The Evil Eyes of Istanbul

Before we left for Turkey, I knew carpets and Turkish Delight would be popular commodities we’d find in Istanbul. We definitely saw lokum shops everywhere, and by the end of our trip we were expert at dodging the carpet salesmen. But we also found dark blue glass circles with lighter blue and white “eyes” everywhere. Above doors, on buildings, inside establishments.

It wasn’t very long before we learned it was the symbol of the evil eye. People were quick to say things like, “The evil eye keeps the bad spirits away. But I don’t believe in it.”

Alper, one of the front desk personnel at our hotel, explained many people put an evil eye up when they move into a new home, start a new business, etc. He was among the “I don’t put any stock in it” set.

“It’s superstition, a myth, but it also can’t hurt to have one just in case, eh?”

I think that was the prevalent attitude. Because for all those who claimed not to believe in the powers of the evil eye to ward off bad spirits (and I’d say 80% of those we asked about it fell in that group), we sure did find the “charms” (for lack of a better word) all over.

The outside of our hotel. See the evil eye on the window in the upper right?

Close-up of evil eye on the window.

Evil eye on one of the buildings across the street from our hotel.

An evil eye hanging near the stairway inside our hotel's lobby.

A bunch of evil eyes set in the concrete around a street sign. (This was my favorite evil eye find.)

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