On the trail of Hungarian memories in Türkiye

If you’re a tourist in Türkiye, and you’re not just interested in the Istanbul bazaar and the Turkish Riviera, you should visit the places with Hungarian heritage. Our editorial team has been to some well-known and less well-known places, so let’s discover Hungarian memories far away from Hungary together.

The relationship between the Hungarian-Turkish people could not have been more complicated throughout history. The common ancestors and the similar sounding words in our languages tell us that the two nations have a long history. Although the two nations settled relatively far apart, they have been in constant contact. After the establishment of the Ottoman Empire and its conquests, some Hungarians regarded Constantinople (now Istanbul) as an enemy, others as a political ally, and this continued until the end of the Sultanate.

Türkiye was one of the first countries to sign a treaty of friendship and cooperation with Hungary in 1923, and the latest relationship, now in its 100th year, has begun, with the centenary to be celebrated in 2024 with a series of major events in the spirit of bilateral cultural cooperation.

As the short introduction shows, there are numerous links between the two nations. The easiest way to get to the Turkish biggest city from Hungary is by plane, either with Turkish Airlines or low-cost flights, so perhaps it makes sense to start your journey here.

Istanbul

Hagia Sophia

Perhaps one of the most famous buildings in Istanbul is the Hagia Sophia, once built as a church and an iconic building of Christianity.

Surprisingly enough, you can see Hungarian candlesticks here, collected as spoils of war after Sultan Suleiman’s entry into Buda. Copies of these can be seen today in the Matthias Church, Budapest.

The Hagia Sophia, now a mosque, fortunately retains some Christian features, including the mosaic of Empress St. Piroska/Irene in the south-east gallery and her sarcophagus at the entrance. Piroska, the daughter of King Saint Ladislaus of Hungary, married the Byzantine Co-Emperor John II Komnenos in 1104 and is the mother of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel Komnenos. Piroska led an exemplary life, helping the poor and living a strong ecclesiastical life, and became a saint of the Orthodox Church under the name of Saint Irene. The mosaic painting in Hagia Sophia is the oldest depiction of a Hungarian woman, making it doubly significant.

Once out of the building and heading towards the Blue Mosque, we can visit the brand new Hagia Sophia History Museum, where we had a fascinating journey thanks to the excellent graphics. It’s definitely worth a visit, instead of the exhibits that many people find boring, you can learn about the history of the temple/mosque over thousands of years on huge projectors.

Zeyrek Mosque (Monastery of the Pantokrator)

St Irene’s alleged sarcophagus is located at the entrance to Hagia Sophia, but historians believe it may have originally stood in the Pantokrator Monastery, which she founded. We can visit the now Molla Zeyrek mosque, built at the initiative of the Hungarian empress between 1118 and 1136, which served as a church, monastery and hospital until 1453. Interestingly, it is the second largest Byzantine building in modern Istanbul after the Hagia Sophia.

Address: Zeyrek, İbadethane Sk. No:2, 34083 Fatih/İstanbul, Turkey

Topkapı Sarayı

The Topkapı Palace, located next to Hagia Sophia, was the residence of the sultans for centuries and is the home of the Istanbul Antiphonal Codex, a codex of hymns for Christian church rites, which was made in Hungary in the 14th century. When Sultan Abdul-Aziz returned most of the Corvinas to Hungary in 1869 and Sultan Abdul-Hamid II in 1877, it was not among them and remained in the library of the Topkapı Sarayı.

The misconceptions about the harem were dispelled by our guide, Acarkan Emrullah, who explained in excellent Hungarian that the Sultan’s mother selected the ladies who would be placed in the harem and also told him who the monarch could spend the night with. They were paid a decent salary; many of them never met the Sultan. Many were even married off to other high-ranking generals, and thus were kept out of the palace.

There was also an arms exhibition in the palace, where Hungarian swords were on display. You can’t miss them, everyone is in awe of them, as their sheer size makes them stand out from the vast collection.

Don’t miss the most spectacular spot in Topkapı Palace: the terrace offers a sensational view of the Istanbul of 20 million people. You can see two of the bridges that connect the two banks of the Bosphorus, cargo ships lined up in the canal and millions of houses.

Monastery of Saint Benoît: Rákóczi, Zrínyi

Resistant to the vicissitudes of history, the monastery has been the burial place of many famous Hungarian fugitives. It was here that Ilona Zrínyi was laid to rest in 1703, and his son, Prince Francis II Rákóczi of Transylvania, in 1735. Currently, only a plaque and altar in the disused chapel commemorate them, as their ashes were repatriated in 1906 and are now buried in the St. Elisabeth Cathedral in Kassa. The memorial is open by appointment only.

Address: No: 11, 34425 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Turkey

Ödön Széchenyi, the father of the Turkish fire brigade

The name of Count István Széchenyi’s son, Ödön Széchenyi, is less known in Hungary, but he is highly respected in Türkiye. Known as the founder of the Turkish fire brigade, the Hungarian man went to Turkey on holiday and offered his services to Sultan Abdul-Aziz following the Great Fire of Istanbul, who accepted. The emperor commissioned him to set up the Istanbul fire brigade. Ödön’s work became such a success story that in 1880, he became the first Christian to be promoted to the rank of pasha.

A special section of The Museum of Firefighting is dedicated to the Hungarian man, and his grave is worshipped every year on the anniversary of its founding.