Edirne, one of my most favorite cities in Turkey. To be honest, I have seen many cities, especially in Europe, but I have never seen such a warm and friendly city that much. Before I came to the US, I used to take daily trips to that beautiful city just to get a relief and escape from the chaos of the biggest city in Turkey, Istanbul. I know that this subject is way different from my usual entries, but I just want to write about it particularly because I miss it a lot.Firstly, Edirne is such an old city which is known not only for its popularity as a capital for Ottoman Empire, but also for its architectural beauties that have been mostly built by Mimar Sinan (1489-1588)
When you go to that beautiful city, the magnificent artifact, Selimiye Mosque welcomes you from wherever you get into the city because it is so huge that you could see it from each corner. Also, during the night it has a gorgeous view which I call absolutely breathtaking.
It is still one of the greatest mosques in the world and I believe so that it would keep its reputation for a long time by exciting many domestic and foreign people. Moreover, whenever you go to the mosque, there are a lot to do around it and under it:) I know it sounds kind of weird, but there is a nice and big bazaar under it which you can go and buy many beautiful souvenirs one of which is my favorite to eat, marzipan made with crashed almonds. My mouth is getting wet even while I am writing and thinking about it. I would definitely recommend you to try it as soon as you can because it is delicious (Lezzetli, the synonym of delicious in Turkish). I am posting one of the pictures of that bazaar taken by myself a couple years ago in a lovely summer day.
One of the other things that I like about the city is that it has a famous museum designed in a creative way and considered the best museum in Europe. The first time I have heart about it, I told myself that I had to see that place, and I just took the train and went there. Hopefully and thankfully, I did that because it was such a calm and peaceful place. It used to be a clinic for those who had mental diseases during the Ottoman Empire period. The doctors of that treatment center believed that the music was the strongest way of healing people and making them find the solutions in their hearts.
Folks, can you imagine such a clinic, where you get treated by music and the sound of water which is dropping continuously? It is so cool and when you get inside, you see the whole room in a kind of panoramic view. Each patient's room is separated from each other in a pentagonal shape and the fountain is located in the middle of the room. Also, the musicians' place is located so close to the fountain, and the echo is very good, so each patient can listen to the music to get cured. Of course, it is out of question not to think how beautiful it is to treat people in such a way, especially at that time.
In my opinion, the other most important thing in order to understand the real essence of a city and to catch its spirit is to take long walks in different times such as sun rise, down, or in the evening. I have done all of them, and listening to the prayer in the garden of Selimiye Mosque with the friendship of different kinds of birds was marvelous. There was no light other than shining stars, and a small spot light of the mosque which was kind of scary, but at the same time exciting and peace-giving. Also, I loved my long walks in Edirne's long, but narrow streets which I call the ruins because city itself is such an open museum and wherever you go, you would definitely find something interesting and old coming from Bizantine or Ottoman Empire period.
Of course, one has to mention about the great rivers of Edirne when talking about that gorgeous city, called Arda, Tunca, and Meriç which are connected to each other and go through the city. Meriç is the biggest and the longest one among them and it draws the border between Greece and Turkey. When you go to that city, you have to see the rivers and enjoy the calm atmosphere by having such a great Turkish Cuisine in many different kinds of restaurants located on the way of the river and just tell them that you would like to try "Raki" which is our national and traditional drink. It is a kind of alcohol which is hard to drink, and one needs to learn the rules of how to enjoy it because if you do not know, it might kill your day by making you completely drunk all day long. :) I am kind of exaggerating, but it is better to be careful about it. :) I am posting a link about Raki.
The last advice is that go to that city by taking the train, so you can watch the good and bad sides of Istanbul; such as, the beautiful coast and Marmara sea including beautiful houses located on the coast, but also, poverty and poor areas, over populated places, and thousands of houses. Do not forget to open the train window and take yourself slightly out, so you can feel the warm and fresh summer breeze on your face and in your lungs.Have a great trip if you go to Edirne one day and I hope that I have been kind of helpful to you all.
