Basilica Cistern (Turkish: Yerebatan Sarayı – “Sunken Palace”, or Yerebatan Sarnıcı – “Sunken Cistern”)

There always somethings lurking beneath… lurking inside affecting the outside… go find’em… discover… face…

For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating. For this gull, though, it was not eating that mattered, but flight…

Most gulls don’t bother to learn more than the simplest facts of flight – how to get from shore to food and back again. For most gulls, it is not flying that matters, but eating…

I just pressed the shutter on the right moment… just before less than a second when this gull would’ve grasped the bread thrown at it by the passengers at the back of the Kadikoy to Eminonu ferryboat…

The valley spirit dies not, aye the same;
The female mystery thus do we name.
Its gate, from which at first they issued forth,
Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth.
Long and unbroken does its power remain,
Used gently, and without the touch of pain…

Can u believe it…? I found this family in a frozen lake… I have no idea how bubbles can also freeze like that in their natural shape…

80 centimeters exactly…

Independence Monument in Taksim Square, Istanbul, Turkey…

The monument was built by the Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica in 1928. Green and red Italian marble were used in the monument which measures 11 meters in height. On the side facing north towards Harbiye, the Victory of 30 August is commemorated. The representation of Atatürk is based on a photo taken while he was on his way to Kocatepe. On the other side, there is a composition which depicts Atatürk, İsmet İnönü and Fevzi Çakmak accompanied by soldiers and the people. On both sides there are troops with flags in hand that symbolize heroism.

Also called Cumhuriyet Anıtı in Turkish (or The Republic Monument in English) is a notable monument located at Taksim Square in Istanbul, Turkey to commemorate the formation of the Turkish Republic in 1923. Built in two and half years with financial support from the population and unveiled by Dr. Hakkı Şinasi Pasha on August 8, 1928, it was designed by Italian sculptor Pietro Canonica.

The monument was also constructed in order to challenge the taboos that had existed from Ottoman times that restricted the depiction of the human form, this was done in compliance with the Sharia. The 11 m high monument portrays the founders of the Turkish Republic, prominent are depictions of Kemal Atatürk, who commissioned the work, his assistant İsmet İnönü, and Fevzi Çakmak. The monument has two sides, the side facing northward depicts Atatürk at an earlier period and the other one facing Istiklal Caddesi has Atatürk and his comrades dressed in modern, western-European clothing, symbolizing him in both his roles, as military commander-in-chief and as statesman.

Mikhail Frunze, an important leader of the October Revolution, and Kliment Voroshilov, a Marshal of the Soviet Union, are among the group behind Atatürk. Their presence in the monument, ordered by Atatürk, points out to the military aid given by Vladimir Lenin during the Turkish War of Independence in 1920.

Cumhuriyet Anıtı is an important site, where official ceremonies on national holidays are being held.

Cumhuriyet Anıtı

Taksim Square

All of the houses which’ve been carved into this wall have entries from above…  and have a water canalizing system beneath them which the water from the river is running in it…

Only some of the many stories and floors which are vertically connected to each other have windows or openings to the light outside, and the rest are hidden inside the heart of this wall of the valley…

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immature newly-hatched Grasshopper…

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well… wowweee Ooo and hooo… our tiny little friend’s here…

The spirit
of the sage
residing in Stillness
is vast and clear as the heavens.
She may seem empty
but she is
the true mover of things…

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The Yeni Mosque, New Mosque or Mosque of the Valide Sultan (Turkish: ‘Yeni Cami, Yeni Valide Camii‘) is an Ottoman imperial mosque located in the Eminönü district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is situated on the Golden Horn (Haliç or Altın Boynuz) at the southern end of the Galata Bridge. It is one of the best-known sights of Istanbul. The exterior of the mosque itself boasts sixty-six domes and semi domes in a pyramidal arrangement, as well as two minarets. The main dome measures thirty-six meters in height, and is supported by four flanking semi-domes.

It was a peaceful evening, not much crowded with people… just the way I like it… when I shot this one