A Last Stroll - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 470

From the port a cobbled road leads down under the railway line
and through the now almost vanished remnants of the ancient Porta
Kontoscalion. In Turkish times this was known as Kum Kapı, the
Sand Gate, whose name now survives in that of the surrounding
neighbourhood. Up until the beginning of this century one could
still see on the tower to the left of this gate the imperial monogram
and coat of arms of Andronicus II Palaeologus (r. 1282-1328).
A short distance along we come to the picturesque village square of
Kum Kapı. (Another discovery of our strolls is that Istanbul is really
a collection of villages, usually clustering around a mosque or a
market square such as the one we see here.) The square has an old street
fountain in its centre and is surrounded by the stalls and barrows of
a fish and fruit and vegetable market, as well as several excellent fish
restaurants. (Up until the early 1970s one of these restaurants was
called Cansız Balık, the Dead Fish, but its one-eyed Armenian owner
was persuaded that the sign frightened away customers and so he has
changed its name.) When we have had our fill and more we can sit
by the window and watch the infinitely varied procession of local life
passing through this most colourful square. At times like this we feel
that the old town, for all its faults and flaws, has managed to retain
some of the humane qualities of communal life and rich connections
with the past that have been lost in most modern cities. In that mood
we think of our own strolls through Stamboul and of the dear friends
who were our companions here, many of them now departed and
some gone forever. We think too of Evliya Çelebi, who has been our
companion-guide for so long, and wonder what he might say if he
could once again walk through the streets of his beloved town, so
changed but so much the same. Knowing him as we do, we imagine
that he might repeat the words of his contemporary, the historian
Solak Dede, whom Evliya quotes in the Seyahatname: “' Oh, my God,'
said Solak Dede after finishing his Description of Constantinople, 'let
this town flourish till the end of time!'”