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00:00I'm traveling the world, exploring secrets and wonders.
00:07This is really tight.
00:10An adventure by land and sea to the most fascinating places.
00:15This is absolutely incredible.
00:18I've been given special access to significant and surprising treasures.
00:23It's so tiny and absolutely unique.
00:28Buried in ancient sites, extraordinary buildings and glorious works of art.
00:36That help to explain the story of us.
00:40Come with me to discover how the past shapes our lives.
00:45This time, the magnificent Turkish city, Istanbul.
00:51This is a metropolis that is so significant, so strategic.
00:56It became a power base for massively influential world cultures.
01:01From the ancient Romans, to the Byzantines, to the Ottomans, to the Turks.
01:06And a fair few others in between.
01:09Istanbul's story is unique.
01:13It's somewhere to understand history from all points of the compass.
01:19I've been coming here for 30 years and every time I discover something new.
01:25Packed in this great city are treasures that give us brilliant clues to individual lives and imperial power.
01:34But this is a rich story of continuity and collaboration.
01:39This is a city that's a melting pot of aspirations and inspiration.
01:44It's a city that can teach us about the story of the world and about ourselves.
01:55Geography makes history here.
01:59That's the old city ranging across that promontory of lands between the Sea of Marmara and the Bosphorus.
02:05And for centuries it was described as a diamond between emeralds and sapphires.
02:11A city garlanded by waters.
02:15Istanbul is a vital crossroads between the continents of Asia and Europe.
02:20And across the Black Sea to what is now Russia.
02:24Down through the Mediterranean to Africa.
02:32Thank you. Bye.
02:46It's not just a city that's witnessed the rise and fall of civilisations.
02:51It's somewhere that's nourished civilisation itself.
02:58I'm in the heart of Istanbul's old city.
03:01Somewhere that's reinvented itself over the centuries with every wave of culture that's crashed in.
03:07My first treasure is my favourite building on earth.
03:11Hagia Sophia is my favourite building on earth.
03:14It changed architecture forever and it's the home to a rather inspiring story.
03:20It still dominates the skyline of Istanbul today.
03:24Hagia Sophia or Hagia Sophia which means holy wisdom.
03:30Completed in 537 CE, for a thousand years Hagia Sophia was the biggest church in the world.
03:38A beacon for the Byzantine Empire, Christian Eastern Roman Empire,
03:43whose headquarters were in Istanbul, then called Constantinople, for over a millennium.
03:49From the 4th century to the 15th.
03:52It's one of the wonders of the medieval world.
03:55It's one of the wonders of the medieval world.
03:58Created by one of the city's legendary power couples, Justinian and his wife Theodora.
04:04Now Emperor Justinian rose from pretty modest beginnings and Theodora was right at the bottom of the pile.
04:10But they ended up controlling an empire that spanned a million square miles.
04:18The Byzantine Emperor Justinian had been born into a peasant family.
04:22And his wife Theodora was the daughter of a bear keeper.
04:26But there was no holding them back.
04:32They kick-started a series of progressive social reforms and a huge building program to improve the city.
04:39And Hagia Sophia was at its heart.
04:44In 1453 this church, well this whole city, was taken over by the Muslim Ottoman Turk Mehmet II.
04:53Constantinople would become Istanbul and this place would become a mosque as it is again today.
05:14The dome is still one of the biggest in the world.
05:24Surviving over a thousand earthquakes, it was a revolution in architecture.
05:33Hidden columns support the impossibly huge central space.
05:39When it was built, people said the dome was suspended by golden chains from heaven.
05:46It's a place I completely adore.
05:51The interior is decorated with over a thousand years worth of artworks.
05:57Theodora and Justinian left their mark.
06:00That's their initials carved into these capitals.
06:03An incredible statement for a woman at this time.
06:07And their grand project was built in record time.
06:11Just five years, ten months and four days.
06:18Hagia Sophia has secrets.
06:22And I'm granted special permission to enter its upper galleries.
06:27Ramped cobbled paths, built wide enough so high-ranking officials could ascend on horseback, lead to the second floor.
