A Sustainable Urban Archaeology Experience: The Küçükyalı ArkeoPark

Pin It       For the time being, besides my own "Chainmail By Xn" business, I am also working in an archaeological site within the city of İstanbul. This is a 9th century Byzantium structure complex and our project is called "Traces of the Past for Contemporary Creativity: Urban Archaeology and Küçükyalı ArkeoPark". Aim of the project is to integrate cultural heritage into daily city life. What's more, archaeological excavations are conducted in the area along with conservation and preservation practises and social activities for different age groups.
       It is the largest archaeological area located on the Asian side of İstanbul and was a suburb of the ancient Byzantine city.

If you want to take a closer look at the activities of Küçükyalı ArkeoPark, here are our social media accounts and pages:

Instagram: @kucukyaliarkeopark

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kucukyaliarkeopark/

Web Site: https://kyap.ku.edu.tr/

Follow This Blog

Characters in My Life - Vol.2: MARSYAS

Pin It        I used to work in Istanbul Archaeological Museums and I had to leave my job before moving to Norway for a year but that museum still has a big part in my life because it has always been one of the places that I feel peaceful, magical, or just "strongly feel".
      In my very first visit there when I was a student, I wished working in such a place and fortunately it came true. Again in that first visit I met Marsyas in the ground floor, Gallery 16.
      I believe that some statues are somewhat special characters confined within marble blocks so I thought Marsyas was one of them with a soul still in him. I started to visit and talk to him from time to time and that's how he became an important character in my life.



His statue in Istanbul Archaeological Museums. Is is dated to the Hellenistic period and was found in Tarsus, a historical city in the southern part of Turkey.

       According to the story, Marsyas claims that he plays his flute better than Apollo plays his lyre. Neither of them wins in a musical contest, but Apollo asks Marsyas to turn his instrument upside down and to add his own voice. However, Marsyas cannot achieve this and Apollo wins the contest. After being challenged by a mortal, Apollo gets angry, skins Marsyas alive and hangs his skin to a pine tree, so here he is depicted as hung from a tree and his muscles stretched because of this torture. (Apollo feels sorry later and breaks his lyre and turns Marsyas into a river.) 


View of the museum. I took this picture 3 years ago, when I was working there.

(Yes:) Me in the museum garden

Follow This Blog

A New Design Shop: "HALT"

Pin It     Yesterday I was in a new design shop called "HALT". I started to sell my chainmail accessories and my amigurumi toys there. It is located in Galata -one of the most touristic parts in İstanbul. From jewelry to clothes, from design furniture to handmade soap, you can find varous kinds of interesting objects there apart from my designs. Adress is: Küçükhendek No: 18 Galata/İstanbul. Here are some shots from yesterday.

 

 

Follow This Blog

Days in İstanbul

Pin It       As you may remember, I was away from my family and friends for more than 5 months. In this previoust week I tried to enjoy as much as possible by seing the people I have missed, by going to the places I was longing for. I eat like crazy, I hug people, I look around all the time not to miss a thing :).
      I really like Norway, its nature and foods but I also missed many things in Turkey. For example here we have open market places. Every week, in a certain neighbourhood people come to sell their fresh vegetables, fruits, handmade products and various kinds of things. I had a chance to go through ours this week and I am looking forward to the next one. These open markets are called "pazar" in Turkish. 

  Another place I have been to is Şile. I spent the weekend there with my parents. It is a small, touristic town not so far from the city so people prefer going there in the weekends. There is a settlement in Şile since 700 BC. The most famous places are its lighthouse (belonging the Ottoman period) and its castle (built by Genoese people). It is also popular for its beaches. However, it is at the northernmost point of Istanbul and thus shares the same sea conditions as other Black Sea towns where strong sea currents can be dangerous to inexperienced swimmers. Here are some shots from today.

Follow This Blog

Istanbul

Pin It

      
Tomorrow I will go to my home country Turkey to visit my family and friends and I will stay there for a few weeks. Therefore my posts will be about Istanbul city for a while. Actually I can create at least thousand posts only from my room (it is like a very crowded museum:) so I will go on sharing my stuff in the upcoming days.

Follow This Blog