From the Galata Bridge to Haghia Sophia - Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City - page 32

thought to date from the middle of the fifth century, was one of the
most venerated in the city, since it possessed as a relic the girdle of
the Blessed Virgin. After the Nika Revolt in the year 532, when the
church of Haghia Sophia was destroyed, St. Mary's served for a time
as the patriarchal cathedral. It was built on the ruins of an ancient
synagogue which since the time of Constantine had been the property
of the Jewish copperworkers, hence the name Chalcoprateia, or the
Copper Market.
The handsome though forbidding building that occupies most of
the opposite side of the avenue here is the Soğuk Kuyu Medresesi.
This theological school was founded in the year 1559 by Cafer Ağa,
Chief White Eunuch in the reign of Süleyman the Magnificent, and
was built by the great Sinan. The hillside slopes quite sharply here,
so Sinan first erected a vaulted substructure to support the medrese
and its courtyard. The entrance to the medrese is approached from
the street running parallel to the west end of Haghia Sophia, where
an alleyway leads down to the inner courtyard of the building. The
student cells of the medrese are arrayed around the courtyard, with
the dershane, or lecture hall, in the large domed chamber to the left
as you enter. The medrese now serves as a bazaar of old Ottoman arts
and crafts, as well as a restaurant serving traditional Turkish food in
a picturesque setting.
Alemdar Caddesi now brings us out into the large square which
occupies the summit of the First Hill. On our left we see the great
edifice of Haghia Sophia, flanked by a wide esplanade shaded with
chestnut and plane-trees. Straight ahead is Sultan Ahmet I Camii,
the famous Blue Mosque, its cascade of domes framed by six slender
minarets. In front of the Blue Mosque is the At Meydanı, the site of
the ancient Hippodrome, three of whose surviving monuments stand
in line in the centre of a park. This is the centre of the ancient city,
and the starting-point for our next five strolls through Stamboul.