06:38It's great to get access up here because it's not normally open.
06:42But it's actually strangely appropriate because for centuries this was the only place that women could come in the church.
06:53In fact, this was the domain of the Empress herself.
07:01And this is her view from the gallery, still spectacular.
07:08No expense was spared here.
07:10Marble was imported from the eastern deserts of Egypt and the southern shores of Greece.
07:16Tiny islands in the Sea of Marmara.
07:19There was building material from the borders of what is now Syria and Lebanon.
07:23And the whole church was decorated with bronze and silver and gold and precious gems.
07:30All glittering in the light of a thousand lamps.
07:37I think it's Justinian and Theodora saying, look, the meek really can inherit the earth.
07:47This green disc marks the very spot where the Empress herself would have stood.
07:55And being here, isn't it amazing to think that I am physically inhabiting history.
08:01And she would have stood here to look out over the rites and mysteries and sacred rituals in her great church down below.
08:17Don't you think this place just sings of promise and ambition and a world on the cusp of change.
08:27This is Justinian and Theodora determined to impress.
08:46They made another grand impression just outside Hagia Sophia in Constantinople's Hippodrome.
08:53Almost a third of a mile long, this is a worthy playground for the city that also called itself the New Rome.
09:03Which meant there was a senate and a forum and animal hunts and chariot racing.
09:12So you should imagine massive tiered stone benches here that could seat well over 30,000.
09:19And all along the middle, what was basically a grand outdoor museum.
09:23Boasting the best and most beautiful sculptures from across the ancient world, including that obelisk from ancient Egypt.
09:31Now we know that Justinian loved coming here.
09:35And he built himself a special viewing platform, an imperial box called the Cathisma, from which he could watch all the sporting drama down below.
09:45But there was trouble ahead.
09:49And the original wooden church of Hagia Sophia would suffer.
09:56In 532, things turned sour.
09:59The city's population, furious at rising taxes, rioted, baying for blood, torching everything in sight.
10:08Justinian was ready to flee, but Theodora came up with an amazing speech.
10:14She said, OK, you can go. There's money ready and ships waiting.
10:18But I intend to stay an empress.
10:21I say the royal purple makes a good funeral shroud.
10:29In one day, close on 50,000 unarmed rioters were killed.
10:3510% of the city's population.
10:38Constantinople was all but burnt to the ground.
10:41And that earlier wooden Hagia Sophia was one of the casualties.
10:46But Theodora's words had persuaded Justinian to stay.
10:50And the two of them set about rebuilding the city with the new Hagia Sophia, built of stone and brick, their pride and joy.
11:00Just as the showgirl had reinvented herself as an empress, so the mother church had risen from the ashes of conflict.
11:11Hagia Sophia is a treasure because it's an incarnation of the power and ambition of the new Byzantine social order.
11:20A culture that allowed even women like Theodora to achieve greatness.
11:25I'm in Istanbul in Turkey, where for centuries, cultures, religions and civilisations have collided,
11:33creating some of the world's most remarkable wonders.
11:38My next treasure is an incredible feat of engineering that ensured this burgeoning city could survive in good times and in bad.
11:49Constantinople's water system was one of the most sophisticated in the world.
11:55A network of aqueducts, channels and reservoirs that carried water over hundreds of miles.
12:02I'm incredibly lucky to be in Istanbul, when the mother of all historic underground water reservoirs,
12:09the magnificent Basilica Cistern, is being drained of water for restoration.
12:15While it's closed to the public, the conservation team has kindly allowed me to visit.
12:21This is a unique opportunity to explore a world-class engineering marvel without visitors and without water.
12:29I can't believe I've been left.
12:35This underground cistern was built during the reign of Emperor Justinian and his empress, Theodora.
12:43It took 14 years of hard labour to dig out the tonnes of earth and rocks beneath the city.
12:50But it's not just a 100,000 square foot tank.
12:53It's canopied by a fabulous vaulted ceiling, supported by 336 marble columns, each one 27 feet tall.
