Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City

If you are planning a trip to Istanbul anytime soon and love history, culture and architecture; then you have to pick up a copy of “Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City” by Hilary Summer-Boyd and John Freely. This is a not your standard guide book and nor does it talk about what to see, do or where to eat in Istanbul. Instead, through its 23 walking routes (strolls), it takes you on a journey through Istanbul’s history, its people, its battles, the rulers and their idiosyncrasies, the myths and folklore, the stories of various old structures that survive (at times for more than a century) to share their tales, and so much more.

I discovered this book only on my last day in Istanbul but decided to read it instead as a historian’s perspective to this city. And totally loved it. Even though I had walked aimlessly quite a bit all over Istanbul and thought I had seen pretty much everything there was to see, after reading this book I realized I had just seen a very small piece of this city’s vast history and architecture. The book starts with a quick snapshot of Istanbul’s history and then through various walks talks about various mosques, churches, baths (hammams), fountains, museums, libraries, palaces, aqueducts etc to see, the architectural details to notice and stories associated with these buildings, how these buildings have changed over the course of their lives, people who built them and their stories, etc etc. While reading this book you can actually visualize the building in front of you (I also used google wherever possible) and imagine them in all their former glory and splendor. I also realized how multicultural Istanbul was and still is with a mix of Greeks, Turks, Armenians, Jews, etc and how the architecture differs for each of these areas. You also read about the Greeks, Romans, Byzantine, Ottomans and how each one of them left their own unique mark on the city. For me it was re-discovering and loving Istanbul all over again and in an entirely different way.

One concern I have with this book is that its slightly dated. It was written in the 70s and the updated version is from 2010 (nearly 9 years ago). So not sure if there are any changes on these routes since then. Additionally, you need a lot more time to be able to explore the city in this manner and I am not sure how many people have that much time on a holiday for a single city. But these are questions I would love to get an answer to for myself when I am Istanbul next with this book.

All in all, I totally recommend this book to anyone visiting Istanbul. The authors clearly love their city and their love is infectious; it catches up with you as move through these pages and start knowing the characters of this city. I so hope that someone writes about my city, Mumbai someday like this.

Have you read any book that explores a city in such a unique manner? Do share these names in the comments section below.