













After leaving the ancient city of Anjar, I took a three-wheeled taxi back to the town of Chtoura, then switched to a minibus heading north to the ancient city of Baalbek in the Beqaa Valley. Once I arrived, I went straight to the Umayyad Mosque for namaz. The doors are usually locked and only open for the five daily prayers, closing again right after, so it is quite difficult for regular tourists to get inside.

The Umayyad Mosque in Baalbek was also built by the Umayyad Caliph Al-Walid I in 715, the same year as the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, and both stand together as the oldest surviving mosque buildings in the world.

Compared to the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, the Baalbek Umayyad Mosque is simpler, but the overall style is still very similar. Some of the stone parts inside the main hall may have been taken from the nearby Roman-era Baalbek Citadel, and the column capitals have a strong Greco-Roman and Byzantine style. A flood hit Baalbek in 1318, causing serious damage to the Umayyad Mosque, washing away the walls and the pulpit (minbar), which were later repaired by the Mamluk prince ruling Baalbek at the time, Najm al-Din Hassan.

The Umayyad Mosque was badly damaged in a 1996 earthquake in Baalbek, and it was later restored by a team led by Dr. Saleh Lamei Mustafa, the former dean of the Faculty of Architecture at Beirut Arab University. The restoration work lasted for two years and was finally completed in 1998.

Today, many ancient stone pieces are still scattered around the courtyard of the Baalbek Umayyad Mosque, giving it a rich sense of history.



































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We flew from Almaty to Istanbul New Airport in the evening, took a one-hour airport bus to Taksim Square, and walked five minutes to reach Istiklal Avenue, the busiest street in Istanbul. At 11 p.m., Istiklal Avenue was buzzing with people, so we went straight into late-night snack mode. Istiklal Avenue is lined with various architectural styles from the late Ottoman period, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Since the 19th century, it has been a hub for Ottoman intellectuals and Europeans, earning it the nickname 'Paris of the East'.







There are several rotating meat kebab (döner kebap) shops at the intersections of Istiklal Avenue, and they were all doing great business. We grabbed some kebab to satisfy our cravings and then bought some corn. A common belief is that the Turkish rotating kebab was invented in the mid-19th century during the Ottoman era by the İskender Efendi family in Bursa. It didn't become popular in Istanbul until a century later, and was eventually brought to the rest of the world by Turkish immigrants in the late 20th century.













We had the 'Sultan's Tray' (Sultan Tabağı) baklava dessert paired with Turkish black tea at the famous old Ottoman dessert shop, Hafiz Mustafa 1864. This branch on Istiklal Avenue is very lively. I bought several boxes of their desserts to take home as gifts during my last visit to Istanbul.

Hafiz Mustafa was founded in the old city of Istanbul in 1864 by Hadji İsmail Hakkı Bey and later taken over by his son, Hafiz Mustafa. It has been around for 159 years now. They started by producing traditional rock sugar, then expanded to various Turkish sweets including Turkish delight (lokum), flaky pastry (baklava), and pudding. They now have over a dozen branches and are very famous in Turkey.

Baklava originated in the imperial kitchens of Topkapi Palace during the Ottoman Empire. Every year on the 15th day of Ramadan, the Sultan would gift trays of baklava to the Janissaries, which is why the dessert we ordered is named 'Sultan's Tray' (Sultan Tabağı).

















We turned into a small alley on the north side of Istiklal Avenue, which was packed with seafood restaurants. Istanbul has many such shops near the coast. We picked one and had pan-fried horse mackerel (istavrit) with yogurt drink (ayran). The fish was fried well, the bones were soft, and it tasted great with lemon and onions.













We had breakfast on the hotel rooftop in the morning. The view was excellent, looking across the Golden Horn toward the old city of Istanbul.

We specifically chose to stay near Taksim Square this time for easy access to the airport bus. Because it is near the pedestrian street, the rooms here are generally a bit small and can be noisy at night, but luckily it was quiet for us.















After breakfast, we took the airport bus to head to Lebanon. The architecture around Taksim Square really feels very European. I passed by the place where I ate rotisserie meat (xuanzhuan kaorou) last night and caught the chef using chains to hang the meat onto the oven piece by piece.





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Reposted from the web

I recently visited the Sayyida Khawla Shrine, a Shia holy site in Baalbek, which is the headquarters of Hezbollah in Lebanon and one of the most important Shia centers in the country. The tomb was first built in 680, and the current structure dates back to its reconstruction in 1656.

There are thick walls at the entrance of the tomb, along with armed guards. Women are checked separately, but the guards are friendly to foreign tourists. During the security check, they asked Zainab if she was from Iran or Pakistan. When she said she was from China, the guard was very surprised, said "Made in China" in English, and let her in without checking.

Sayyida Khawla was the daughter of Imam Hussein and the great-granddaughter of the Prophet Muhammad. An ancient cypress tree inside the tomb is said to have been planted by the fourth Shia Imam, Ali Zayn al-Abidin (659-712). Legend says that after Imam Hussein was martyred in Karbala on the day of Ashura in 680, his female relatives were captured and taken to Damascus with the Umayyad caravan. During the long and difficult journey, Sayyida Khawla fell from a camel while passing through Baalbek and died from her injuries.



















In the street scenes of Baalbek, mosques and Roman temples exist side by side. Following online advice, I did not take any photos related to Hezbollah. Besides the Shia community, there are also Christians and Sunnis here. There is even a mosque built during the Umayyad dynasty that is still used by Sunnis today, and I will post photos of this Umayyad mosque later.

During the 2006 Lebanon War, Baalbek was a major target for the Israeli military and was hit by over 70 bombs, which damaged the ancient Roman ruins.













We had lunch in Baalbek, and you can see the ruins of the Roman temple from the restaurant's rooftop terrace.

We ordered Sajiye stew, Fokhara rice, Ayran yogurt drink, and the local Lebanese meat pie called Sfeha. Sfeha from Baalbek is very famous. Sfeha is filled with lamb, tomatoes, and onions. The lamb has a perfect balance of fat and lean meat, ground very finely, and seasoned with cinnamon and allspice. Sajiye and Fokhara are actually names of cookware. Sajiye refers to an iron pot, while Fokhara refers to a clay pot. Both dishes are sealed with a flatbread called Saj while cooking. The rice in the Bukhara clay pot (fokhara) is cooked with olive oil, caramelized onions, and spices that turn it yellow, and it tastes great.

















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Summary: Harbin Tatar Mosque preserves part of the citys Muslim history, tied to Tatar migration, old neighborhoods, and religious life in northeast China. This article follows the story of the mosque and its community memory while keeping the original photos and facts in order.

After Russia occupied Vladivostok in 1860, they began planning a railway across the Qing Dynasty to reach this Pacific port more quickly. In 1896, Li Hongzhang signed the Secret Treaty of Alliance between the Qing Empire and the Russian Empire, naming the line the Great Qing Eastern Railway (Dongqing Railway). After 1920, it was renamed the Chinese Eastern Railway (Zhongdong Railway).