13:05It is such a remarkable place.
13:10When I first came here, I have to say, over 35 years ago, there was mud right the way up.
13:16I don't know if you can see that brown mark on the columns.
13:19And then there's been water down here, so the water's been drained.
13:22So I'm treading on Byzantine tiles, it's so exciting.
13:25So these are tiles from the 6th century AD.
13:28And you just get a sense of the extraordinary scale of this place.
13:33So you could fit over 30 Olympic-sized swimming pools here,
13:37and it's like the most majestic, extraordinary cathedral of engineering.
13:46Water was scarce here, often brought in through secret passageways,
13:51so the city's population could endure sieges and enemy attack.
13:56For cistern expert Professor Feridun Özgümüş, this is a stellar example.
14:02It's so huge, the scale.
14:04The scale is amazing.
14:05Why is it so exciting? Why do you love it?
14:07Because I've been to this cistern thousands of times,
14:11but today is my first time without the water, and it's more beautiful.
14:15All of the column capitals and the columns themselves were all in the water,
14:19so it was not possible to see the column capitals.
14:22Just to be able to see them like this without the water is amazing.
14:25Yes. I'm very happy.
14:27Really, I'm very happy. I'm taking photographs.
14:31There's very little water here in Constantinople, so where does the water come from?
14:36Water was coming from Thrace, or Thracia in ancient Greek.
14:40How many years' worth of water have you got here?
14:43This would keep the city safe for, what, one year, two years?
14:46Almost two years.
14:49It was a long time for invaders.
14:52When they besieged the city, they couldn't continue.
14:55So those cisterns gave a long life to Constantinople,
15:00and this one, this basilica cistern, is the best example among those underground cisterns.
15:07Beyond useful, it's beautiful.
15:10Built with marble columns and carvings,
15:14recycled from ancient temples and Byzantine palaces.
15:18And with the water drained,
15:20it's a thrilling chance for me to inspect one spectacular feature up close
15:25that I've always found intriguing.
15:28How incredible is this?
15:30So, this is the head of the monstrous Medusa,
15:34the goddess who was so powerful.
15:37Her stare would literally petrify men.
15:40They would turn them to stone.
15:42She had snakes very close to her,
15:45and they would eat them.
15:47So, this is the head of Medusa,
15:49the goddess who was so powerful.
15:51Her stare would literally petrify men.
15:54They would turn them to stone.
15:56She had snakes for hair,
15:57and you can see these incredible serpents crawling round her face.
16:01And it's obviously an older carving that was used from the earlier city.
16:06And there's lots of stories about it.
16:07Some people say that she's had her head turned upside down
16:10to kind of get rid of her pagan power,
16:12or that she's used it in this way
16:14just so that there's a nice, convenient, flat surface to balance this column on.
16:18But I just think there's something else going on.
16:21I think she was thought to be so powerful.
16:25She was being used down here to scare people off,
16:28to say, don't you dare touch our precious water supply.
16:42The Basilica Cistern is a treasure for me
16:45because it celebrates human ingenuity and engineering and resilience,
16:50and simply one of the most beautiful things in life.
16:54It's like water.
17:00With a history reaching back beyond antiquity
17:03and attracting settlers from across continents,
17:05the Basilica Cistern is just one of Istanbul's surprising underground wonders.
17:11Istanbul is a bit like a kind of historical layer cake.
17:15But because it's a thriving modern city too,
17:18there's lots of construction here.
17:20And pretty much every time there's a new development,
17:23an amazing bit of archaeology is discovered.
17:27Beşiktaş, on the European shore of the Bosporus,
17:30is one of Istanbul's oldest districts.
17:34I've got to tip off that there's some incredible stuff coming out of here.
17:37So this is the metro station that's being expanded.
17:44This is looking very promising.
17:49When workers discovered ancient human remains,
17:52they called in a team of archaeologists.
17:55Hi. Is it OK for me to go in?
18:00Yeah, thank you. Thanks.
18:03Thank you. Thank you. Great. Thanks.
