If you don't like cats then stay away from Istanbul. Istanbul is famous for its street cats. It is said that 'Istanbul's cats belong to no one and belong to everyone'.
The citizens of Istanbul love their cats. It is estimated that there are over 200,000 cats in Istanbul. But, of course, no one will ever know the true number.
People feed them and put up little houses for them in the most unexpected places. Locals carry little bags of dry cat food in their bags to feed them on the streets. Dry cat food is sold in the most unlikely shops-such as electronics stores.
The locals tolerate them lying down and taking a nap on a nice display of towels in a shop. Locals warn you to not to sit on a chair in a cafe because it is covered in cat's hair. You see cats asleep on a post in the middle of a pedestrian plaza or taking a nap beside the very noisy entrance to a subway.
The story goes that the first cats arrived in Istanbul on ships where they were rat catchers. Others say that the Sultans-introduced them and protected them.
I do not know if the cats are in the modern CBD area of the city as I did not visit it but I saw them everywhere I visited.
Here's a small selction of my Istanbul cat photos. I could have taken many more.
And if this story has piqued your interest there is a delightful documentary about the Istanbul cats called simply "Kedi"-which is Turkish for cat. It is on YouTube and also streams on Stan in Australia.
Beautiful photos John! And a lovely foreword to the series They are gorgeous Laura P
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