Mosque/library , mosaic museum, bazaar

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6-5-2008 Mosque/library , mosaic museum, bazaar
The Suleymaniye library for handwritten books was our first stop for the day. The building that houses these books is 850 years old. Over the years this building has had many uses including: a book hospital, medical school, a school for orphan children and a mosque.

In the Ottoman time this was one of the most prestigious universities out of 200,000 schools. There are 12 levels of education in Ottoman education and the last three levels were taught at this university. Sciences such as religion health and astronomy were the focus of education here. Astronomy was very important because in the Koran (the Muslim religious book) it says to study and learn more about space.

Suleymaniye the sultan built this school and mosque and named it after himself. As stated before, this school was considered the center of learning during Ottoman times. Between 1557-1918 it was the highest.

Allies took over and closed almost all of the centers for learning when the Ottomans lost the First World War. When this happened all of the books were sent to the Suleymaniye library. There are approximately 120,000 volumes in the collection. Each volume contains more than one book so there are over 120,000 books in the collection. The books remain here and can still be used by specialists that are trained in reading Ottoman and Arabic script. However, the books have been digitalized and are on computer for use.

Interesting fact: Art in the form of painting and sculptures was forbidden in Islamic countires for many years. People turned Arabic calligraphy into a works of art of a different type. Artwork had to be multifunctional; it usually had a verse from the Koran as well as an appealing design.

The Koran is usually covered in gold because it is the most precious item to a Muslim. This can be compared to Buda in the Buddhist religion. A statue of Buda is usually made of gold because it is the most important item for a Buddhist.

We shopped at the Bazaar for a few hours after lunch. Laurie and I didn’t really feel like being hounded by the workers in the crowed bazaar so we found alternative uses for our time… like finding a phone card and Mc Donalds!!!

Rather than having a meeting we went to dinner with the men from this club. They took us to an area of town that is famous for its many fish restaurants. It was a leisurely dinner that lasted almost 3 hours. We had drinks and appetizers followed by fish as an entrée. Gipsy people played music while we ate. They say that they Gypsies are the best musicians around BUT they don’t have any education in music. Meaning they cannot play chords or read music but can play any song that they hear.

As if that wasn’t enough, a belly dancer joined us… she got on the table to do her dance. Lets just say it could be compared to a stripper in America EXCEPT she didn’t take any clothes off. She was dressed in her little outfit and danced around wanting people to put money in her tiny top. All I could do was laugh.

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Photos

The 550 year old building
this is one of the courtyards

The Koran
Notice how it doesn't even look like a "book". This is an index page. The page numbers are in the design on the small off white spaces

Do you see anything?
The guide said that it was the devil's face but I don't think that the devil would be in such a holy place

eyeballs?
No its olives with sardines wrapped around them