18:05And they've invited me to see their work in progress.
18:14Oh, it's huge.
18:16Oh, my goodness.
18:18So you've got Ottoman period stuff at the top,
18:22and then Byzantine, then Roman, then Greek.
18:28Very careful where I tread.
18:30And then Bronze Age, which is extremely exciting
18:34because we've never really understood who the first people were.
18:38It's discoveries like this that are filling in the gaps
18:41about the first settlers of this great city.
18:45These round kirgan burials suggest they were from Central Asia or Thrace.
18:51The people here are totally lovely.
18:53They've invited me up to have a look at some of the other things that they've found.
18:56How amazing.
19:03Oh, my goodness.
19:05Talk about a fine sense.
19:07So these beautiful storage jars, those will be Byzantine.
19:13So the kind of medieval period.
19:16And this is all going to be early Bronze Age and Iron Age.
19:20So back to the time of the cemeteries.
19:23So you have the cremations and then the burials.
19:26OK.
19:28So this is what I've heard about,
19:30that there's this very distinctive marking on the pottery here,
19:34which tells us that the people who were first here
19:39were nomads who travelled down from across the Black Sea,
19:43down through the Balkans, down the Bosporus and into Anatolia.
19:47And it's almost like a mark they left in the clay,
19:50as if it was being stitched, so it's a kind of imprint.
19:55So that tells us that these early inhabitants were those nomads
20:00who came and made their life here.
20:02Ah.
20:04So this is 5,000 years old.
20:10Not too shabby, eh? Not too shabby.
20:18It's meticulous work,
20:20as the team sift through every inch of this ancient site.
20:25And just as I'm about to leave, there's an exciting new find.
20:30The guys on the excavation here just found a coin.
20:33They've just pulled it out and they've let me hold it.
20:38Oh, can I see what it is? It needs cleaning.
20:42The coins mark with the image of Theodora's husband, Emperor Justinian,
20:46a relic of the city's role in a vast network of trade
20:49spanning Europe, Asia and Africa.
20:53Need to tell me, look at that, look at that!
20:55It's treasure coming out of the earth while I'm here.
21:01When boats set sail from the ports here,
21:04sailors would toss gold coins into the sea for good luck.
21:08And because that little Justinian coin was found in a well,
21:11I know it's a bit fanciful, but I would love to think
21:14that somebody had put that in there to bring them joy in their day.
21:18And it has certainly brought me huge joy and a lot of luck
21:22because I'm here on a beautiful archaeological site
21:25and real archaeology is being discovered in front of me. Amazing.
21:31Another truly incredible discovery in 2004
21:35made waves right across the world.
21:39Now, I've seen a lot of treasures in my life,
21:42but this next one just knocks me sideways.
21:46When Asia was being joined to Europe by the Bosporus Tunnel,
21:5040 feet beneath the surface, a thrilling mystery was discovered.
21:57It was the remains of a late Roman harbour, 1,600 years old,
22:02that was the hub of the medieval world.
22:07At Yenikapi, on the European side of the city,
22:11archaeologists discovered the Port of Theodosius.
22:15It boasted an astonishing 37 shipwrecks,
22:19was one of the biggest archaeological digs in the world
22:23and gave startling evidence for the busiest port in the eastern Mediterranean
22:28from the 4th century to the beginning of the 12th.
22:32At Istanbul University's labs, hundreds of fragments of those ships
22:36were preserved in water tanks and scientifically analysed.
22:43Hi. Merhaba. Merhaba.
22:46In charge of the process is Professor Ufuk Kocabas.
22:50Hello, hello. You are very welcome.
22:53Professor, it is such an honour to be in this lab
22:56because this is the most incredible project.
22:59I know it's one of the biggest archaeological projects in the world.
23:02Yes, yes. We found Byzantine harbour and more than 30 shipwrecks,
23:08so it was an amazing excavation.
23:12You've got goldfish in some of the tanks. Why? Why have you got goldfish there?
23:17We are using goldfish against larvae of mosquito.
23:22And first two goldfish belong to my son.
