Secret Istanbul

A horse’s tomb that has become a place of pilgrimage, a tree held up by a pillar in the garden of a Sufi convent that would herald the end of the world if it fell down, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s glass, a carpet that predicts the end of the Ottoman empire, fragments from the Black Stone of Mecca, the covering of a fountain from Pearl Harbor in the Pacific, a church under the protection of Muhammad, a synagogue that was a landmark for Ashkenazi Jews, a garment worn by the Prophet that was inadvertently ironed, a handful of hot ash that saved the Ottoman empire. Far from the crowds and the usual clichés, Istanbul is still a reserve of well-concealed treasures only revealed to those who know how to wander off the beaten track, whether residents or visitors. An indispensable guide for those who thought they knew Istanbul well, or who would like to discover the hidden face of the city.