Turkish Twilight... by KarmaSong
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This is the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, the historical heart of the city that was originally called Byzantium, even the 'Nova Roma', then Constantinople, a name that the city will keep for centuries until 1930 when the 'father of the Turks' and first president of the Republic of Turkey, Atatürk, changed it into 'Istanbul'.
Right before you, the Blue Mosque with its six slender minarets and to the right, the 1,654 year-old (...360 A.D!) Orthodox cathedral of Sancta Sophia (Hagia Sophia) which was turned into a museum by President Atatürk when he came into office.
I decided on retouching this day-time view of the city, as I got to Istanbul for the first time, around midnight. One of my very first memories there was to discover the dark skyline of Sultanahmet from my hotel room, with the silhouetted dark minarets of the mosques in the distance...The French poet and novel writer Alphonse de Lamartine once wrote :' If one had but a single glance to give the world, one should gaze on Istanbul.'...!
... Thank you very much for your comments on my last capture. Please zoom in on this one and have a very sunny week-end.
Comments (43)
magnus073
Jean-Luc, let me just say that you did a splendid job on this wonderful presentation. Thank you so much for providing a bit of history for this historic place as well as taking the time to retouch it. I found the words of Alphonse de Lamartine to be very profound and to add to the viewing experience.
caty77
It's like a crystal city! Beautiful!
e-brink
This is a marvellous piece of work, especially when zoomed and I recommend that for viewing. It's much more than just re-touching. The poets words are excellent. For a city spoiled for great names, I think I would have stuck with Byzantium - but that's just a poetical thought in itself - if I had one word to gaze upon, I'd gaze on Byzantium etc. I'm sure there are many politico-religous grounds for change and they always supersede the good sense of poetry. Great work!
MagikUnicorn
M A G N I F I Q U E
flavia49
fabulous image
meglamor
Fantastic work KarmaSong! The city almost looks like a mirage :)
estevez
Vraiment une très belle scène, aussi aimé les couleurs. Excellente vue d'ensemble. Une belle oeuvre d'art photographique. Félicitations .... câlins ...
jocko500
wow this is lovely
ichtvan
Superbe!!!!
virginiese
OMG! Ton image est incroyable... tout comme Istanbul doit l'être. Cette skyline est effectivement très très belle et je comprends mieux pourquoi les Turcs sont fiers de leur capitale. Tu me donnes l'envie d'aller visitier cette belle ville. Excellent travail aussi sur cette photo : on dirait qu'Istanbul est en argent massif :-)
Gammacrucis
Very fine arrangement Jean Luc for this shot and thank you for the notices... I'm very curious to visit Istanbul me too, maybe in Springs! have a nice Sunday, my friend ^_^
Cyve
C'est vraiment une très belle ville et la manipulation que tu a faite donne un résultat incroyable... La prise de vue aussi est fabuleuse...
rainbows
Beautiful dear Jean-Luc. Splendid work. Hugs and Bisous galore. DIDI. xx
JeffersonAF
Beautiful.
P-LACALMONTIE
Magnifique atmosphère que tu donne à Istanbul, comme un mirage fantasmé ! Bravo. Great picture.
mermaid
absolutely beautiful and magic :)
kgb224
Outstanding work my friend. God bless.
pauldeleu
Excellent photograph.
feeline68120
c'est magnifique les couleurs superbe!!!
Jean_C
Quel fantastique coup d'oeil en effet que cette merveilleuse image qui nous entraine vers un conte oriental, image rêvée en effet à partir des trésors de cette architecture et de son site! Une re-création magnifique, Jean-Luc, bravo!
photosynthesis
A wonderful photo fantasy - I hope to get there one day...
Jay-el-Jay
It looks like a magical land.
Leije
Ta photo retravaillée fait vraiment rêver, on croirait voir une ville imaginaire, scintillant de mille feux, flottant dans le lointain ! Très créatif et très beau, Jean-Luc !
ia-du-lin
beautiful capture
Hendesse
It looks magical. Fantastic image of this beautiful building.
gaius
Magnifique ! on croirait presque que l'image est gravée sur un fond en argent, comme dans un plat ou une décoration. Pas de doute, Istanbul mérite bien le meilleur traitement, comme ici.
emmecielle
Wonderful image! :)
jayfar
Superb work on this and a fantastic result.
tofi
What an exquisite image of this magnificent place with such an intricate and fascinating history that you've shared with us. You've captured it as such that it appears magical, like something out of a fairy tale! I'm so glad you shared this with us! A beautiful and meaningful work of art!
FredNunes
This is a stunner! Excellent!