23:27So they're kind of lab assistants and pets here. Exactly.
23:31It will take the team, even with the help of the goldfish,
23:3550 years to work through the archaeological finds.
23:39Tens of thousands of crates' worth from the massive port.
23:45A huge commercial hub and the beating heart of the Byzantine Empire.
23:52Can you just explain to me exactly what it is,
23:55what amazing thing it is that we're looking at here?
23:58These planks belong to a galley, a warship, a small warship.
24:03They are light and fast ships.
24:06But I know you've also found fishing boats and merchant vessels.
24:11I was lucky enough to be there when you were excavating it.
24:16This is a floor timber of the shipwreck.
24:19We finished its conservation with freeze-drying technique.
24:24So if you want, you can hold, you know.
24:29Oh my gosh. Ninth century.
24:31I can't quite believe you're letting me hold this. This is so incredible.
24:35This boat was excavated, packed with amphorae, 50 or so amphorae jars.
24:41Yes, and also we found a brazier, a jug, a casserole bowl,
24:45a beaker, bulk of olive seeds, and also cherry stones inside a reed basket.
24:50It's a real-time capsule.
24:52A reed basket with cherry stones in that those sailors would have been munching on.
24:57I mean, you know, 1,100 years ago.
24:59And you found them. That is just staggering. It's mind-blowing.
25:05Captain most probably liked eating cherry.
25:09Obviously he did. I actually don't want to give it back to you, but I better put it down.
25:15Well, that's an extra special treat. What a treasure of a thing.
25:20And I must ask you, all of these finds are just incredible.
25:24They have amazing details about history that they can share.
25:28But they also do tell us how important Constantinople was at this time.
25:33This is really a city on the move. It's hyper-connected.
25:37In that time, Constantinople was the centre of Mediterranean, most probably centre of the world.
25:44Thank you for your work. Honestly, you're illuminating a whole world.
25:49And I know it's really tricky managing all of this, so it's just splendid.
25:55Thank you, Bethany. Thank you very much.
25:58Some tantalising glimpses of the golden era of this port are now stored at the Saadberg Ghanem Museum.
26:09So these are the kinds of goods and personal possessions that would be traded through the Theodosian harbour
26:15and then used by the inhabitants of Constantinople.
26:19And it is just such a table of treasures, I don't know where to start.
26:24But for instance, you've got an oil lamp.
26:26And if you think of the oil lamps from the classical world,
26:29very typically they were decorated with pagan gods and goddesses.
26:32But because Constantinople is a Christian city, there's a cross on this one.
26:37These beautiful, fabulous ceramics show the influence of the east of the Islamic world.
26:44This one's decorated with a rabbit and a dragon.
26:49And I love this little thing.
26:51It's a kind of little rod that would have held a candle at the end.
26:55And that's very appropriate because contemporaries described Byzantium as being a city of light
27:00with candles and oil lamps burning everywhere.
27:05Intrepid traders would have travelled thousands of miles into the ports of Constantinople
27:11to buy and sell precious goods just like these.
27:15But of all the amazing things here, I've got to say this little tiny one is probably my favourite.
27:22It's a beautiful earring that was possibly lost by a Byzantine woman.
27:27Oh gosh, this is just fantastic.
27:29So this is uber-precious.
27:32So it's decorated with emeralds and rubies and pearls.
27:39And you can just imagine a woman from the period proudly wearing it.
27:44Just being up close to this, it short-circuits you into the life of those women and men from the medieval times.
27:52It's just such a treat.
27:55So many details have been revealed from the digs
27:58that archaeologists have managed to recreate a perfect replica of that merchant ship,
28:05so the bit of wood that I was holding.
28:08And it's really touching being close to it
28:11because you can just imagine those sands of time,
28:14and you can just imagine what it must have looked like.
28:19And it's really touching being close to it
28:22because you can just imagine those sailors cooking their meals,
28:26eating cherries, sailing out across thousands of miles worth of sea.
28:31And it makes you think how brave they were because it's a small boat, this.
