Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Occupying the highest point in the city, the mosque's dome and one slender minaret are
major adornments to the city skyline; they are particularly prominent on the road from
Edirne. Remnants of the
külliye
include a still-functioning
hamam
( Ali Kuşçu Sokak,
Edirnekapı)
on the corner of Ali Kuşçu and Eroğlu Sokaks.
PALACE OF CONSTANTİNE
PORPHYROGENİTUS
OFFLINE MAP
| HISTORIC BUILDING
(Palace of the Sovereign, Tekfur Sarayı; Hoca Çakır Caddesi, Edirnekapı; 31E, 32, 36K 38E from
Eminönü, 87 from Taksim)
Though only a shell these days, the remnants of this Byzantine
palace give a good idea of how it would have looked in its heyday. Built in the late 13th or
early 14th century, the large three-storied structure may have been an annex of the nearby
imperial Palace of Blachernae, of which few traces exist today.
The building's later uses were not so regal: after the Conquest it functioned in turn as a
menagerie for exotic wild animals, a brothel, a poorhouse for destitute Jews and a pottery.
The structure was undergoing restoration works at the time of writing. When these are
completed an entry fee may be levied.
GÜL MOSQUE
(Gül Camii; cnr Gül Camii & Şerefiye Sokaks, Fener; 33ES, 90, 44B, 36C, 399B&C from Eminönü,
55T from Taksim)
This mosque started life as the 11th-century Church of St Theodosia. Le-
gend has it that one day before the Conquest, worshippers filled the church with rose
petals in St Theodosia's honour and prayed for her intervention against the Ottomans.
Their prayers went unanswered, but the invaders renamed the building Gül (Rose)
Mosque after the petals they found on entering.
| MOSQUE
But legends, however evocative, are rarely true. In reality, the building was used as a
shipyard warehouse after the Conquest and wasn't converted into a mosque until the reign
of Beyazıt II (r 1481-1512). The central, extremely high, dome is an Ottoman addition
and the pretty minaret dates from the rule of Selim II (r 1512-20).
CHURCH OF ST STEPHEN
OF THE BULGARS
OFFLINE MAP
| CHURCH
(Sveti Stefan Church; 212-521 1121; Mürsel Paşa Caddesi 85, Fener; 33ES, 90, 44B, 36C, 399B&C
from Eminönü, 55T from Taksim)
These days we're accustomed to kit homes and assemble-
yourself furniture from Ikea, but back in 1871, when this Gothic Revival-style church was