Construction of the Chinese Eastern Railway began in August 1897 with Harbin as the center, and it officially opened to traffic in 1903. During this time, many Tatars from Russia came to the railway line to make a living. They opened small shops, and after earning some money, other Tatars followed them there.

As the center of the Chinese Eastern Railway, Tatars began settling in Harbin in 1901 and built the first wooden mosque that same year. As the Tatar population grew, they rebuilt a brick mosque in 1906. In 1907, they hired İnayetullah Seli Ahmed as imam. He ordered books and magazines from Russia and opened the first Tatar community library.

Imam İnayetullah also served as the principal of the Harbin Tatar Elementary School. The school taught religious knowledge and general subjects, and offered courses in the Tatar and Russian languages. Teachers at the school included the Tatar poet and playwright Husain Gabdyush, who was actively involved in theatrical productions for the Harbin troupe during the 1920s and 1930s. Another teacher, Madina (Asyakaeva) Seliahmet, was a former instructor of higher women's natural science courses in Saint Petersburg. After immigrating to Harbin, she married the younger brother of Imam İnayetullah.

After the October Revolution broke out in 1917, the number of Tatars immigrating to Harbin increased, reaching over a thousand in the 1920s. Most of them made a living through the fur, textile, and clothing trades. To commemorate the 1,000th anniversary of the conversion of their ancestors, the Volga Bulgars, to the faith in 922 AD, the Tatars in Harbin decided to build a new mosque. Construction of the new mosque began in 1923 under the leadership of Imam İnayetullah, but work stopped in September 1924 when the imam passed away. After that, construction stalled due to political instability and poor financial management by the Harbin Tatar Religious and National Association. In 1936, the new imam, Münir Hasibullah, traveled throughout all the Tatar settlements in the Far East to collect donations (niyat), finally allowing the Millennium Mosque to be officially completed and opened on October 8, 1937.



















An old photograph of the Harbin Tatar Mosque taken in 1940, now held in the Waseda University Library, preserves a precious image of the Tatars during Friday prayer (Jumu'ah).















Additionally, the author of the book The Harbin Files, Mara Moustafine, is of Tatar-Jewish-Russian descent and spent her childhood in Harbin. The book writes that her grandfather, Mukhammedzhan Mustafin, originally lived in a village near Kazan in the middle reaches of the Volga River. He came to Harbin in 1920 to work as an electrician and repairman for wealthy people and large companies. Every Friday, Mukhammedzhan went to the Harbin Tatar mosque to perform Jumu'ah. He was an active member of the Harbin Tatar community and served on the community association board for several years. Every year during Eid al-Adha (Qurban Festival), Mukhammedzhan would take his son Alimzhan to the mosque to perform Eid prayers, and then they would go to watch the traditional Tatar horse racing held at the Harbin racecourse.

After the Soviet Union marched into Northeast China in 1945, the Tatars who had immigrated to Harbin to escape the Soviet Union faced harsh treatment. Over the next 10 years, most chose to immigrate to the United States, Canada, and Turkey, while some, like Mara Mustafin's family, immigrated to Australia. By 1960, there were fewer than five Tatars left in Harbin, and the Harbin Tatar community was declared dissolved.





Further reading:

Specialty pastries of the Kazan Tatars

Kazan Kremlin and the National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan

Tatars in the city of Kazan

Performing Jumu'ah at the Historical Mosque of the Tatars in Moscow

Thirteen traditional mosques of the Kazan Tatars in Russia Collapse Read »

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Summary: Sarajevo Bosniak cuisine reflects the citys Muslim food culture through dishes such as burek, grilled meats, stews, and everyday bakery food. This food-focused account preserves the original meals, places, photos, and local details in natural English.

Bosniaks (Bošnjaci) are a Slavic-speaking Muslim ethnic group living in the Bosnia region of the Balkan Peninsula. They migrated from northeastern Europe to Bosnia as early as the 6th century. From 1463 to 1878, they were under Ottoman rule for over four hundred years, which strongly influenced their cultural customs and led them to become Muslims.

The identity of the Bosniaks emerged quite late. Although the Austro-Hungarian Empire began promoting a Bosniak identity in the late 19th century, the vast majority of Bosniaks identified only as Muslims until the early 1990s. After the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, the Bosniak identity began to shift rapidly as they sought to strengthen their connection to the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. On September 27, 1993, representatives from all walks of life among Bosnian Muslims held a meeting and officially adopted the Bosniak ethnic identity.

After arriving in Sarajevo, we first went to the old town bazaar (Baščaršija) for lunch. This area was built in 1462 by Isa-Beg Ishaković, the first Ottoman governor of Bosnia. It has been a residential area for Bosniaks ever since and is full of halal restaurants.









We went to the famous restaurant Ćevabdžinica Petica Ferhatović near the eastern entrance. This shop was opened by the Ferhatović family during the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics, though they had already started running restaurants in the old town of Sarajevo as early as 1957.





We ordered the Bosnian specialty of finger-shaped minced beef kebabs (Ćevapčići) and spicy beef sausage (Sudžuk) served with flatbread (Somun), along with side dishes of onions and cream cheese (Kajmak). We also ordered a cheese salad (Šopska salata).

The word Ćevapčići comes from the Ottoman Turkish word for grilled meat (Kevap) and the Slavic suffix "-čići" used to denote something small. It developed from Turkish kebabs in the 16th century. The version made in the Baščaršija area of Sarajevo is the most famous, and it holds an important place in Bosniak food culture.

Spicy beef sausage (Sudžuk) is a dish widely found in Central Asia, the Middle East, and the Balkans. It was first mentioned in the Compendium of the Turkic Dialects (Dīwān Lughāt al-Turk) written in the 1070s, and was later brought to Bosnia by the Ottoman Empire. To make it, beef, beef fat, and various spices are ground together, stuffed into casings, tied tightly, and then fermented and dried.





Flatbread (Somun) is similar to the pita bread of the Levant region and is a classic pairing for Bosniaks when eating grilled meats.



Cheese salad (Šopska salata) is made with tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, and brine cheese (Sirene), and its name comes from the Shopluk region in the far west of Bulgaria. Because its colors match the Bulgarian flag, this dish became a promotional food for Bulgarian tourism after 1956 and later spread widely across the former Yugoslavia.



Gazi Husrev Bey was an Ottoman governor of Bosnia in the 16th century. He was born into Bosnian nobility and, starting in 1530, funded many important buildings in Sarajevo while dedicating his wealth to support welfare and educational institutions.