28:36But this ship is completely seaworthy,
28:39and in the right conditions, it still sails around the waters across Istanbul.
28:49The new archaeological discoveries here in Istanbul are to be treasured
28:54because they prove that this place has been a lynchpin across cultures
28:58from the ancient to the medieval worlds.
29:01And they also show that as a species, we're driven to connect across land and sea,
29:08to travel, to explore, and to have the opportunity to be part of a wider world.
29:19CONSTANTINOPLE
29:24Strategically positioned at the crossroads between Asia and Europe,
29:28Constantinople, the Queen of Cities, was the ultimate prize for international powers.
29:34After years of circling the city by land and sea,
29:38the Ottoman Turks took Constantinople in 1453.
29:43Islam had arrived.
29:46Great mosques and palaces were raised.
29:51It was the dawn of a new era,
29:55including the creation of an entire world within a world,
30:00a huge citadel protected by three miles of solid stone wall
30:05overlooking the Golden Horn, the Bosphorus, and the Sea of Marmara.
30:17This is the Topkapi Palace.
30:20It was a jewel in the Ottoman Empire
30:22and it still dominates the historic skyline here in Istanbul today.
30:26And it is one of the most magnificent palaces in the world.
30:36This 7,500 square foot palace
30:40was an administrative and artistic central hub of the Ottoman Empire
30:44for close on 400 years.
30:51You can imagine ambassadors approaching this place with real trepidation
30:55because it's where big affairs of state were decided,
30:58including military decisions.
31:00And actually, this whole council hall is designed
31:03to look like a military campaign tent.
31:06The Sultan wasn't actually here in person,
31:09but people were told he was listening in to every decision
31:12through a grill above the hall.
31:25The Sultan was the premier figure of the palace,
31:28supported by his imperial council.
31:34Formal, lavishly decorated, Topkapi was a theatre of power.
31:41It showcased nature, too.
31:43Ottomans welcomed the natural world into their cities.
31:47The palace was home to exotic plants and even a world-famous zoo.
31:55The beautiful gardens of Topkapi
31:57reveal how the famously powerful Ottoman Empire reveled in nature.
32:04The first three courtyards were laid out like walled parks
32:08with animals roaming free.
32:10So here there would have been gazelles and peacocks
32:14and even little tortoises.
32:19Today, the gazelles are long gone,
32:21but the gardens retain a sense of serenity and majesty.
32:27But the palace was also a semi-sacred space,
32:31designed around gardens that represented a kind of earthly paradise
32:36and the bounty and unified cosmology of Allah's creation.
32:43Designed for contemplation,
32:45gardens became a crucial part of Islamic Istanbul.
32:52The Ottomans celebrated their love of the garden in many art forms.
32:59Much Ottoman poetry idolised gardens as a sanctuary
33:03far away from worldly cares.
33:05Where you could live a leisurely life and contemplate the beauty of things.
33:10So there are lines that describe sweet heavenly scents
33:14and crimson roses.
33:16But then there's also a melancholic verse
33:20that says that just like a rose, happiness can never last forever.
33:27The Topkapi Gardens,
33:29an incarnation of some of the ideals of the Ottoman Empire,
33:34became the model for palace grounds and provincial courts all over the empire.
33:40We know that both male and female gardeners worked here,
33:43breeding tulip flowers that were then disseminated right across Europe.
33:49The Ottomans believed that their planting
33:52shouldn't try to better the natural world, but embellish it.
33:57One sultan ordered 50,000 tulip bulbs,
34:01100,000 hyacinth bulbs
34:03and 40 tonnes of rose bushes,
34:06almost certainly for this garden.
34:13But it's not just the flowers that make this place so special.
34:19Geometrical pools, fountains and garden pavilions
34:23adorn what some described as an earthly paradise.
34:43These beautiful isnik tiles are the decoration of choice here at Topkapi.
34:48And of course, they're still absolutely stunning today.
34:52But in their own day, they were revolutionary.
34:55This white glaze was made of quartz, which really shines out.
