Strolling Through Istanbul: The Classic Guide to the City (28 page)

Just beyond the Büyük Yeni Han is a much smaller one of about the same date. This is the Küçük Yeni Han, or the Small New Han, also a construction of Sultan Mustafa III. If you look up at this point you will see the most curiously-situated mosque in the city, perched on the roof of the han. This strange little mosque, which bears Sultan Mustafa’s name, has an almost Byzantine-looking dome and a pretty minaret. It is much frequented by the merchants and workers in the market district.

BÜYÜK VAL
İ
DE HANI

A little farther up Çakmakç
ı
lar Yoku
ş
u and on the opposite side, we come to the entrance to the grandest and most interesting of all the hans in the city, the Büyük Valide Han
ı
. This han was built by the Valide Sultan Kösem, mother of sultans Murat IV and Ibrahim, shortly before her death in 1651, apparently on the site of an older palace founded by Cerrah Mehmet Pa
ş
a. We enter through a great gateway into the first courtyard, small and irregularly shaped because of the alignment of the han relative to the street outside. From there we pass into the main court, a vast area 55 metres square surrounded by a double-tiered arcade, the innumerable chambers of which are now given over to every conceivable form of industry and commerce. Although the entire han is now in a state of appalling squalor and dilapidation, it is nonetheless still impressive and extremely colourful.

A vaulted tunnel leads from a corner of the main court into the inner court, which because of the lay of the land is set at a lower level than the rest of the han. This court now houses a weaving-mill. At the back of this courtyard we see the remains of a Byzantine tower which is built into the structure of the han. This has traditionally been called the Tower of Eirene and is thought to date from the middle Byzantine period, but the evidence for this is very uncertain. This tower appears as a prominent feature of the city skyline in the drawing made by Melchior Lorichs in 1559, where it is shown much taller than it is at present. The lower room of the tower is part of the weaving mill which occupies this part of the han, while the upper room is fitted out as a mosque, with a pretty ribbed dome; the mosque is now disaffected and serves as a storage room.

It was in this han, or rather in the palace which preceded it on the same site, that was established one of the first printing presses in the city. This was set up in 1567 by one Apkar from Sivas, who went to Venice to procure type in the Armenian script. This was not
the
first printing press in the city, however, for the local Jews had a press as early as 1494, the Greeks not till 1624, the Turks only in 1727, although books in Turkish had been printed long before this time in western Europe.

At a corner of the inner courtyard, an archway gives exit to an open area outside the han. Just opposite we see the large mosque of Ibrahim Pa
ş
a, one of the most ancient in the city. This mosque was founded in 1478 by Çandarl
ı
Ibrahim Pa
ş
a, Grand Vezir under Sultan Beyazit II, who died during the siege of Lepanto in 1499. The mosque was in ruins for many years and was restored in the early 1970s; however, the restoration has wantonly destroyed all that was original in the structure and it is now hardly worth even passing mention.

We now follow the path which leads off to the left between the han and the mosque and soon find ourselves on another bustling market street, Uzun Çar
ş
ı
Caddesi, or the Avenue of the Long Market. This follows the course of the Byzantine street called Makros Embolos which led from the Forum of Constantine to the Golden Horn, down the valley between the Second and Third Hills. The Greek name means Great Colonnade and the street was indeed lined with columned porticoes on both sides. But today the street is mean and squalid, although always crowded and picturesque. For this is the site of the Secondhand Clothing Bazaar, where the poor of the city sell one another clothes. It is said that, if you are clever enough, you can stroll through this bazaar, sell all the clothes you are wearing, and buy them back farther down the street at a small profit.

As we walk down Uzun Çar
ş
ı
Caddesi, we might take a short detour along the first street on our right, Riza Pa
ş
a Yoku
ş
u. A short way down this street on the right side we come to a handsome nineteenth-century building which houses the Redhouse Press, undoubtedly the oldest established publishing house in Istanbul. Originally founded in Malta by Daniel Temple in 1822, it set up shop in Istanbul 30 years later and moved into its present quarters in 1872. The Press is named after Sir James Redhouse, whose pioneering Turkish-English dictionary was first printed here in the years 1880–90; the most recent edition of this monumental work was published by the Redhouse Press in 1983. The first edition of this guide was published here in 1972.

Returning to Uzun Çar
ş
ı
Caddesi, we continue on downhill. At the first turning on the right we see one of the several insignificant but very ancient mosques which are found in this area, Yava
ş
ça
Ş
ahin Camii. Yava
ş
ça
Ş
ahin was a captain in the fleet of Sultan Mehmet II at the time of the Conquest; he built this mosque soon afterwards, though the exact date is unknown. It was badly damaged in the fire of 1908 but was well restored in 1950. It is one of a small group of early mosques that form a distinct type, in which the front porch has only two domes, and the entrance portal is consequently shifted off centre under the south dome. Within, a square chamber with a blind dome resting on an octagonal drum is supported by a series of triangles, making a 16-sided base. It is an odd type but not unattractive; unfortunately in this case the porch was not restored because of the impertinent intrusion of a shop.

SAMANVEREN CAM
İİ

Just opposite Yava
ş
ça
Ş
ahin Camii, a street called A
ğ
ı
zl
ı
kç
ı
ğ
ı
Soka
ğ
ı
leads steeply uphill. At the first corner on the left is a very ruined but ancient mosque called Samanveren Camii which was founded by a certain Sinan A
ğ
a, an inspector of straw (hence the mosque’s name) in the time of the Conqueror. Though once in a very advanced state of decay, the mosque has been restored. It is a quaint and interesting building of brick and stone construction; what is left of the original minaret has some curious leaf-like decorations in brick. The mosque itself was on the first floor and it was entered by a staircase which has now disappeared; a little courtyard led to the prayer-room which was covered by a wooden roof.

Across from Samanveren Camii, a street with the picturesque name of Devo
ğ
lu (Son of the Giant) rambles downhill to the north; if we take the second turning on the left we come to another ancient Ottoman building. This is the medrese of Siyavu
ş
Pa
ş
a, wedged in an angle of the hill above and very irregular in structure. Round about are the cells of the medrese, most of them with their domes more or less intact, though the colonnade in front of them, if there ever was one, has wholly disappeared. The dershane, unusually, is in a corner immediately to the right of the once-handsome entrance portal. This medrese was constructed some time before his death in 1601 by Siyavu
ş
Pa
ş
a, brother-in-law of Murat III and three times his Grand Vezir. It is incredible to think that his magnificent palace, built by Sinan, was in this immediate neighbourhood, now a run-down market and industrial quarter.

Returning to the Street of the Giants Son, we continue on downhill until we come to another ancient mosque. This is Timurta
ş
Camii, which has now been completely restored. It is very like Samanveren Camii; thus it is built over a vaulted ground floor and is of the same brick and stone construction, with a large wooden porch. Its minaret is unusual; instead of having a balcony, it is entirely enclosed and four small grilled openings are left towards the top through which the müezzin calls to prayer. It is thought that Samanveren Camii originally had the same type of minaret: they seem to be almost twin mosques. The exact date of neither is known, but both belong to the age of Fatih.

TAHTAKALE HAMAMI

If we now turn right along Kantarcilar Caddesi, we immediately see an enormous double bath, Tahtakale Hamam
ı
, which also belongs to the age of Fatih. The hamam was for many years years used as an ice plant and cold storage warehouse, but recently it has been restored and converted into a shopping mall. The camekân, which from its great size must have been very impressive, is almost square in plan, 16.70 by 16.25 metres, covered by a huge dome on a low drum. The hararet is also large and has a high dome.