To the west of the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque stands a clock tower built in the 16th century, though the current structure was rebuilt in the 18th century. This 30-meter-tall clock tower is the highest of the 21 clock towers built by the Ottoman Empire in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It follows the Islamic calendar, where sunset is set as 12 o'clock. An official called a Muvekit, who determines the prayer times and the five daily namaz, is responsible for adjusting the clock. The current clock mechanism was made by the London-based company Gillett & Johnston in 1875. To make sure the clock was clearly visible, the top of the tower was modified during installation.

Below the clock tower is a public canteen (Imaret) established in 1531, which was originally managed by a foundation (Waqf) to distribute free food to the poor. Today, this place is a very famous bakery, and the fresh bread baked on-site is very popular with the locals. Their signature item is the Kifla bread, which costs 2 yuan each and comes in various flavors with a rich wheat aroma. Kifla is a small bread popular in Central Europe and the Balkans with a history of hundreds of years. The French croissant actually evolved from the Kifla.



















The best drink to cool off in the old bazaar of Sarajevo is Boza! I drink it several times every day. Boza is a very ancient fermented malt drink. It was recorded as early as the 1070s in the Compendium of the Turkic Dialects (Divânu Lügati't-Türk). It was very popular among Turkic peoples in Central Asia at the time and spread to the Balkans with the Ottoman Empire.

Before the 16th century, Boza could be consumed freely. However, the rise of a version called Tartar Boza, which contained opium, angered the rulers at the time. By the 17th century, Sultan Mehmed IV ordered all Boza shops to close and banned people from drinking it. Since then, this ban has been tightened and relaxed many times. By the 19th century, the sweet, non-alcoholic drink boza became popular again in the Ottoman Empire.

Today, boza is an essential summer cooling drink in Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia.













I ate Ashure pudding (ashure) in the old bazaar of Sarajevo. Ashura refers to the 10th day of the first month of the Islamic calendar. Legend says that after the Great Flood receded, the Prophet Nuh and his followers stepped off the ark on this day. They had almost no food left, so everyone pooled together seeds of various foods to make the first meal for humanity after the flood.

In his 17th-century work Book of Travels (Seyahatname), Ottoman traveler Evliya Celebi mentioned that Ashure is a porridge that should be cooked on the tenth day of the month of Muharram. Ottoman-era Ashure had no fixed recipe, as preparation varied by region and family tradition. Traditionally, People say at least seven ingredients should be used, though some believe ten ingredients should be included to match the theme of the tenth day. Common ingredients include wheat, barley, rice, white kidney beans, chickpeas, grape molasses (pekmez), pomegranate molasses, beet juice, dates, raisins, currants, apricots, figs, apples, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts, pine nuts, and sesame seeds. Finished Ashure can be garnished with fennel seeds, black cumin seeds, plums, pomegranate, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

Today, you can buy Ashure in dessert shops throughout Turkey and the Balkans all year round. However, on the Day of Ashura, people still prefer to make it themselves and share it with the poor, relatives, neighbors, and friends.











In the afternoon, I ate Bosnian stew (bosanski lonac) at Aščinica Hadžibajrić F. Namika in the old bazaar of Sarajevo. The word Aščinica here means an old-fashioned Bosnian restaurant. The Hadžibajrić family has run this traditional Bosnian restaurant for over a hundred years. The current owner, Namik, stands behind the counter and serves the food you point to.

Bosnian stew dates back to the Middle Ages. It started as a home-cooked meal for Bosnian workers and later became popular with all social classes. It can be made by stewing beef, lamb, or meatballs with cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, and carrots. When stewing, layer the meat and vegetables in the pot, then add garlic and whole peppercorns for seasoning. They also serve various stuffed vegetables (sarma), including stuffed tomatoes, stuffed grape leaves, stuffed onions, and stuffed pickled cabbage leaves. Sarma means "wrapped" in Turkish, referring to vegetables stuffed with filling and then stewed.



















Drink traditional Bosnian coffee (Bosanska Kahva) in the old bazaar of Sarajevo. Coffee first arrived in the Balkan Peninsula under Ottoman rule from the Arab world in the 16th century. Sarajevo was one of the first European cities to open coffee houses, over a hundred years before cities in Western Europe.

Coffee houses are an important part of Ottoman culture. People go there to hear the day's main news, discuss daily gossip, and watch impromptu performances like shadow puppetry. Coffee houses allow people to express more ideas outside of work and worship (namaz), and they are also a great opportunity to meet like-minded friends.

Like Turkish coffee, Bosnian coffee is made by grinding roasted coffee beans into a fine powder and brewing them in a long-handled copper pot called a Džezva (known as Cezve in Turkish). However, while Turkish coffee can be brewed with cold water, Bosnian coffee must be brewed with boiling water. You can add sugar to Turkish coffee while it brews, but you cannot add sugar to Bosnian coffee. Turkish coffee is poured into a cup and served to the customer, while Bosnian coffee is served by placing the copper brewing pot and the cup together on a tray for the customer to pour themselves.

The classic Bosnian coffee set includes a copper pot, a porcelain cup with a copper base, a copper tray, a copper container for sugar cubes, and Turkish delight (Rahat Lokum). To drink it, first bite off a piece of a sugar cube and hold it under your tongue, letting the sugar melt on its own, then drink the coffee. Bosnian Turkish delight (Rahat Lokum) comes from Turkish delight (Lokum). The yellow ones are made with vanilla and the red ones are made with rose petals; you can eat them at any time while drinking coffee.











One of the coffee houses I visited is called Andar Caffe Bar. The owner Maida's grandfather, Muharem, opened a handmade shoe shop in the old bazaar of Sarajevo in 1933, which was later taken over by Maida's father, Osman. After Osman retired in 2010, Maida took over the shop. But by then, handmade shoes were no longer in demand as people bought shoes in stores, so Maida turned the shoe shop into the current coffee house while keeping many shoe-related elements inside.







There is a very famous Bosnian restaurant called Inat kuća across from the Sarajevo City Hall (Vijećnica). The traditional Bosnian house where the restaurant is located was built in the mid-17th century, originally next to the current City Hall. In 1892, when the Austro-Hungarian Empire built the City Hall and a tram station, they wanted to take over the land, but the owner, an old man named Benderija, did not want to move. After long negotiations, the old man finally agreed to move a few years later only if they gave him a bag of gold and moved his house brick by brick to the other side of the river. The Austro-Hungarian Empire had no choice but to move the house to its current location. People say during the move, the old man sat on the nearby bridge every day, carefully watching the workers move every single brick to the other side of the river.

After 1997, Inat kuća became a Bosnian restaurant where you can enjoy Bosnian cuisine and see the traditional Bosnian interior design. We ordered traditional Bosnian dumplings (klepe), cornmeal porridge (pura), rose water, and elderflower (zova) water. Klepe is made by kneading flour, eggs, and salt for the dough, and mixing minced meat, onions, salt, and pepper for the filling. The dumplings are boiled for 10 minutes, then topped with yogurt, garlic powder, and chili powder before being baked. Pura is a porridge made from cornmeal, butter, cheese, and yogurt, and it is one of the favorite breakfasts for Bosniaks.



















