The second joint-staff meeting of our project “Artistic & Religious Culture & Heritage" took place in Istanbul, Turkey from 9 to 14 May 2022. The program is organized by Şehit Halil İbrahim Yıldırım Anadolu İmam Hatip Lisesi. The activities are as followed;
DAY 1
On the first day of the mobility, three seminars were held and they were about Turks' Conversion to Islam, mosque architecture, and the curriculum of our religious school.
In the afternoon, there was a small trip to Eyüp Sultan before the workshop. We visited the Eyup Sultan mosque and tomb. There we had a chance to see the art that was presented during the morning seminars.
Then, in the traditional Turkish art workshop, each member of the partners had a chance to try the art of marbling. Marbling is a Turkish traditional art of coloring or marking a special paper like a marble.
Mosque Architecture_.pdf
TURKS’ CONVERSION TO ISLAM.pdf
DAY 2
On the second day, there was a guided tour to Topkapı Palace. We had seen many important artifacts, artworks, and architectural and historical details there. We had some time to drink Turkish tea in the garden of the palace.
Then we had lunch at a restaurant whose owner cooks famous traditional Ottoman cuisine.
After lunch, we walked through Grand Bazaar and arrived at Suleymaniye mosque. There was also a guided tour of the mosque. Its architectural and historical importance was explained. Also, the imam welcomed us and recited azan in the mosque for us to show the special acoustic which was intentionally designed by the architect of the mosque who is called the architect Sinan.
DAY 3
On the third day, there were two visits to two different mosques in the morning and they were "Kılıç Ali Paşa Mosque" and "Nusretiye Mosque". We saw the magnificent art and different style of artwork there. In the Nusretiye mosque, the imam let us go inside the Sultan's private prayer room and recited some verses from Quran there.
In the afternoon, the Galata Mevlevi Lodge was visited. It serves both as a museum and Mevlevi lodge nowadays. There were sema shows at some nights. Sema is a ceremony where dervishes are whirling. There is also some calm music during the ceremony and it makes the atmosphere more spiritual for the dervishes and the audience.
After lunch, we went to listen to and watch the Mehter concert at Taksim Military Museum. Mehter band belongs to the traditional Ottoman culture. They have different musical instruments and sing some marches.
After Mehter concert, we had some free time until Sema show at night. We went to Yenikapı by metro and there we watched the Sema ceremony at Yenikapı Mevlevi Lodge. Before the ceremony one of the whirling dervishes told us about the logic behind the ceremony.
DAY 4
On the last day of our mobility, we had the last meeting of our project ARCH. We assessed the project in general and talked about the results and the responsibilities for the rest of the project. Then the certificates of attendance were handed in to the participants of each team.
After Friday prayer time and lunch, we left the school and went to Besiktas to see two different mosques which are called "Yıldız" and "Yahya Efendi". These two mosques have different artistic and architectural styles. We met the imams of the mosques who gave us some information about them.
In the afternoon, we had some free time in Ortaköy before dinner in Bosphorus. Then we went to Baltalimanı for the dinner. In Istanbul University Baltalimanı Social Facilities, we had our dinner together. We had fun and shared our possible future project ideas there. We finished the night, week, and project with best wishes.
