Around Beyazit and Sehzadebas - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 191

storage place; but the fabric is in good condition and one may hope
that a more worthy use can be found for it.
As can be seen even from this necessarily inadequate description,
the whole complex of the Şehzade is a triumph, and every one of its
component parts has a brilliance and an interest of its own.
DAR-ÜL HADİS OF DAMAT IBRAHİM PAŞA
Turning back towards the main street we find on the left opposite the
türbe garden a very pretty medrese, with a grand sebil at the corner.
Built by the Grand Vezir Nevşehirli Ibrahim Paşa, son-in-law (damat)
of Ahmet III, it is dated by its inscription to A.H. 1132 (A.D. 1720)
and thus comes just between the end of the classical period and the
beginning of the baroque; it has pleasing characteristics of both. At
the end of the façade stands a large domed chamber surrounded by an
attractive raised portico; the entrance portal is in the centre between
them. The chamber to the left served as the library; that to the right
was the dershane of the Dar-ül Hadis or School of Tradition, which
is what the medrese was. Later the dershane was turned into a mescit,
or small mosque, by the addition of a minaret. The far sides of the
courtyard are partly lined with porticoes with cells beyond them, but
these are irregularly placed after the baroque fashion. The building is
in good condition and part of it is now used as a clinic. Outside, at
the corner, is an extremely handsome sebil, a favourite with painters
and etchers; it was still in use as a fountain up until recent years, but
now it is closed. Behind this is a pretty graveyard in which is buried
the founder of this fine little külliye. Ibrahim Paşa served as Grand
Vezir under Ahmet III from 1718 till 1730, during the golden years
of the Tulip Period. That delightful epoch ended on 20 September
1730, when the Tulip King was deposed and his chief minister,
Ibrahim Paşa, was strangled by the Janissaries.
LIBRARY OF ŞEHİT ALİ PAŞA
We now walk back down Dede Efendi Caddesi, passing on our
right the medrese of Ibrahim Paşa and the mektep and imaret of
the Şehzade külliyesi. On our left we see the Vefa Lisesi, built by
the architect Kemalettin Bey in the 1920s. In its precincts are two