In the morning, we had a traditional Bosnian breakfast at Restoran Čaršija, west of the Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque in Sarajevo's old town, featuring Travnik cheese, smoked cheese, cream cheese, smoked meat, spicy beef sausage (sujuk), vegetables, fruit, fried eggs, and black tea. Travnik cheese is a specialty sheep's milk cheese from Bosnia and Herzegovina, originating from the mountains of Travnik in central Bosnia. It is made by soaking fresh sheep's milk in brine for two to three months, and after draining, it tastes slightly salty and is low in fat.













We ate classic Bosnian snacks, flaky meat pie (burek) and small meat dumplings (mantije), on the streets of the old bazaar in Sarajevo. Burek is a classic Ottoman dish. People say this snack was brought from Central Asia to the Anatolian Peninsula by Turkic peoples as they migrated west, later taking its final form in the Ottoman court before spreading to the Balkan Peninsula under Ottoman rule. In Bosnia, Burek is generally called pita. Only the meat-filled version is called Burek, while the white cheese version is called Sirnica, the spinach and cheese version is called Zeljanica, and the potato version is called Krompiruša.













The word Mantije comes from the Chinese word for steamed bun (mantou). After the 13th century, it was brought along the Silk Road through Central Asia to Anatolia by Turkic peoples and Mongols, spreading throughout the Ottoman Empire, where it is known in Turkish as Manti. Before the term baozi appeared in the Northern Song Dynasty, the Chinese word mantou could refer to any stuffed flour pastry. Today, the Wu dialect still uses the term meat mantou (rou mantou), and the Manti found in West and Central Asia also refers to stuffed flour pastries.

The earliest record of Ottoman Manti appears in a cookbook written by Muhammed bin Mahmud Shirvani in the 15th century. It notes that Manti at the time was filled with lamb and chickpeas, seasoned with cinnamon and vinegar, and topped with sumac and garlic yogurt sauce. Modern Manti is mostly filled with lamb and onions. Unlike the steamed thin-skinned buns (Manti) of Central Asia, Manti in Turkey and Bosnia are usually boiled or baked and are smaller in size. Bosnian Mantije are packed tightly together, looking a bit like a baked version of pan-fried buns (shuijianbao).







I had dinner at the Old Bazaar in Sarajevo. I ordered the Bosnian specialty chicken soup (Begova Čorba), a grilled vegetable platter, and Balkan-style grilled veal patties (Teleća pljeskavica). Everything was delicious. The grilled meat here tastes much better when paired with yogurt cheese.











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Summary: Almaty has a Hui Muslim mosque community connected to migration, faith, and Chinese-speaking Muslim heritage in Kazakhstan. This travel note follows the mosque visit and community details while keeping all original facts and images.

On September 29, I flew from Beijing Capital Airport on Air Astana to Almaty, then headed to a Hui mosque on Pavlodarskaya Street in the northern suburbs of Almaty for Jumu'ah.

The mosque is not very big, but it was packed with people from many different ethnic groups during Jumu'ah. The courtyard, the upstairs, and the downstairs were all full, and there were many young people. The imam is a local Hui Muslim from Shaanxi. He speaks excellent Shaanxi dialect, Russian, and Arabic, but he gave the sermon (wa'z) in Russian so that everyone from different ethnic groups could understand. The Jumu'ah process is the same as the traditional practice back home in China. After the prayer, the way they performed the repentance (tawbah), raised their fingers, and finally walked in a circle to shake hands felt so familiar.



Imam















The mosque was preparing to hold a religious gathering in the evening, but unfortunately, I had to catch a connecting flight and could not make it. I am grateful that I met community leaders who had come from various Hui Muslim mosques in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for the gathering. Chatting with them in the Shaanxi dialect felt so warm; it was exactly the same as the Urumqi Shaanxi dialect my parents-in-law speak.



After Jumu'ah, the mosque elders invited me to eat pilaf (zhuafan). The small-batch pilaf was very similar to the home-cooked style of Urumqi Hui Muslims, and it was not as oily as Uyghur pilaf.









Besides side dishes, the pilaf here was served with pickled cucumbers made by the mosque. They were not as salty as the ones bought in supermarkets back home, and they felt very Soviet. I also ate spicy green tomatoes made by the mosque. They were spicy, fragrant, and went perfectly with the pilaf. I don't think I have ever eaten unripe green tomatoes like this back in China. There was also cake made by the mosque, which was very delicious.







Many young and middle-aged people here are enthusiastic about community affairs, and I felt very happy chatting with everyone. Several of the elders used to work in foreign trade in China, so they speak good Mandarin. I chatted for a long time with a man named Brother Wang. He did business in Horgos a few years ago and spent some time in Yiwu this year. He told me there are three Hui Muslim mosques in Almaty, two of which are Shaanxi mosques and one is a Gansu mosque. The one I visited is a Shaanxi mosque, and even the young people here can speak fluent Shaanxi dialect at home.





After Friday namaz, everyone started getting busy preparing for the Mawlid celebration that evening. The fried dough (youxiang) and fried dough cubes (baorsak) were already fried, but the main task was to cook two large wood-fired pots of pilaf (zhuafan). The students (mulla) and village elders at the mosque worked together, making the atmosphere busy and blessed. They say the mosque is even livelier during Ramadan, when they cook three large wood-fired pots of pilaf every day.



















I bought a large flaky baked bun (samsa) at the entrance of the Green Bazaar in Almaty; this is a classic street snack in Almaty. I happened to meet a Dungan man who offered to translate for us. His ancestors were from Shaanxi, and he spoke with a very authentic Shaanxi accent; he said he still has many relatives in Yili.













The Green Bazaar in Almaty is a place where many ethnic groups gather. There are Kazakhs selling horse meat, Russians selling pork, Koreans selling kimchi, Dungans selling small goods, and Uyghurs selling fruit. People live in this city for all sorts of reasons, which gives Almaty its unique character.







The Central State Museum of Kazakhstan displays a Dungan bridal gown made in 1918. I have seen Dungan bridal gowns many times online and in books, but this was my first time seeing the real thing, and the cloud-shaped collar (yunjian) on it was beautiful. Even though it was already the 20th century, the Dungan people still kept the traditional clothing styles of Qing Dynasty women. I hope to have the chance to attend a Dungan wedding in the future.













Various traditional Dungan textiles and jewelry are on display at the Central State Museum of Kazakhstan.

















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Summary: A weekend Sheng Hui gathering in Beijing offers a close look at Hui Muslim religious life, shared meals, and community ties. This article keeps the original observations, religious terms, and photos while presenting them in clear English.

Today is the 12th day of the third month in the Islamic calendar, which is believed to be the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. Around this day, Muslims all over the world hold events to commemorate the Prophet, known as Mawlid or Eid-e-Milad an-Nabi. In China, these are called Shengji, Shenghui, or Shengdan.

