Around the Blue Mosque - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 117

enter the garden behind the school (the gateman never objects to
visitors). This garden occupies part of the sphendone, the southern,
semicircular end of the Hippodrome. The chief reason for coming
here is the view, which is very fine. The Marmara coast of the city can
be seen in all its extent, from Saray Point to the Marble Tower, where
the land walls meet the Marmara. Looking out across the Marmara
we see the Princes' Isles floating between sea and sky, and beyond
them the mountains of Asia; on a clear day we can see the Bithynian
Olympus (Uludağ) with its snow-capped summit. In the foreground
just below us to the right is the mosque of Sokollu Mehmet Paşa,
and straight ahead by the seashore the former church of SS. Sergius
and Bacchus with its curiously corrugated dome; these are the next
important items on our itinerary. If we look down over the railing, we
see the great supporting wall of the Hippodrome. Within this wall,
under our feet, are various stone chambers and the long spacious
corridor which ran round the whole length of the Hippodrome and
from which doors and staircases led to the various blocks of seats. Part
of this corridor was converted into a cistern in later Byzantine times
and still supplies water to the district below. If we look back in this
direction from the seashore beyond SS. Sergius and Bacchus, we will
see the whole sweep of the great semicircular wall.
We now return to the street outside and follow it downhill to the
second turning on the left, where at the corner we see the remains of
an ancient mosque. This is Helvacı Camii, founded in 1546 by one
Iskender Ağa: it is too ruinous to be of any interest. Farther down
the street to the left is a very odd and interesting tekke, or dervish
monastery. This is part of the külliye of Sokollu Mehmet Paşa Camii
built by the great Sinan, which is just below it. It is rather oddly
designed, but its form is unique because of the steep descent of the
hill on which it is built. We enter by a little domed gatehouse and find
immediately opposite the large and handsome mescit-zaviye , or room
for the dervish ceremonies. On the right is a small porticoed courtyard
with the cells of the dervishes; on the left is another courtyard of
cells, but in this case it is in two storeys because of the diference in
level: one descends to the lower level by a staircase behind the zaviye .
Both courtyards are rather low and dark with square pillars instead