Galata, Neve Shalom, and Sufis, Kelsey Golden
Today we started off by traveling down the famous Istiklal street in Taksim, known for its exceptional shops until we arrived at our first destination, Galata Tower. Galata tower was originally built in 1348 by the Genoans as a watchtower used by the Genoans to warn the Byzantines of invading Venetians. Later, it became a jail for war prisoners by the Ottomans, and then eventually a watchtower again to look for fires in the city. This watchtower obviously proved helpful as it provides a 360 view of Istanbul, which we saw today. A fun fact about the tower is that it was the site of one of the first men who flew in the world, when he jumped off the Galata Tower in the 17th century with a glider-like suit and "flew" across the Bosphorus. Afterward, we headed to the Galata Melivi Tekkesi Museum and Neve Shalom synagogue. This is one of the very few synagogues in Istanbul, and even Turkey, as there are only about 25,000 people who identify as Jewish in the nation. In prep...