Commemorations of the Prophet's birth date back to the time of the Tabi'un, the followers of the Prophet's companions, though these were mostly private events in the early days. Large-scale commemorative events can be traced back to Egypt during the Fatimid Caliphate in the 12th century. In 1207, Saladin's brother-in-law Gökböri first established the Mawlid as a public holiday, which helped the celebration spread among Muslim communities. The Ottoman Empire made the Mawlid an official holiday in 1588, calling it Mevlid Kandili, which means the 'Candle Feast of the Prophet's Birthday'.

Starting last week, mosques across Beijing have been holding these commemorative gatherings, which will continue until October. Last weekend, I attended two such gatherings at the Nandouyacai Mosque inside Chaoyangmen and the Balizhuang Mosque outside Chaoyangmen, and I would like to share them with you.

Friday was Jumu'ah, and Imam Chen gave a sermon (wa'z) about the life of the Prophet. After the Jumu'ah prayer, everyone recited the Quran together, followed by enjoying fruit and tea.



















After leaving the mosque, I had a bowl of beef noodles at Xinyuezhai near the entrance.





On Saturday morning, I attended the gathering at Balizhuang Mosque outside Chaoyangmen. First, Imam Ding recited the opening chapter of the Quran in the courtyard. Then, everyone went into the prayer hall where 14 imams performed the opening and closing recitations, followed by Imam Ding giving a sermon (wa'z) on the life of the Prophet. The mosque prepared meat porridge and fried dough (youxiang) for everyone, along with various teas and snacks. I really enjoyed the pea flour cake (wandouhuang) and steamed rice cake (aiwowo) made by the mosque elders; you cannot find this blessed taste in shops.

Besides commemorating the Prophet, these gatherings are a great opportunity to strengthen the unity of the mosque community. Friends (dosti) who rarely see each other during the week use this occasion (sabab) to gather, chat about daily life, and discuss the faith. It is truly a reason to be grateful (shukr).

































The next day, you can continue to enjoy the meat porridge and fried dough (youxiang) at home to keep the blessings going.

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Summary: Sarajevo carries visible memories of the Bosnian War through memorials, cemeteries, streets, and sites of loss. This account records those places in a restrained travel voice while preserving the original details and image sequence.

It takes just over an hour to fly from the Asian side airport in Istanbul to Sarajevo. Sarajevo Airport is very small and does not have many daily flights. If you are among the first to get off the plane, you can go through customs without waiting in line, as there is no visa required. We booked a hotel called Villa Sky in the old town of Sarajevo on Agoda and arranged for the owner, Faris, to pick us up at the airport.







Faris is a local Bosnian, and he speaks fluent English. On the way into the city, he gave us an overview of Sarajevo and pointed out bullet holes left on buildings from the Bosnian War. Later, while walking around the streets of Sarajevo, we found other buildings that still have bullet hole marks. These bullet holes vary in size, and some are very dense. It is easy to imagine the cruelty of the war that happened 20 years ago.

The Siege of Sarajevo lasted nearly four years, from April 5, 1992, to February 29, 1996. During this time, 13,952 people were killed, including 5,434 civilians. The siege reached its peak between the second half of 1992 and the first half of 1993. Bosnian homes were looted and burned, and residents were beaten and sent to prisons and concentration camps, where many were killed. The Serbian army outside the city kept shelling Sarajevo, while Serbian forces inside the city used sniper rifles and grenades to attack people on major streets.

On February 5, 1994, Serbian forces fired a mortar into the Markale market in Sarajevo, killing 67 civilians. This is known as the Markale massacre. On August 28, 1995, the market was shelled again by Serbian forces, killing 37 people. This event led NATO to launch large-scale bombings against Serbia, which eventually brought the war to an end.



















Martyr memorial wall (Shehid memorial wall)

The martyr memorial wall (Shehid memorial wall) is at the entrance of the Gazi Husrev-beg Museum in Sarajevo. It lists the names of imams, Islamic school professors, and madrasa students who died in the Bosnian War. The introduction at the front reads:

Between April 1992 and November 1995, 96 imams, Islamic school professors, and madrasa students were brutally killed during the aggression against the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

117 imams were held in concentration camps controlled by the military and police of the Republika Srpska and the Croatian Defence Council.

In the lands controlled by these forces, over 80% of Islamic religious buildings were destroyed, including 614 mosques, 218 prayer sites, 69 primary schools, 4 Sufi lodges (tekke), 37 mausoleums (turbe), and 405 other buildings belonging to the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina.









Gazi Husrev-beg Library

An introduction at the Gazi Husrev-beg Library: By a decision of the Riyasat, the highest administrative body of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina, May 7th is declared 'Mosque Day.' It commemorates the Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka and other religious buildings of the Islamic community destroyed during the Bosnian War on May 7, 1993.

The pictures show the Čaršijska Mosque in Srebrenica destroyed in 1995, the Ferhadija Mosque in Banja Luka destroyed in 1993, the Ahmići Mosque destroyed in 1993, the Hadži-Kurtova Mosque in Mostar destroyed in 1993/4, the Magribija Mosque in Sarajevo destroyed in 1992, and the remains of a mosque destroyed in the Bosnian War discovered in 2020.









The Gazi Husrev-beg Library has a special exhibition area about the library's experience during the Bosnian War, and a film titled 'The Love of Books: A Sarajevo Story' is playing. Zainab and I stopped to watch for a long time, and we were both moved to tears by the end.

As the library with the richest collection of Islamic books in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Gazi Husrev-beg Library has faced many trials in its nearly 500 years of operation, but the 1992-95 Bosnian War was undoubtedly the hardest. The aggressors made destroying the historical and cultural heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina a key goal, especially historical buildings that held written heritage. Staff at the Gazi Husrev-beg Library risked their lives to successfully move tens of thousands of precious Islamic books to safe places, making a huge contribution to saving the history and culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The exhibition hall displays the equipment used to microfilm important books during the war. During the Siege of Sarajevo, this equipment was brought into the city through an underground tunnel, which was the only way in or out of Sarajevo at the time. By the end of 1996, the staff had taken 5,000 microfilm photos.











The film 'The Love of Books: A Sarajevo Story' explains that to save the books in the Gazi Husrev-beg Library, the staff moved the book storage area many times. In 1992, the library decided to move 21 packages containing the most precious manuscripts into the vault of the Privredna Bank. To avoid attacks from Serb snipers on the streets, they packed the books in banana boxes, but then they ran into hungry people who robbed them. Fortunately, the hungry people let them go after discovering there were books inside instead of bananas. After going through great hardships, these books were finally saved until the end of the war.

The staff at the Gazi Husrev-beg Library risked their lives to save precious manuscripts during the Bosnian War, and they are now on display again at the library. Here are a few of them.



