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Friday, April 9, 2010

Tulip Time in İstanbul and home..

I am sure most of you associated tulips with Holland. Well, you are rather correct but do you know that those precious bulbs brought to Holland in the 16th century from here. Ottomans started the commercial cultivation of this wonderful flower.

The period between 1718-1730 named as the tulip period in Ottoman history. Tulips became important in arts, folklore and the daily life. This period described in Wikipedia as:

"The name of the period derives from the tulip craze among the Ottoman court society. Cultivating this culturally ambiguous emblem had become a celebrated practice.The tulip period illustrated the conflicts brought by early modern consumer culture and was a shared material symbolism. During this period the elite and high-class society of the Ottoman Period had established an immense fondness for the tulip, which were utilized in various occasions. Tulips defined nobility and privilege, both in terms of goods and leisure time."

For the last 5 years the municipality started a tulip festival to reassociate this delicate flower with İstanbul. In the first 2-3 weeks of April all the parks and the roadsides in the city covered with tulips of all colors.




A big bunch of tulips also found their way to our home. Hera the puppy who likes to eat all the flowers at home is rather indifferent to them. They are probably not taste as good as they look.





First two photos are from the facebook page of İstanbul

23 comments:

  1. Stopping by. Love the tulips and didn't know that info. Thanks

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  2. interesting post....must be a beautiful time of year there. Tulips are so simple and perfect....

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  3. I adore tulips! How wonderful to learn more about their history and origins during the Ottoman Empire - I had always associated them with Holland.

    Our capital city, Ottawa harboured the queen of Holland during the second world war and to show her appreciation the queen gave the City of Ottawa thousands and thousands of tulip bulbs. It is quite a site to see and your photos of Istanbul made me think of what we will be seeing here soon in Ottawa, Canada

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  4. Your home looks so warm and inviting -- I love tulips!

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  5. I remember reading about Turkey being the original source of tulip mania and am so glad to learn your country is celebrating them now with an annual festival. I love the fragrance of tulips, not to mention their waxy, colorful petals.

    P.S. Hi, Hera!!

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  6. I have some tulips in my house right now! They're beautiful. Those pictures are gorgeous and thank you for the interesting info too! Jennifer:)

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  7. I love tulips, so beautiful. In Washington State they have a huge tulip festival where many gather every spring.

    much love

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  8. I love tulips. My husband often gives me tulips, either cut or planted in a pot. I always plant the bulbs in the yard and each year they come up on their own. Lucky me!

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  9. Beautiful tulips. I love the shot of the puppy as well. Pets always seem drawn to snack on flowers, but I don't have the heart to stop them when it's so adorable. lol

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  10. I hail from Holland and of course grew up with tulips and boy they've got a history!

    Yes, they originated in Turkey, and in Holland in the 17th century a Tulip Mania developed with the prices of single bulbs sky rocketing when speculators got into the game of buying and selling.

    This was followed by the Tulip Bubble. Then - as such things to - there was the tulip-stock market crash with people going bankrupt and homeless because of their investments in . . . tulip bulbs!

    I love this story!

    Thanks for the photos!

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  11. its true... you learn something new every day. those are beautiful photos and interesting history
    thank you
    ~laura

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  12. Thank you.
    Nice story and great blog.
    God Bless you!

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  13. HI

    Great pictures - beautiful flowers, adorable pup, nice home. :-) I love Turkey.

    Love Gail
    peace.....

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  14. My congratulations on the blog.

    Greetings from (PASTRY WORLD OF FANTASY

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  15. Very informative and beautiful pictures! Best regards!

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  16. I enjoy the photo of Hera in the tulips. How lovely to see them.

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  17. Hi my friend

    Thanks for visitting my blog. Yours is wonderful. The flowers are so nice, more than in my country. In the next years my husband and I intend to go visitting your beautifull city.

    Kisses

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  18. I've never seen purple tulips; they are stunning. And you're right, I only think of Holland when I think of tulips. Thanks for the bit of history and the new information.

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  19. The colors are so vibrant! Just breathtaking. Interesting history of tulips, one of my favorite flowers.

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  20. That is so interesting. As we're not far from the Netherlands, all of our tullips come from there.
    Lovely pictures, too!

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  21. You have a beautiful house!! I can imagine all the tulips in your city!!! must be so nice to see them every day!!!

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  22. You know I love that little face! The tulips are lovely. What is that crenulated building in the background?

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