34:59And there was a kind of secret recipe for the colours,
35:02which is still a mystery today.
35:04But one thing we do know is that it could take up to 70 days
35:09to make a single tile.
35:19Geometric and floral motifs,
35:22rosettes, stylised tulips, roses, carnations and hyacinths
35:27were drawn on paper, perforated by needle and transferred onto the tile.
35:32When the tiles were glazed, the vibrant colours turquoise,
35:36cobalt, malachite and coral emerged.
35:41Their symmetry represents purity, the flowers, fertility.
35:45Some of the very finest isnik tiles ever produced
35:49decorate these fabulous kiosks.
35:52The sultan had this built to commemorate the dead
35:56and it's decorated with reeds and a meadow of blue and white flowers.
36:04Inspired by the opulent tents
36:06Ottoman commanders used on military campaign,
36:09kiosks were installed so the sultan could appreciate
36:12his natural surroundings and to host visiting dignitaries.
36:19This kiosk celebrates victory after a 40-day siege
36:23to capture Baghdad in 1638.
36:37The hall where the imperial princes were circumcised
36:40is also beautifully tiled.
36:44Its sumptuous symmetry, designed to celebrate the sultan's power,
36:49faith and appreciation of nature's purity.
36:54After one circumcision ceremony,
36:56French diplomats reported that the sultan impressed
36:59with birds of prey and lions and giraffes
37:03and even two elephants.
37:12The sultan was also impressed by the beauty
37:15of the palace of the Ottoman Empire.
37:18The palace of the Ottoman Empire
37:20was a place of great importance.
37:29The sultans who established these gardens
37:32described them as a place of beauty and pleasure,
37:35happiness and enjoyment.
37:44The Topkapi Palace, overlooking the sapphires
37:47and the armourer, the Bosphorus and the Golden Horn,
37:51is packed with treasures.
37:54But it's also wonderful because it's a citadel
37:57that celebrates the value of nature.
38:00And even though it was built by mighty Ottoman warriors,
38:04it respects the beauty of the natural world.
38:18My next treasure is a short boat ride away
38:21across the Sea of Marmara.
38:24A string of nine islands, called the Prince's Islands,
38:28because the Byzantine emperors would, on occasion,
38:31exile here princes who threatened their power.
38:35For most, the islands have provided a welcome relief.
38:40The Prince's Islands are where people from Istanbul
38:43would come to escape the heat of the city,
38:46often bringing a picnic.
38:51I'm heading to Bukhara, the Big Island in Turkish,
38:55the largest and most popular of the Prince's Islands.
38:596,000 live here,
39:01with a massive summer population bump to 40,000.
39:06During the 19th century,
39:08it was the place to leave families over the summer
39:11as the money spinners commuted by ferry to Istanbul.
39:15City homes were swapped for fabulous summer houses
39:19called yalis, with gardens overlooking the Marmara Sea.
39:24But before I explore, I'm going to start my day the Ottoman way.
39:29You know how they say you should breakfast like a king?
39:33Well, the Ottomans certainly did that in style,
39:37so this is a really typical Ottoman breakfast.
39:40And it's interesting because you've got influences
39:43that are both local and from far and wide.
39:46So there are dates from Mecca and Medina,
39:49halloumi from Cyprus, borek from across the Black Sea,
39:53and these fantastic little doughnuts that come from the Greek islands.
39:57Probably the most local thing,
39:59possibly the most delicious thing on the table,
40:02too, is this jam.
40:04So jam here is made of plum and lavender and often of rose petals.
40:16Walking down the Bougainvillea-lined streets in dappled light,
40:20there's another rhythm to life here,
40:23a real contrast to the bustle of Istanbul.
40:28Oh, hi again. Hey, Ciao. Nice to see you.
40:31By the 20th century, Bukhara became a luxurious resort.
40:35Celebrities, royalty and politicians,
40:38the likes of Maria Callas, Edward VIII and Wallace Simpson,
40:42and President Ataturk came here to relax in fabulous hotels,
40:46including the splendid Palace Hotel.
