Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
by more than two centuries ago, and the Alay Köşkü now looks down
upon a drab and colourless avenue. Nevertheless, the guilds and
professions which Evliya so vividly described are still to be seen in the
various quarters of the town, looking and behaving much as they did
when they passed the Alay Köşkü in the reign of Murat IV.
ZEYNEP SULTAN CAMİİ
Following the Saray wall to the right of the Alay Köşkü we soon come
to Soğuk Çeşme Kapısı, the Gate of the Cold Fountain, which leads
to the public gardens of Topkapı Sarayı and to the Archaeological
Museum. After passing the gate, we continue to follow Alemdar
Caddesi, which now bends to the right, leaving the Saray walls. Just
around the bend, on the right side of the avenue, we come upon
a small baroque mosque, Zeynep Sultan Camii. This mosque was
erected in 1769 by the Princess Zeynep, daughter of Ahmet III, and
is a rather pleasant and original example of Turkish baroque. In form
it is merely a small square room covered by a dome, with a square
projecting apse to the east and a porch with five bays to the west.
The mosque looks rather like a Byzantine church, partly from being
built in courses of stone and brick, but more so because of its very
Byzantine dome, for the cornice of the dome undulates to follow the
extrados of the round-arched windows, a pretty arrangement generally
used in Byzantine churches but hardly ever in Turkish mosques. The
little sibyan mektebi at the corner just beyond the mosque is part of
the foundation and appears to be still in use as a primary school. The
elaborate rococo sebil outside the gate to the mosque garden does
not belong to Zeynep's foundation, but was built by Abdül Hamit I
in 1778 as part of the külliye which we passed earlier. The sebil was
moved here some years ago when the street past Abdül Hamit's türbe
was widened.
TOWARDS HAGHİA SOPHİA
Just beyond Zeynep Sultan Camii and on the same side of the avenue
we see a short stretch of crenellated wall, almost hidden behind an
auto-repair shop; this is all that remains of the apse of the once-
famous church of St. Mary Chalcoprateia. This church, which is
Search WWH ::
Custom Search