Istanbul is a city that has been immortalized through the poems and quotes of many. A city that poets and writers have tried to demystify for centuries. It is also a place that no written word can describe. Istanbul is a city that you fall in love with the first time you visit and you find your utmost joy in the little things it gives you.
My husband and I always get that chilled feeling of happiness whenever we cross the Bosphorus in a ferry, hear the call to prayer, or drink Turkish tea overlooking Sultanahmet Mosque. So, here is a list of mixed quotes and poems of Istanbul to inspire you for your next visit to Turkey.
1_ “I found that the loudest fans in the world are in Istanbul“__Roger Waters
2_ “Istanbul is inspiring because it has its own code of architecture, literature, poetry, music.” __Christian Louboutin
3_ “It was in Cihangir that I first learned Istanbul was not an anonymous multitude of walled-in lives – a jungle of apartments where no one knew who was dead or who was celebrating what – but an archipelago of neighborhoods in which everyone knew each other.”__Orhan Pamuk
4_ Life can’t be all that bad, I’d think from time to time. Whatever happens, I can always take a long walk along the Bosphorus__Orhan Pamuk
5_ “Interestingly, the Istanbul bid did not begin with the Turkish government or the mayor of Istanbul, but by groups of publicly spirited citizens” __Jeremy Isaacs
6_ “If the Earth were a single state, Istanbul would be its capital” __Napoleon Bonaparte
7_ “All other cities are doomed, but I imagine that as long as people exist, Constantinople will exist” __Petrus Gyllius
8_ “Holy Istanbul! Your name is the most enchanting one of all names which enchants me” __Pierre Loti
9_ “Istanbul, a universal beauty where poet and archeologist, diplomat and merchant, princess and sailor, a northerner, and westerner screams with same admiration. The whole world thinks that this city is the most beautiful place on earth” __Edmondo De Amicis
10_ “Either I conquer Istanbul or Istanbul conquers me” __Fatih Sultan Mehmet
11_ “İstanbul is a magical seal which unites Europe and Asia since the ancient times. Without a doubt, Istanbul is certainly the most beautiful place of the world” __Gerard De Nerval
12_ People were right when they say there is no other place on earth as beautiful looking as Istanbul __François-René de Chateaubriand
13_ On the meeting point of two worlds, the ornament of Turkish homeland, the treasure of Turkish history, the city cherished by the Turkish nation, İstanbul, has its place in the hearts of all citizens __Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
14_ “If one had but a single glance to give the world one should gaze on Istanbul”__Alphonse De Lamartine
15_ “Istanbul… The constant beating of the wave of the east against the rock of the west”__Susan Moody
I looked at you from another hill, dear İstanbul!I know you like the back of my hand, and love you dearly.Come, come and sit on my heart´s throne as long as I live
Just to love a district of yours is worth a whole life.
There are many flourishing cities in the world.But you´re the only one who creates enchanting beauty.I say, he who has lived happily, in the longest dream,
Is he who spent his life in you, died in you, and was buried in you.
Yahya Kemal Beyatlı – From Another Hill
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed:At first, there is a gentle breezeAnd the leaves on the treesSoftly sway;Out there, far away,The bells of water-carriers unceasingly ring;
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed;Then suddenly birds fly by,Flocks of birds, high up, with a hue and cry,While the nets are drawn in the fishing groundsAnd a woman’s feet begin to dabble in the water.
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.The Grand Bazaar’s serene and cool,An uproar at the hub of the Market,Mosque yards are full of pigeons.While hammers bang and clang at the docksSpring winds bear the smell of sweat;
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed;Still giddy from the revelries of the past,A seaside mansion with dingy boathouses is fast asleep.Amid the din and drone of southern winds, reposed,
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.A pretty girl walks by on the sidewalk:Four-letter words, whistles, and songs, rude remarks;Something falls out of her hand –It is a rose, I guess.
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.A bird flutters around your skirt;On your brow, is there sweet? Or not? I know.Are your lips wet? Or not? I know.A silver moon rises beyond the pine trees:I can sense it all in your heart’s throbbing.
I am listening to İstanbul, intent, my eyes closed.
Orhan Veli Kanık – I’m Listening to İstanbul
I sat down, another istanbul, i thoughtmore you inside, more with youIts green is more green, its blue is more blue
that, with your hands makes everything more beautiful
Erased all the stars from skyinstead your eyes, i put, your eyesspread your hair over İstanbul
Painted everywhere to the color of your lips
Now istanbul is bright, that shiningyour smell, i made blow from seas
with your beauty i decorated gardens
I made you istanbul, istanbul youin every street i wrote your poem line by line
now, all the parts of this city tells about you
Ahmet Selçuk İlkan
Just say “İstanbul” and I think ofA basket full of reddish-colored grapesOn a fine evening at SehzadebasiA girl walks by, ruthlessly femaleThree candles on top of the basketI would kill myself for her attituteTaste of grape honey on her full lipsDesire filling her from top to toeWillow tree, summer breeze, harvest danceSurely she was born in a wine cellarOn a fine evening at SehzadebasiOnce more the keel of my heartRuns aground on the rocksJust say “İstanbul” and the Grand BazaarComes to mind the Algiers MarchArm in arm with the Ninth SymphonyA perfect bridal suite a splendid dowryOnly the bride and groom missingFor sale cheap cries the auctioneerAnd in the corner a pot-bellied oudBedecked with mother-of-pearl
Tamburi Cemil Bey on old 78s…
Bedri Rahmi Eyüpoğlu
World war years with the beauty of a frightened woman
When the good cheer kept vigil at the Kuzguncuk landingTurned like the pessimistic cadets of kuleli toward sultan reshadAnd no one was there for the last autumnal ferryNo helva vendors from beykoz or phonographs with odeon hornsPouring out songs in an ancient mode only the captain’s cymbals
Alla turca made in yildiz and lifted from the bazaars
İstanbul straits with the sulkiness of a wounded vulture
When monocled german officers argued at kramer’s beerhouseMoltke versus bismarck in their fissured tongueDowning three bitter dark green doubles of pilsen beerTorpedo net heroes rich in numbers as the imperial bandReturn to the galician front under the cold russian rainSwept night and day by long range battery fireRed crescent tents blossoming like wet flowersEnormous flowers of extremely bloodstained white
Back to the galician front the operetta remedy
In ikdam false news of victory on the syrian front
At the ministry of war the commander in chief enver pashaWith colonel suleyman of military secret intelligenceKnows nothing of how time passes until morning worshipIn the unfiltered glass-shattering darkness of a cellarBefore an execution the nervous motions of prayerOf cowardly shadows in bekiraga prisonThe sticky sweat crawling on yakub jemil’s templesThe torn union and progress membership card on the floorThe rattle of a mauser being loaded the order to shoot
The lilacs fade life lightning in the water jug there is no cure
Those world war years with the beauty of a frightened woman
Attila İlhan
I hope you enjoyed reading this collection of poems and quotes about the magical city of Istanbul. If you know any more inspiring quotes or poems and you think it should be added to the list let us know in the comments so we can keep updating this post.
Fatima was born and raised along the foothills of the Atlas mountains in central Morocco, in the heartland of the indigenous Amazigh peoples. She’s an avid reader and Moroccan tea drinker, no surprise. She is an engineer by profession but nowadays spends most of her time traveling and writing about Morocco.
