Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The first attempt to establish a secular institution of higher learning,
known in Turkish as Darülfunun, was begun during the reign of
Sultan Abdül Mecit I (r. 1839-61), as part of the reform movement
known as the Tanzimat. The Darülfunun, which registered its first
students in 1869, was reorganized in 1900 on the model of European
universities, including faculties of science, medicine and civil law.
After the founding of the Republic of Turkey in 1923 the Darülfunun
was reformed and reorganized to become the University of Istanbul.
It was then installed in its present building, previously the Seraskerat,
or Ministry of War. The main part of the building was constructed by
the French architect Bourgeois in 1866 in the sumptuous stylelessness
then thought appropriate to ministerial edifices; and during the last
two decades or so various wings have been added, equally styleless
but not nearly so sumptuous.
The area on which these central buildings of the University stand
formed part of the site where Mehmet the Conqueror built the Eski
Saray, or Old Seraglio, immediately after the Conquest. Somewhat
later he began to build Topkapı Sarayı on the First Hill and the Eski
Saray was gradually abandoned as the official residence of the sultans.
Some of its various and extensive buildings were used as a place
of claustration for the women of defunct sultans, others as private
palaces of distinguished vezirs; and a large part of its grounds was
appropriated by Süleyman for his great mosque complex. In the end
the whole thing disappeared and has left not a trace behind.
In the courtyard of the university stands the Beyazit Tower, a
characteristic feature of the Stamboul skyline. There had long been
a wooden tower at this point for fire-watchers, but it was not until
1828 that Mahmut II caused the tower to be built. It is some 50
metres high, and its upper platform commands a view of the entire
city if one can obtain permission to enter.
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