Historical Buildings

Maiden’s Tower

The Maiden’s Tower (Turkish: Kız Kulesi), also known as Leander’s Tower (Tower of Leandros) since the medieval Byzantine period, is a tower lying on a small islet located at the southern entrance of the Bosphorus strait 200 m (220 yd) from the coast of Üsküdar in Istanbul, Turkey. After the naval victory at Cyzicus, the ancient Athenian general Alcibiades possibly built a custom station for ships coming from the Black Sea on a small rock in front of Chrysopolis (today’s Üsküdar). In 1110 Byzantine Emperor Alexius Comnenus built a wooden tower protected by a stone wall. From the tower an iron chain stretched across to another tower erected on the European shore, at the quarter of Mangana in Constantinople.

Galata Bridge

Karaköy Bridge—better known by its unofficial name Galata. The oldest recorded bridge over the Golden Horn was built as a simple one in 1453 during the Turkish siege of the city. Galata Bridge at the entrance of the Golden Horn was constructed in 1845 by the mother of Sultan Abdulmecid and used for 18 years. It was known as the Cisr-i Cedid or New Bridge to distinguish it from the earlier bridge further up the Golden Horn, which became known as the Cisr-i Atik or Old Bridge.

Karakoy Tunel

Year 1869 might be considered as a turning point in İstanbul’s public transportation. Because, in this year, concessions for three important aspects of public transportation were granted, which can be called 3 Ts, and their contracts were signed. These 3 Ts are: Train, Tram and Tünel. Their common connotation is that the acceleration and modernization in transportation in the world are applied also in İstanbul. Coincidence aside, granting these three concessions is an indication of the importance given to the modern transportation in those years. With the works started and commissioning new transportation vehicles, İstanbul’s visage has changed and such change affected the social life.

Basilica Cistern

One of the magnificent ancient buildings of İstanbul is the Basilica Cistern located in the southwest of Hagia Sofia. Constructed for Justinianus I, the Byzantium Emperor (527-565), this big underground water reservoir is called as “Yerebatan Cistern” among the public because of the underground marble columns. As there used to be a basilica in the place of the cistern, it is also called Basilica Cistern.

Grand Bazaar

Grand Bazaar, also known as Kapalıçarşı built by Fatih Sultan Mehmet, is a historical shopping square surrounded by shops covered with roofs and domes. The bedrock is the core of the great area, which in the historical name is “Çarşu-yı Kebir”. The first bedestene that was built in 1460 was given the name of Cevahir and this burial was left to Sultan Mehmet the Conqueror to be given to Hagia Sophia. The Sultan then brought various shops and shopping centers to the center of commercial life. The Grand Bazaar, founded in 1461, resembles a massive labyrinth with its aesthetic design. The historic shopping area with 60 streets and over 3600 shops covers a total area of ​​30,700 square meters. Istanbul can be expressed as a point of attraction in both tourism and commercial sense. At the first sight of the plaza exhibiting a complex structure with colored elements on the world, Cevahir Bedesten attracts attention. The bedesten, which is in architectural monumental view, is divided into 15 separate sections. Each episode has an appearance that is covered with a dome in itself. Inside the walls of the walls, small cells bounce. Sandal Bedesteni is surrounded by 50 dome designs. This decorative bedesten is one of the leading examples of Turkish architecture as dome designs. These two important bedesten mentioned are the inner qualities of the bazaar. In the past, two buildings are known for their thick inner iron bases. Traders in iron caskets; capital, savings and jewelery, as well as records and registration documents in LonCard.

German Fountain

Istanbul’s historic peninsula is surely one of Istanbul’s highlights and offers many interesting sights including the city’s landmarks Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. Not far from those imposing structures you can find the German Fountain (Alman Çeşmesi) located at the northern end of the Hippodrome. Together with its magnificent dome it stands as an important symbol of the close relationship between the Ottoman Empire and Germany at the beginning of the 20th century. During that time, Germany increasingly gained political influence in the Middle Eastern sphere, which would last until the Ottoman German alliance in the First World War. The fountain was built in 1898 to remember the visit of the German Emperor Wilhelm II in the same year.

Arasta Bazaar

Located on the Blue Mosque Square in Istanbul, Arasta Bazaar has been one of the most charming shopping centers since it was built by savvy Ottoman officials in 17th century.

As a result of the excavations made in 1930, it was figured out that the bazaar was established upon the old structures which were body of the palace in Byzantine Era.

In Ottoman Age, this historic construction was used by cavalrymen because there were found many various materials for them. Therefore popularly known as Sipahiler (Cavalrymen) Bazaar in that period, market consists of approximately 70 series of shops placed on Torun Street. Although it is smaller than the magnificent Grand Bazaar, this relatively calmy and pretty market contains many kinds of productions attracting people in its shops such as eyeful jewellery, carpets, souvenirs, ceramics, Turkish tiles, apparel and more today.

Spices Bazaar

With its characteristic as a “Double Bazaar”, the Egyptian Bazaar is a structure constructed in traditional Ottoman pattern as a combination of two separate bazaars. With its successive rows of stone and brick in traditional Ottoman pattern, the Egyptian Bazaar was constructed as “L” shaped. The East – West branch of this double bazaar, arising from the “L” shaped architecture, is comparatively longer than the other. In the intersection point where long and short branches come together, there is a praying square covered with cross vault. The arches that supported the vaults were not rested on the walls; but instead bearing legs were utilized for that purpose. And there is a town crier house near the southeastern leg.