Istanbul’s Top Sights - Istanbul - page 165

(Divan Yolu Caddesi; Çemberlitaş) Next to the Çemberlitaş tram stop, in a plaza packed
with pigeons, you'll find one of the city's most ancient monuments: a column known as
the Çemberlitaş (Hooped Column) that was erected by Constantine to celebrate the dedic-
ation of Constantinople as capital of the Roman Empire in 330.

The column was placed in what was the grand Forum of Constantine and was topped by
a statue of the great emperor himself in the guise of Apollo. It lost its crowning statue of
Constantine in 1106 and was damaged in the 1779 fire that ravaged the nearby Grand
Bazaar. Recently restored, it is a strange-looking remnant of the city's early Byzantine
past.

Also in this vicinity is the historic Çemberlitaş Hamamı ( CLICK HERE ) .

BEYAZIT MEYDANI
OFFLINE MAP

| SQUARE

(Beyazıt Meydanı; Beyazıt, Beyazıt-Kapalı Çarşı) Beyazıt Meydanı is officially called Hür-
riyet Meydanı (Freedom Square), though everyone knows it simply as Beyazıt. In Byzan-
tine times it was called the Forum of Theodosius. Today the square is home to street
vendors, students from İstanbul University OFFLINE MAP and plenty of pigeons, as well as
a few policemen who like to keep an eye on student activities.

The square is backed by the impressive portal of İstanbul University. After the Con-
quest, Mehmet the Conqueror built his first palace here, a wooden structure called the
Eski Sarayı (Old Seraglio). After Topkapı was built, the Eski Sarayı became home to wo-
men when they were pensioned out of the main palace - this was where valide sultans
came when their sultan sons died and they lost their powerful position as head of the Har-
em. The original building was demolished in the 19th century to make way for a grandi-
ose Ministry of War complex designed by Auguste Bourgeois; this now houses the uni-
versity. The 85m-tall Beyazıt Tower OFFLINE MAP in its grounds sits on top of one of the
seven hills on which Constantine the Great built the city, following the model of Rome.
Commissioned by Mahmut II, the stone tower was designed by Senekerim Balyan and
built in 1828 in the same location as a previous wooden tower. The tower was used by the
İstanbul Fire Department to spot fires until 1993. Both the university and tower are off
limits to travellers.

BEYAZIT MOSQUE
OFFLINE MAP

| MOSQUE

(Beyazıt Camii, Mosque of Sultan Beyazıt II; Beyazıt Meydanı, Beyazıt; Beyazıt-Kapalı Çarşı) The
second imperial mosque built in İstanbul (after the Fatih Camii), Beyazıt Camii was built
between 1501 and 1506 by order of Beyazıt II, son of Mehmet the Conqueror. Architec-