Istanbul - Discover Turkey: Experience the Best of Turkey - page 161

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(Independence Ave; ) Beyoğlu's premier boulevard, once called the Grand Rue de Pera, was
renamed İstiklal (Independence) in the early years of the Republic. A long pedestrianised
strip full of shops, cafes, cinemas and cultural centres, it showcases İstanbul's Janus-like
personality, embracing modernity one minute and happily bowing to tradition the next.
At its northern end is the frantically busy square Taksim Meydanı Offline map
Google map ( Kabataş, then funicular to Taksim) , the modern city's symbolic heart. At its
southern end is the relatively tranquil district of Galata, home to crooked cobblestone
lanes and traces of a fortified settlement built by 13th-century Genoese merchants.
Promenading along the length of İstiklal is the most popular activity in town; huge
crowds head here in the early evening and at weekends to browse in boutiques and book-
shops, see exhibitions at galleries, listen to the street buskers, drink coffee in chain cafes
and party in meyhanes (taverns).

If You Like... Byzantine History

With the notable exception of the Aya Sofya, the Byzantines' stamp on the city they
called Constantinople is fainter than the Ottoman mark. However, there are Byzantine
buildings still standing, and remnants of the Bucoleon Palace, Magnaura Palace and
Great Palace of Byzantium are intermittently uncovered. The latter, built by Con-
stantine the Great soon after he founded Constantinople in AD 324, once had hundreds
of buildings, stretching from the Hippodrome to the Aya Sofya and down the slope.
For virtual reconstructions of the city's Byzantine monuments, visit
www.byzantium1200.com .

1 LITTLE AYA SOFYA
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(Küçük Aya Sofya Camii, SS Sergius & Bacchus Church; Küçük Ayasofya Caddesi; Sultanahmet or
Çemberlitaş) Justinian and his wife Theodora built this little church around 530, and it
was converted into a mosque around 1500. It is one of İstanbul's most beautiful Byzan-
tine structures, with fine green and red marble columns. Named after Sergius and Bac-
chus, the patron saints of Christians in the Roman army, it has been known as Küçük
(Little) Aya Sofya for much of its existence.