SIRKECI STATION (ISTANBUL)

Historic station re-Orients itself

Photos by Yomiuri Shimbun Photographer Eishi Miyasaka

By Kazuhiro Katayama

Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

Arms stretched and skirts billowing out, six men and women spin and spin and spin like tops, part of a ritualistic prayer they perform three times a week at Istanbul's Sirkeci Station, located in the old heart of a city on the edge of two very different continents.

Tourists come from around the world to see the Whirling Dervishes, watching them intently as the rays of the setting sun pierce through stained glass windows set high in the dome of the station's former entrance hall. Vibrant music and dance really suit the station.

Set to music, the revolving dancing is a form of prayer performed by a mystic Islamic sect known as the Mevlevi order.

"For residents of Istanbul, Sirkeci Station is a very special place. The acoustics are great, and it's wonderful that we can perform our rituals here, too," the group's instrumentalist, Mete Edman, 35, said.

Sirkeci Station was built in 1890 as the terminus for the Orient Express' 3,000-kilometer journey from Paris.

For Istanbul, divided into east and west parts by the Bosporus Strait, the station offered a passage to Europe.

When the express arrived in the metropolitan city carrying aristocratic passengers from London and Paris, a red carpet would be rolled out and the Ottoman Turk's marching band would play, welcoming them to the edge of the European continent.

The Orient Express ended regular services in 1977, but the legendary train continues to make special runs from Paris a few times each year, full of all the necessary pomp.

"We welcome passengers just as we used to. The arrival of the Orient Express is a special day for us, and the station fills with an air of celebration," stationmaster Resat Ozmen said.

Nowadays, most international trains from the city go only as far as eastern Europe. Day-to-day public transportation seems to have been left to buses and streetcars, but that will likely change soon.

An undersea tunnel running beneath the strait is planned, and construction — by a Japanese company — is set to begin next year.

For the first time, the east and west sides of Istanbul will be connected by rail, a journey previously only possible by car or ferry. The new tunnel will also likely lead to a change in the flow of people between the two parts of the city.

Sirkeci Station is to become the terminal on the European side of the tunnel, where a new underground station will be constructed.

This 100-year-old station in a more than 1,000-year-old city is about to experience another turning point in its long life.