The first one is the Rose Garden (Gulistān), a prose work written in 1258 by the great Persian poet Saadi. This manuscript was annotated by the great 16th-century Bosnian classical literature critic Ahmed Sudi Bosnjak and copied in 1765 by Ahmad b. al-hagg Husayn al-Mostari. Ahmed Sudi was born in eastern Bosnia and later lived in Istanbul for a long time. He was an expert in Persian literature and wrote a series of commentaries on Persian literary classics in Ottoman Turkish. These had a huge influence in the Ottoman Empire and were widely used by later Persian scholars and Western Orientalists.



The second one is the 63rd handwritten Quran by hafiz Ibrahim Sehovic, completed in 1807. During his life, hafiz Sehovic copied at least 66 Qurans, and the Gazi Husrev-beg Library holds four of them.



The third one is a handwritten Quran completed in 1849 by Ahmad b. Muhammad al-Muhägir ad-Dagistani al-Makki.



The fourth one is a Quran selection (Juz') gifted by Ferhad-pasha Sokolovic in 1587 to a mosque in the city of Banja Luka in northwestern Bosnia.



The fifth one is a Quran selection (Juz') gifted by Mehmed-pasha Sokolovic in 1570 to a mosque in his birthplace in eastern Bosnia.





The sixth one is a handwritten Quran created by Abdullah b. Muhammad al-Hafiz as-Sirazi in 1572-73.





Museum of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide 1992-1995

Located in the center of Sarajevo's old town, the Museum of Crimes Against Humanity and Genocide 1992-1995 is a place that requires a strong stomach to visit. It is the second museum to leave me with a deep psychological shadow, the first being the Gulag History Museum in Moscow. When I entered, I happened to see the Bosnian friend (dosti) selling tickets being interviewed. He was talking about his family's life during the Bosnian War, which was the first time I heard firsthand information about this war.

I will share the museum's introduction here: We must remember history! The Bosnian War began in April 1992. It is listed as one of the most brutal wars in human history. Total casualties exceeded 200,000, with over 120,000 deaths, hundreds of thousands injured, 2 million people displaced, 657 concentration camps, over 200,000 people detained, 25,000 raped, and 30,000 missing. The crimes against humanity and genocide committed during the war are among the most heinous crimes known to mankind. This genocide happened in Central Europe at the end of the 20th century. The war ended in November 1995 with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement.

Keeping memories alive is an important factor in avoiding new genocides and massacres, especially today as separatism and racism slowly return to the world. This museum displays a sad part of human history. In this museum, people tell many stories and show many crime scenes. The exhibits hold strong emotions and help you understand more about the war experiences of the Bosnian people. Most importantly, this museum is run by victims of the war, those who lived through it.

Understanding the impact of hatred on others is important for everyone. Without this knowledge, hatred will easily happen again.



















Martyrs' Cemetery (Šehidi Cemetery)

In the afternoon, I went to visit the Kovači Cemetery below the Yellow Fortress on the east side of Sarajevo's old town. Kovači Cemetery is also called the Martyrs' Cemetery (Šehidi Cemetery). Many people who died during the Siege of Sarajevo in the Bosnian War are buried here. Alija Izetbegović, the wartime president of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, was also buried here after he returned to Allah.















Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina was built in 1963 and is one of the representative works of Yugoslav modern architecture. The museum suffered severe damage during the Bosnian War. The staff managed to save most of the collection, and today the building still keeps the marks left by the war.







The museum features an exhibition called 'We Refugees'. During the Bosnian War, Germany and Austria took in nearly 500,000 refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and many returned home after the war. The exhibition recreates a private space for refugees, containing personal files from 20 different people. This is the first time they have talked about leaving home for a new country, being separated from family, fearing for their lives, feeling like outsiders, losing their identity, the languages they lost and learned, the challenges of refugee life, new friendships and relationships, and the experience of returning to their homeland. Each person left behind an object, a document, or a photograph in their file. Even today, these items still remind them of that time.







There is a photography exhibition by Scottish photographer Jim Marshall at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. He began living and working in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1994, and in 1996 and 2011, he took a series of photos of Sarajevo street scenes from the same angles. The front desk of the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina sells postcards of this photo series, which are worth collecting if you are traveling in Sarajevo.

























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Reposted from the web

Summary: Sarajevo holds the memory of the event that helped trigger World War I and of the citys years under Austro-Hungarian rule. This article follows the historical sites, streets, and architecture connected to that period while preserving the source facts.

On the morning of June 28, 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and his wife attended a reception at the Sarajevo City Hall, then set off to visit the wounded from a recent explosion at the hospital.

Sarajevo City Hall (Vijećnica) was designed by Czech architect Karel Pařík in 1891 and completed in 1896. It is the most iconic building constructed in Sarajevo during the Austro-Hungarian period.

The building uses the Moorish Revival architectural style, a new style created by European and American architects in the 19th century by drawing inspiration from classic Islamic architecture. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina, they designed a series of buildings with Andalusian, Egyptian, and Syrian-style decorations and arches to promote Bosniak national identity and distinguish them from earlier Ottoman architecture.

After 1949, the Sarajevo City Hall became the National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In 1992, during the Bosnian War, it was destroyed by Serbian artillery fire, and a vast number of archives and books were lost. After the war, the site underwent four stages of restoration and was not returned to its pre-war state until 2020.









When Archduke Ferdinand's motorcade drove from the Sarajevo City Hall to the Latin Bridge, the lead car made a wrong turn into an alley. Just as the Archduke's driver realized the mistake and prepared to reverse, an assassin waiting there spotted them. The Archduke was shot and killed, which became the spark for World War I.

The Latin Bridge (Latinska ćuprija) gets its name because it connected the Latin parish of Sarajevo. This bridge was actually rebuilt in 1798 during the Ottoman era with funding from a Sarajevo Muslim merchant named Abdulah-aga. Today, it has become a popular spot for people to experience history.







The street corner by the bridge where Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated was originally the site of Schiller's Delicatessen, built in 1908. Today, it is the Sarajevo Museum 1878-1918. Because views on the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand differ greatly between Serbs and Bosniaks, the museum tends to downplay these differences and focuses on the history of Sarajevo during the Austro-Hungarian rule.





The Bosniak staff member at the ticket office knew we were Muslims and insisted on not charging us for admission. We felt very grateful (dua).



The picture shows equipment used by Austro-Hungarian soldiers and Bosniak soldiers at the end of the 19th century on either side, while the three paintings in the middle depict the scene of the Austro-Hungarian army entering Sarajevo in 1878.

During the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, the Ottoman Empire was defeated by a Russian-led coalition. Afterward, the great powers held the Congress of Berlin and agreed to cede Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Austro-Hungarian Empire invaded Bosnia and Herzegovina at the end of July 1878. After a series of resistance efforts by Ottoman defenders and local militias, they occupied Sarajevo in October.







