The Bosphorus - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 446

umbrella pines and cypresses rise up to form a verdant backdrop to the
bay, a green frieze of trees between the blues of sea and sky. Just before
the village we see on the water's edge the old Egyptian Embassy; then,
just past the landing-stage, a little mosque built in 1913 by Kemalettin
Bey, a leader of the neoclassical school of Turkish architecture. Like
most of his buildings it is a little lifeless and dull, although the setting
is quite pretty. The village itself is still attractive, though it is rapidly
being ruined by the proliferation of restaurants, cafés and bars. There
are still a few old wooden houses of the late Ottoman era in the back
streets; the oldest is the Kavafyan Konağı, dated 1751. There is also
a Greek church dedicated to St. Haralambos, dating from the mid-
nineteenth century; in times past this was a dependence of the Iviron
Monastery on Mount Athos in Greece.
BOSPHORUS UNIVERSITY
On the hill between Bebek and Rumeli Hisarı, the next village
along the shore, stand the buildings of Boğaziçi Universitesi, or
Bosphorus University. This Turkish university was established in
1971, occupying the buildings and grounds of the old Robert
College. Robert College, which in its time was the finest institution
of higher learning in Turkey, was founded in 1863 by Cyrus Hamlin,
an American missionary who had baked bread and washed clothes for
Florence Nightingale's hospital in Üsküdar. The College was named
after Christopher Robert, an American philanthropist who provided
the funds to build and run the institution. During the 108 years of its
existence the College had on its staf or itself produced a number of
men of some importance. Several of its professors occupied themselves
with the antiquities of this city, and some of their works have been
much used in the preparation of this guide. The most important of
these were the works of Alexander van Milligen (1840-1915); his
two great books, The Walls of Constantinople and Byzantine Churches
in Constantinople are still the standard works on their subject. Largely
through the munificence of van Milligen, the University has a very
important and extensive library of books about the city, including a
remarkably complete collection of foreign travellers to the Levant in
ancient and rare editions. Graduates of Robert College-Bosphorus