29/10/2025
"It was also this tower that, in 1632, was climbed by an Ottoman polymath, writer and poet, before he leapt into the void — only to soar in the air with a set of wings he had ingeniously designed himself, made of wood, wax and feathers. His name was Hezârfen — the man of a thousand sciences. He is said to have glided with lodos, the region’s famous strong wind, and, accompanied by seagulls, crossed the Bosphorus Strait, journeying from the European side to the Asian side. It must have been an incredible view, the one he saw from above: sacred shrines and springs; houses and hammams mosques, churches and synagogues; wooded hills, narrow boats and a sapphire sea with dolphins. It is just a story, some might say. But stories have always mattered to Istanbulites. The thing is we understand that feeling, the longing and deep pull to cross continents, even against mighty winds and with wings made of sticks. After successfully completing his experiment, the remarkable mind that was Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi was summoned to the palace by Sultan Murad IV. He was applauded and praised, and within the same breath, punished and ostracised. The reason? The ruler did not trust such creativity and inventiveness — imagination was a dangerous thing. Hezârfen was exiled from his beloved city. Istanbul is no stranger to driving away its creative minds — but oddly, sometimes, the opposite is also true. This city has been a sanctuary for artists from various parts of the world. The American author and intellectual James Baldwin arrived here one stormy night in 1961. Demoralised and disillusioned after witnessing his home country being gripped by violence, racism and division, he needed to be elsewhere. Baldwin adored Istanbul’s diverse cultural heritage, serpentine streets, spice markets and second-hand bookshops. “I feel free in Istanbul,” he said to his friend, the great novelist Yaşar Kemal. And he, with his customary wisdom, replied: “That’s because you’re American.”
The author’s ‘dream of a life in words’ came true in the Turkish megacity — and its underbelly captured her heart
