Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Behind the türbe there is a medrese, or theological school, also due
to Abdül Hamit I. The türbe and medrese were part of a külliye built
for that sultan in 1778 by the architect Tahir Ağa. The remainder of
the külliye has since disappeared except for the sebil, which has been
moved to a diferent site.
A short distance beyond the türbe, Hamidiye Caddesi intersects
Ankara Caddesi, a broad avenue which runs uphill. Ankara Caddesi
follows approximately the course of the defence-walls built by
Septimius Severus at the end of the second century A.D., a circuit
of fortifications that extended from the Golden Horn to the Sea
of Marmara along the course of the present avenue, enclosing the
ancient town of Byzantium. Looking to the left at the intersection
we see the recently refurbished Sirkeci Station, the terminus of the
famous Orient Express, which made its first run through to Istanbul
in 1888. There is an antique locomotive dated 1874 on view outside
the station.
We now turn right along Ankara Caddesi and follow it as it winds
uphill. The district through which we are now strolling is the centre
of the publishing world of Istanbul; all of the major newspapers
and magazines have their presses and offices here. here are also a
number of bookshops along the avenue, with one of them built over
a Byzantine basement that can be seen at the back of the store. Ahead
and to the left we see the building that houses the Istanbul Governor's
Office. The view down Hükümet Konağı Sokak past the governor's
office is a good perspective of the west façade of Haghia Sophia.
CAĞALOĞLU HAMAMI
About half a kilometre along, we come on our left to Hilaliahmer
Caddesi. If we follow this for about 100 metres, we see on our left
the entrance to one of the most famous and beautiful public baths
in Istanbul. This is the Cağaloğlu Hamamı, built in 1741 by Sultan
Mahmut I. In Ottoman times the revenues from this bath were used
to pay for the upkeep of the library which Sultan Mahmut built in
Haghia Sophia, an illustration of the interdependence of these old
pious foundations. There are well over a hundred Ottoman hamams
in Istanbul, which tells us something of the important part which
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