Every year, the city of Istanbul plants about 3 million tulip bulbs all over the city. The beautiful blossoms have now bloomed in medians, roundabouts and parks. Known as lale to the Turks, the tulip is indigenous to Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan— not Holland as many people think. It is unknown who brought the first bulb over to the West, but this modest flower created an incredible sensation in 17th century Europe.
I hear there has been a tulip festival in Emirgan Park in Istanbul each year since 2006, but I cannot find any information on when it is this year. Tulips are my favourite flowers, so I absolutely must get over to Emirgan.
7 comments:
Love the top picture. Two years ago I visited Amsterdam and brought home 30 different tulip bulbs for my mom´s garden. It was beautiful to watch which kind would grow out of each bulb. My favorites are the parrot tulips.
I love this pictures and remember last week when I spent Monday in Sultanahmet :-)
I bought a beautiful arrangement of orange flowers for an Easter centerpiece including an orange bearded tulip from a florist in Sunset Beach who is originally from Istanbul. A little known fact; The Tulip was a means of currency at one time in Amsterdam! The photos are fantastic, thanks for posting them!
Beautiful! I love the way you capture the City... got to your (well named) Harika site through your work up at 'skineart. The other day (during those 3-4 days before this cold wind came down from the Black Sea) I went walking down from the Üsküdar iskele south to Harem, stopped at the tea places - cushioned steps in front of the Kız Kulesi and a wonderful 180 degree view: open Marmara to the left, Topkapı and the tower before, Bosporus to the right - got out my moleskine to muse a bit and thought of your sketches - I think you would like the view, and I'd enjoy seeing a sketch or photo of it from your hand - but wait 'til it warms back up! Thanks - happy spring!
Thanks everyone :)
Happy Spring!
Gorgeous pictures! Thank you for sharing Istanbul with the world. Also, great to know about the origin of the tulip. Here's an additional bit of trivia about tulips: every year, Holland sends a huge shipment of bulbs to Canada as a thank you our help during the War, so our capital, Ottawa, is gifted a "harika" tulip festival every May when spring finally melts the snow.
Thank you Isabelle— I was not aware of Ottawa's tulip festival! It's such a humble flower, and so loved.
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