The picture below shows Mustafa Fadilpašić, the first mayor of Sarajevo during the Austro-Hungarian period (in office from 1878 to 1892). His family moved from Turkey to Sarajevo around 1750, and his father was a pasha in Sarajevo during the Ottoman era. Mustafa grew up in Istanbul and did not return to Sarajevo until he was 30, when he married the daughter of the largest landowner in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Austro-Hungarian Empire occupied Sarajevo in 1878 and immediately appointed Mustafa as mayor. Under his management, the Sarajevo market flourished and municipal facilities began to modernize.



The city emblem of Sarajevo during the Austro-Hungarian period. Because the Austro-Hungarian Empire guaranteed religious freedom in the December Constitution signed in 1867, it did not try to change the religious beliefs of Bosnian Muslims.



The uniform worn by Sarajevo councilors during the Austro-Hungarian period shows they still used 19th-century Ottoman-style Western clothing paired with a fez hat. In 1829, Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II issued a decree requiring all officials to replace turbans with the fez hat, which remained the official Ottoman headwear for nearly a hundred years. From the 19th century to the early 20th century, wearing a fez hat was popular throughout the Balkan region, though some places added different decorations.



An oil painting of the old city of Sarajevo painted in the early 20th century.



Photos of officer uniforms and soldiers from the First Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry Regiment during World War I. The First Bosnian-Herzegovinian Infantry Regiment mainly fought on the Russian front during World War I. Statistics show that more Bosnian soldiers died on the battlefields of World War I than those from any other ethnic group in the Habsburg Empire.





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Reposted from the web

Summary: Istanbul is shaped by Ottoman mosques, layered Muslim history, and everyday street life across both sides of the city. This first part begins the return visit through the citys religious sites, streets, food, and historical details while keeping the original photos.

In 2018, I visited Istanbul for the first time. I toured nearly 100 historical buildings, including dozens of works by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, and gained a great deal. In the summer of 2023, I visited Istanbul for the second time. My itinerary was quite relaxed, mainly to see some places I didn't have time to visit last time.

Lunch in Kadıköy.

The plane landed at the Asian side airport in Istanbul. We took the subway for about 50 minutes to reach the terminal station, Kadıköy, where we chose to stay for this trip. Kadıköy has a very long history. In 667 BC, the Greeks established the first settlement on the Bosphorus here, a few years earlier than Byzantium on the opposite shore. In 1353, it came under the rule of the Ottoman dynasty, a full 100 years before the Ottoman conquest of Constantinople in 1453. Under Ottoman rule, this was a transportation hub for crossing the Bosphorus, so it gradually developed into a bustling town.

Today, it is a leisure spot where young people gather. There are several commercial pedestrian streets filled with cafes, restaurants, shops, craft stores, and bookstores. Although it lacks a vibrant nightlife and dense tourist attractions, life here is more comfortable and laid-back.





After dropping off our luggage, we first went to eat at the street-side Destan Halk Lokantası. A Turkish eatery (lokantası) is similar to a cafeteria back home. Various stews, salads, and desserts are prepared and displayed together, so you just point at what you want to eat, which is very convenient for tourists.

We ordered the Turkish specialty blackcurrant rice pilaf (iç pilav). This pilaf is made with olive oil, onions, crushed mint, cinnamon powder, and various other ingredients. You can also eat the traditional Ottoman Noah's pudding (ashure) here. It commemorates the day the Ark of Prophet Nuh (Noah) landed, when the Prophet and his followers gathered seeds of various foods to make the first meal after the Great Flood receded.















We had honey yogurt at the famous honey shop Etabal Arı Ürünleri in Kadıköy, then took a boat to the Eminönü pier in the old city on the European side. You can just swipe your transit card, which is very convenient.













Snacks near the Spice Bazaar.

Right across from the Eminönü pier is the Spice Bazaar (Mısır Çarşısı), which is the second-largest Ottoman market in the old city after the Grand Bazaar. The Egyptian Market was built in 1660 and got its name because the construction funds came from the revenue of the Ottoman province of Egypt. I took Zaynab next to the Egyptian Market to experience Istanbul's most classic street food, including sandwiches from a sesame ring bread (simit) cart, roasted chestnuts, and mixed fruit juice. Zaynab especially liked these authentic roasted chestnuts.



















Rüstem Paşa Mosque: 1561-63

Not far to the west of the Egyptian Market is the Rüstem Paşa Mosque (Rüstem Paşa Camii), known as the most beautiful mosque by Mimar Sinan. When I visited last time, it was undergoing a three-year restoration that finished in 2021, so I was finally able to visit it this time.

The Rüstem Paşa Mosque was built between 1561 and 1563 by the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan for the Ottoman Grand Vizier Rüstem Paşa. This was the last building commissioned by Rüstem Paşa, and it was only completed after his death.

The mosque is built on a high platform with arched shops on the lower level. The ablution area is next to the platform, and you must climb a narrow staircase to reach the courtyard on top, making the building stand out clearly on the skyline of Istanbul's old city.



















Most of Sinan's works are known for their rigorous architectural structure, but the Rüstem Paşa Mosque is famous for its exquisite interior Iznik tiles. About 2,300 Iznik tiles with 80 different floral and geometric patterns cover the outer walls of the main hall's porch, the interior walls, the prayer niche (mihrab), and the pulpit (minbar). It is said there are 41 types of tulip patterns alone. In the more than twenty years that followed, Sinan never again used such a large number of Iznik tiles to decorate a mosque.

People say these tiles were ordered by Rüstem Paşa himself to support Kara Memi, the chief painter of the Ottoman court at the time. Kara Memi created a new naturalistic style, and his floral works were widely used on crafts like tiles and carpets, leaving a profound influence on Ottoman art.





































Elhac Timurtaş Mosque: 1460s

Not far west of the Rüstem Paşa Mosque, on a street corner, stands the Elhac Timurtaş Mosque. This small, unassuming mosque is actually one of the oldest in Istanbul. It was built in the 1460s by Timurtaş Ağa, who was a merchant there, and the architect was Mahsenci Hacı Ahmet Ağa. The Elhac Timurtaş Mosque has been rebuilt many times throughout history, so it is hard to see its original form today. The mosque was occupied between 1938 and 1964, restored in 1965 at the suggestion of local merchants, and renovated again in 1990 to its current appearance.



















Siyavuş Pasha Madrasa (Museum of the Holy Relics and Prayer Beads): 1591.

Continue walking west, cross the road, and you will find the Siyavuş Pasha Madrasa, which is now open as the Museum of the Holy Relics and Prayer Beads (Hilye-i Şerif ve Tesbih Müzesi). The madrasa was built in 1591 by Siyavuş Pasha, the Grand Vizier to the Ottoman Sultan Murad III, and was likely overseen by Davut Aga, the chief Ottoman architect who succeeded Mimar Sinan. The madrasa has a very precise design and uses high-quality materials. It consists of 15 dormitory rooms and one large classroom, arranged in an irregular geometric pattern along the hillside.







