Istanbul: The city of cats

Istanbul is known as the "City of Cats" and sometimes referred to as "Catstanbul." Hundreds of thousands of cats have roamed the metropolis for millenniums.

A cat sits in front of a window with the dome of a mosque in the background, Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 18, 2017.

The city's streets are lined with food and water bowls and small cat houses placed by residents in a communal effort to look after street cats.

A kitten plays with a feather in a park in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 8, 2018.

In Islam, cats are considered ritually clean animals and the only animal to be permitted to enter the Great Mosque of Mecca. There are many stories in the history books referencing the Prophet Muhammad's love of cats.

A cat walks along the shoreline of the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 8, 2018.

In 2016, a documentary film "Kedi," meaning cat in Turkish, which followed the daily life of a group of cats in the city, grossed more than $4 million at the box office, making it one of the highest-grossing foreign-language films to date.

A cat yawns in the normally crowded but now mostly deserted garden outside Sultan Ahmet or the Blue Mosque hours after the two-day curfew declared by the government to slow the coronavirus spread, in Istanbul, Turkey, April 11, 2020.

As curfews were implemented, the Istanbul municipality sent out workers in protective suits to feed the street cats all around the city.

A worker spreads some kibble at Sultanahmet Square, Istanbul, Turkey, April 9, 2020.

The shenanigans of cats are not limited to the streets of Istanbul, however. Sports events get crashed as well. Here a cat wanders along the touchline during the UEFA Cup Final between Shakhtar Donetsk and Werder Bremen at the Şükrü Saraçoğlu Stadium, Istanbul, Turkey, May 20, 2009.

This was not the first and probably won't be the last of such appearances at sporting events – or any other event for that matter.

A cat enters the field of play during the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 Second Leg match between Beşiktaş and Bayern Munchen at Vodafone Park, Istanbul, Turkey, March 14, 2018.

With so many cats there are bound to be popular ones as well. Gli, the cat of the Hagia Sophia Mosque was one of them. It died recently.

A man holds a book as Gli the cat passes by the table and the chair Pope Francis used to write his message after visiting Hagia Sofia, Nov. 29, 2014.

A cat sleeps at the entrance to an apartment building in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 8, 2018.

As public transportation lies deserted during a 48-hour curfew to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, the cats take over the city, which already belongs to them.

A stray cat sits in Taksim metro station in Istanbul, Turkey, April 18, 2020.

Ayşe Şelta, 60, takes care of cats and puts food out for them in the courtyard of the Fatih Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, April 8, 2020.

A cat is seen in an empty street in the usually busy Eminönü district of Istanbul, Turkey, April 1, 2020.

Backdropped by the iconic Sultan Ahmet Mosque, better known as the Blue Mosque, a cat lies on the deserted plaza in Istanbul, Turkey, April 24, 2020, during the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

A street cat sits on a table sealed off from customers at Istanbul's famous Pierre Loti cafe in Istanbul, Turkey, March 28, 2020.

A cat sits in Maçka Park in Istanbul, Turkey, May 20, 2020.

A street cat walks past chairs and tables sealed off to customers at Istanbul's famous Pierre Loti cafe in Istanbul, Turkey, March 28, 2020.

Cats roam around the empty Maçka Park in Istanbul, Turkey, May 20, 2020.

A cat looks out from an electronics store in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 7, 2018.

A cat waits to enter a shop in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 7, 2018.

A cat rests on books at a bookstore in central Istanbul, Turkey, Dec. 25, 2018.

A cat sits in front of a shop window as the store owner restocks the shelves in Istanbul's famous Grand Bazaar after it reopened after being closed for weeks due to the spread of the coronavirus, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 1, 2020.

A stray cat sits on a chair at a Starbucks store in Istanbul, Turkey, March 14, 2017.

A group of kittens plays on the porch of a restaurant located in the Sultanahmet district of Istanbul, Turkey, Oct. 5, 2012.

A stray cat eats on a doorstep in Istanbul, Turkey, March 14, 2017.

Two stray cats fight on a doorstep in Istanbul, Turkey, March 14, 2017.

A cat looks out from a store as people walk along Istiklal Avenue in Istanbul, Turkey, March 13, 2017.

A cat sits next to fish caught from the Bosporus in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 7, 2018.

A cat is seen inside the historic Vezir Han in Istanbul, Turkey, May 10, 2017.

A cat looks out over a street in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 6, 2018.

A cat sleeps in a cat house in a park on Aug. 8, 2018 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Kittens rest in a cat house on the street on Aug. 7, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat plays on a car on Oct. 28, 2015, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat rests on a moped on Aug. 6, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat sits next to a cup of milk at a local bar on Dec. 27, 2015, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat is seen in front of a street art mural on Jan. 29, 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat sits next to an Ottoman bust in a park on Feb. 13, 2016, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A young girl feeds a group of kittens in the courtyard of a mosque in Istanbul, Turkey, Friday, Aug. 20, 2010.

A cat lays on top of a display in front of a book store in Istanbul, Turkey, Aug. 18, 2010.

Selma, the turtle grabs the attention of a stray cat, while on her daily walk out, near Taksim square, in Istanbul, Turkey, June 12, 2013.

A cat rests in front of a toy shop on Aug. 6, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat sits at a coffee shop in Istanbul's Cihangir neighborhood, April 4, 2019.

Cats wait for fishermen to feed them their catch on Aug. 7, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Cats gather in the street on Aug. 7, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat yawns on a box on Aug. 7, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat sleeps outside a luxury clothing store on Aug. 8, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

People pass by as a cat sleeps at a train station on Aug. 7, 2018, in Istanbul, Turkey.

A cat sits amongst grave stones in the Eyüp cemetery on March 16, 2017, in Istanbul, Turkey.

Some orange tabbies lay in a park on June 23, 2017, in Istanbul, Turkey.