40:51A Turkish entrepreneur built the hotel in 1908 for the bourgeoisie.
40:57With its marbled staircases, 30s furniture and fine rooms,
41:02it combines both continental and Turkish styles.
41:06It's a symbol of the multi-ethnic, multi-cultural make-up
41:10of the historic melting pot of Istanbul and her neighbouring islands.
41:16There's a bit of a tradition here to go and buy...
41:19Hi. Merhaba. ..to buy this sorbet.
41:22So this is a family that's been making ice cream here
41:26for at least a century,
41:28and the different brothers sell sorbets on...
41:31Hi. Merhaba. ..on the different islands.
41:34Oh, beautiful.
41:39Every time I come, I try to resist it, and it's impossible.
41:43Amazing.
41:45Thank you. Bye. Take care. Bye. Bye.
41:59One of the world's most famous revolutionaries
42:02also found sanctuary on this island and called it home.
42:07This garden's so overgrown, I can't actually get in,
42:10but I could not walk past and not show you this.
42:13So this is where Trotsky was exiled for four years
42:17after he was forced to leave Russia,
42:19and it's where he wrote his autobiography.
42:21And people described him being here as happy as a child,
42:24and I'm not surprised because he had massive gardens
42:27and a lobster pool and a sea view.
42:29So he might have been exiled,
42:31but this is exile in paradise, isn't it?
42:39The island provided a brief respite for Trotsky
42:42before Stalin's agents eventually caught up with him in Mexico.
42:47And it's not the only ruin on Bucada with an extraordinary history.
42:52Hidden up here in the pine forests right at the top of the island,
42:56there's something really special.
43:02A mysterious building constructed in 1898
43:05by a French Ottoman architect.
43:08It was originally meant to be the Principio Palace,
43:12a kind of super luxury hotel and casino
43:15owned by the same people who owned the Pera Palace in Istanbul,
43:18where Agatha Christie was supposed to be inspired
43:21to write Murder on the Orient Express.
43:24And it is the biggest wooden building in Europe.
43:31But a curious chain of events meant the building
43:34was completely repurposed.
43:38But it wasn't given its gambling licence,
43:41and a wealthy Greek widow, with the help of 146 pieces of gold
43:46donated by the Sultan, took this building over
43:50and turned it into an orphanage.
43:59For over 60 years, this vast space,
44:02all 206 rooms across 200,000 square feet,
44:07with a library, a primary school and vocational workshops,
44:10became home for Greek orphans.
44:13The Sultan donated a daily ration of meat,
44:16the imperial kitchens baked their bread.
44:19A thousand children at a time could be looked after here.
44:22And as the years went on, it wasn't just orphans,
44:25but girls and boys whose parents needed help.
44:28And often they left behind these incredibly touching little remnants,
44:32like this pair of shoes.
44:34There is a kind of haunting beauty to this place, isn't there?
44:38And it also feels very appropriate for an island,
44:41because islands can be places of refuge or sanctuary,
44:45but also of exile.
44:59The Prince's Islands are treasures for me
45:01because they provided a refuge for many,
45:04from the poorest to the richest,
45:07from the princes of the Byzantine Age
45:10to the political refugees of the 20th century.
45:13A place of sanctuary and opportunity,
45:17like Istanbul itself,
45:20a city with a special dynamism
45:22driven by its waterways, seas and rivers,
45:26a city that's witnessed history
45:29and made it one of my favourite places on earth.
45:37To me, Istanbul is cosmopolitan in the true sense of the word.
45:42It's a city for citizens of the world,
45:45somewhere that you can understand history in the round
45:48from all points of the compass.
45:50It's been described as the queen of cities,
45:53the fortunate city, the greatest city on earth,
45:57and right here, right now, who can argue with that?
46:08The Prince's Islands
46:11The Prince's Islands
46:14The Prince's Islands
46:17The Prince's Islands
46:20The Prince's Islands
46:23The Prince's Islands
46:26The Prince's Islands
46:29The Prince's Islands
46:32The Prince's Islands
46:35The Prince's Islands