The Holy Relics (Hilye-i Şerif) are written descriptions of the appearance of the Prophet Muhammad and his followers, which became a mature form of Ottoman calligraphy after the 17th century. People write the Holy Relics in beautiful Naskh Arabic calligraphy, frame them, and hang them in their homes, where everyone who passes by offers a blessing.













The term tasbih originally refers to the phrase Subhan Allah, meaning 'Glory be to Allah'. According to the Hadith, the Prophet Muhammad taught his daughter Fatima a way to perform dhikr: saying tasbih 33 times, 'All praise is due to Allah' 33 times, and 'Allah is the Greatest' 33 or 34 times. This method of remembrance is known as Fatima's Tasbih. After the 16th century, the Ottoman dynasty began making counting beads for tasbih out of materials like pearl, amber, hardwood, and bone, and tasbih beads developed into a distinct craft. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Anatolian region, centered in Istanbul, had the most advanced tasbih bead craftsmanship in the Islamic world, and many Muslims traveling to Istanbul would come here to buy them.

The following beads are made from ivory, amber, ivory nut, and Brazilian palm nut, respectively.



















Süleymaniye Mosque.

Continue west to the Süleymaniye Mosque to show Zaynab the great architectural works of Mimar Sinan and visit the tombs of Suleiman the Magnificent and Hurrem Sultan. Unfortunately, the two tombs were closed on Monday, but you can still see the beautiful Iznik tiles on the outside.

In 1566, Suleiman the Magnificent passed away at the age of 71 while on his way from Istanbul to lead a military campaign in Hungary. His heart, liver, and some other organs were buried on the spot in Hungary, while his body (mayyit) was transported back to Istanbul for burial. Besides Suleiman the Magnificent himself, his tomb also holds two other sultans, Suleiman II (reigned 1687-91) and Ahmed II (reigned 1691-95), while the tomb of Hurrem Sultan was built in 1558, the year she passed away.

















Revisiting the Suleymaniye Mosque after five years, I am still stunned by this architectural masterpiece by Mimar Sinan. When I was thinking of a name for my son, the Suleymaniye Mosque came to mind first, so I blurted out that I wanted to name him Suleiman. When Suleiman gets a little older, I must bring him to see this place.















Bayezid II Mosque: 1501-06.

From the Suleymaniye Mosque, head south through Istanbul University to reach the Bayezid II Mosque next to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. This place underwent an eight-year renovation starting in 2012 and only reopened in 2020, so I could not enter when I came in 2018.

The Bayezid II Mosque was built between 1501 and 1506 by the eighth Ottoman Sultan, Bayezid II (reigned 1481-1512), and it is the second imperial mosque built after the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. Because the Fatih Mosque built by Mehmed the Conqueror was destroyed by earthquakes many times, the Bayezid II Mosque is the oldest surviving imperial mosque in Istanbul.

It is speculated that the most likely architect of the Bayezid II Mosque was Yakubşah ibn Islamşah. People only know that Yakubşah once built a caravanserai in Bursa, and little else is known about him, but the polishing technique of the mosque shows that early Ottoman architecture was influenced by contemporary Western architecture. It is also certain that the great Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan carried out repairs here between 1573 and 1574.

The main hall of the Bayezid II Mosque is square, with the main dome supported by two semi-domes and two arches; the interior was built in imitation of the Hagia Sophia, but it is relatively smaller.



















The mihrab (prayer niche) and minbar (pulpit) of the Bayezid II Mosque. To the right of the mihrab is a Hünkâr Mahfili, a platform for the sultan, the royal family, and nobles to pray, and the marble columns on it date back to the Byzantine period.



















In the backyard of the Bayezid II Mosque is the tomb of Sultan Bayezid II himself. Bayezid II served as a bey in Amasya during his early years and took part in wars against the Aq Qoyunlu dynasty. After Mehmed the Conqueror passed away in 1481, Bayezid II fought a war of succession against his brother, Cem Sultan, and eventually defeated him to win the throne.

Bayezid II earned the title of 'the Just' because he successfully kept the domestic situation stable. He fought against Europe many times, defeating a powerful Polish army of 80,000 in 1497 and taking control of the entire Peloponnese peninsula in southern Greece in 1501.

In 1492, Spain announced the expulsion of all Jews and Muslims from its territory. Bayezid II sent the Ottoman navy to Spain to transport these refugees to Ottoman lands and issued a decree across the country welcoming them and allowing them to become Ottoman citizens. He mocked the Spanish rulers, saying, 'He has made his own country poor and made my country rich!' As expected, the Jews and Muslims from Andalusia brought new ideas, technologies, and crafts to the Ottoman Empire, contributing greatly to its prosperity in the 16th century. The first printing press in Istanbul was established by Sephardic Jews in 1493.





Jewel Market (Bedesten): 1461

From the Bayezid II Mosque, head east into the maze-like and complex Grand Bazaar of Istanbul. The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul is known as the largest and oldest covered market in the world, with 61 streets and over 4,000 shops. The Grand Bazaar has been damaged by many fires and earthquakes throughout history, and construction work continued for nearly three hundred years. The earliest part of the building was started in 1461, shortly after the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul. It was originally called the Jewel Market (Cevâhir Bedestan) and belonged to the foundation (Waqf) of the Hagia Sophia Mosque.

In the 1470s (some say the 16th century), a second covered market was built next to the Jewel Market. It mainly sold textiles and was named the Sandalwood Market (Sandal Bedesten) after a sandalwood-colored silk fabric from Bursa. At first, the Jewel Market and the Sandalwood Market were two separate covered markets. However, as merchants kept opening shops around them, the two markets merged into one large area. By 1696, vaults were built over all the shops, finally forming the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul as it is today.













Mahmut Paşa Mosque: 1464

I performed namaz at the Mahmut Paşa Mosque (Mahmut Paşa Camii) outside the east gate of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. This mosque only finished its restoration and reopened in 2021, so I could not enter it when I visited in 2018.

Mahmut Pasha Mosque was built in 1464 by Mahmut Pasha, the Grand Vizier to Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror, and it is one of the oldest mosques in Istanbul. The Mahmut Pasha Mosque foundation (Waqf) owns many buildings, including 27 houses, 100 shops, and various warehouses and stables. This suggests that Mehmed the Conqueror likely tasked Mahmut Pasha with developing the area that is now east and north of the Grand Bazaar.

Mahmut Pasha Mosque still uses the architectural style from the Ottoman period in the old capital of Bursa, featuring two main domes and many smaller domes. After conquering Istanbul, the Ottoman dynasty was influenced by the central dome of the Hagia Sophia. They soon moved away from the Bursa style of small domes and began building mosques with a large central dome instead.

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