Upon walking through Istanbul, one can see the multitude of Ottoman culture, through Turkish historical relics. With a closer look, one can perhaps draw a connection between original Ottoman culture and later structures, or see how historical structures have been modified to fit contemporary life.
Through my visiting of the Aya Sofya and the Blue Mosque, I noticed some worthy similarities to structures elsewhere. Firstly, a little news stand and convenience store at the corner of a street near out hotel had a similar outward-spreading dome roof and multi-faced design as a structure that seems to have been added to the Aya Sofya during its transformation into a mosque. This structure was on the outside corner of the Aya Sofya.
Street-side news stand/convenience store.
Part of the Aya Sofya
While waiting for a taxi around Üsküdar, I noticed a communal water system in which it seemed the community gathered for clean water. Finding it a novel sight at the time, I snapped a picture- only to realize later that it was somewhat similar to a structure attached to the historic wall near the Gülhane metro rail station, and similar to a structure I found inside the Blue Mosque (an enclave with pointed top, faucet, water basin). Perhaps the similarities point to religious and cultural influences onto modern day. Or if the water station in Üsküdar was historic, as well, perhaps this shows how people have worked themselves around these structures. Personally, I found the bleached stone of the Üsküdar water station more current-looking than the other two examples, hence more recently made.
Communal Üsküdar Water Station
Structure inside Blue Mosque
Of course, these observations require a bit more backing, but interesting, nonetheless. Also, a good start to conducting some research and literary review to delve further into the cultural influences into a contemporary Istanbul.