Eying the Vault

The Ottoman Bank Building - Karakoy 

Transformed into Salt Galata art gallery a few years back, if you still haven’t been to the Ottoman Bank’s building on Karakoy’s Bankalar Caddesi (Banks Avenue) we recommend you do it soon.

 As a part of the gallery, the museum on the lower floor depicts the history of the Ottoman Bank from its start to the end. The museum is unique in housing vaults made by the era’s famous vault-maker Sameul Chatwood. The best part is that visitors get to go inside these vaults and view old Ottoman bills. You can find more information on the museum from here.

 Salt Galata quickly became famous for its temporary exhibitions in contemporary art and we recommend you go pay a visit. The building also houses a restaurant, bookstore and a library. Even the restrooms are result of special design. You can find more details about Salt Galata through this link.

Architect Alexandre Valluary’s design, the building’s construction ended in 1892. While the Ottoman Bank moved to this building from another location, we are choosing to keep this former location a secret for now. We promise that a new post on this topic will come later, and we promise it will be good! Here is a little preview.

Take care of yourselves,

Tracer of Istanbul

Islamic Inventors in Istanbul

Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam - Gulhane

Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam is situated at Has Barns near Topkapi Palace’s wall. Relatively new, the museum opened its gates in 2008.

The museum’s biggest collection consists of replicas based on works done in medicine, astronomy, physics, chemistry and geography fields. The founder of the museum Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin is known for founding an even larger museum of like in Frankfurt in 1980s.  Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam is the result of the Professor’s, Culture Ministry’s, the Governor’s and Istanbul Municipality’s joint initiative.

The museum shines a light on the way in which the Islamic world has contributed to different fields through out history by making discoveries and inventing technologies. The replicas that the museum houses are based on books, illustrations, and projects written and drawn by these scholars. You can get more information about this museum through this link.

To get to Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam just take either the Hagia Sophia Museum or the Sarayburnu entrance to Gulhane Park. 

Take care of yourselves,

Tracer of Istanbul

From Suleiman the Magnificent for his Father

Yavuz Sultan Selim Mosque - Fatih

  

This week we bring you Yavuz Sultan Selim (Selim I) Mosque that Suleiman the Magnificent had it be made for his father.  This mosque is one of the seven “selatin” mosques that were built on the seven hills of Istanbul, and it is on the fifth hill.

Completed in 1529, the architect of the mosque is Acem Ali.  A special shroud from Mecca hangs on the wall facing qibla. Built as a an Ottoman social complex, the mosque grounds additionally housed a mausoleum part, an elementary school and a poorhouse, unfortunately the poorhouse did not make it to modern times. Alongside Yavuz Sultan Selim’s mausoleum, the graves of many famous historical figures reside here: Hanim Sultan’s, Hatice Sultan’s, Hafsa Sultan’s, Sultan Abdulmecit’s and even mausoleums of princes. Another interesting detail on the grounds is the entrance to a cistern through the mosque’s garden. To get more information on the mosque and do a 3D tour click here.

Behind the mosque lays a park that once was used as a cistern. The cistern was built during Byzantine times through the excavation of the ground and covering around the hole with bricks; basically building an underground room The name of the cistern, Aspar Cistern, came from the famous ethnically Goth Byzantine general Aspar and the cistern was built around 450 A.D. Ottomans used the cistern as a vegetable garden and named it Cukurbostan (holegarden). To this day this neighborhood is known as Cukurbostan. You can check out the modern usage of this historical site from here and perhaps try to reimagine what it once used to be.

And if you are wondering about how to get to Yavuz Sultan Selim Mosque, it is located in Fener neighbourhood of Fatih, on the left side of Tabakyunus street. We would also like to remind you that if you choose to reach the Mosque by the shore route you will have to walk up a quite steep hill. 

Take care of yourselves,

Tracer of Istanbul

An Istanbul Nostalgia

Tunel - Beyoglu

Walking down Yuksek Kaldirim hill from the center of social life in 1870s Pera to the heart of finance and commerce Bankalar Caddesi was perhaps easy, but climbing up was an effort. For this reason the French engineer Eugene Henri Gavand designed an elevator inspired railway project “Tunel” (tunnel) and got Sultan Abdulaziz’s permit to build and operate the funicular system for 42 years.

Opened on January 17th, 1875, Tunel is the second oldest metro in the world after the London metro system. The first cars used were open-top, and lack of electricity meant the usage of gas lamps through out the system.

To get to Tunel you can either enter through Beyoglu Tunel square or Karakoy IETT (Istanbul Electricity, Tramway and Tunnel General Management) Building. You can get more information on the Tunel metro here.

It is astonishing that we still get to experience one of the most pleasant journeys available in the city today, and moreover that the metro itself still connects Beyoglu’s social life and Karakoy’s commerce as it did in 1870s. 

Take care of yourselves,

Tracer of Istanbul