İstanbul Fatih İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı

İstanbul Fatih İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı



Fatih is a district of Istanbul, Turkey, in the old walled city, The name “Fatih” comes from the emperor Fatih Sultan Mehmet, and means in Arabic the ‘conqueror’. The Fatih Mosque built by Mehmet II is here in the district, his resting place is next to the Mosque and is much visited. After the conquest this area of the city quickly became a Turkish neighbourhood, and still today is one of the most (Islamic) conservative areas of Istanbul. Many Turkish people in the ‘Charshamba’ area of Fatih can be seen wearing the traditional baggy ‘shalwar’ trousers and Islamic turban and women dressed in full black gowns as this area is popular with members of the Naqshbandi Sufi order affiliated to a Sheikh, who is known as ‘Mahmud Hoca’. Conservative parties always do well in this area. The area has had a spiritual eminence ever since the city was founded; Constantine’s memorial was here, then a church of Justinian, and then following the Fatih mosque complex came many tombs and mosques built in memory of the Ottoman hierarchy.
The main road which cuts through Fatih is Fevzi Pasa Caddesi, which leads from the Beyazit area up to the walls of the city, a route that has been the main artery of the city since the time of Constantine. To the right (as you come out of the city) is the equally important old Valens aqueduct from the Byzantine era. Add to this the fact that the area is high up and has a commanding view of both the Sea of Marmara and of the Golden Horn, and it is easy to see why the Byzantines built a number of palaces here. And then a crowded city neighbourhood grew around it.
A major church dedicated to the 12 disciples of Jesus was built here but was first destroyed in the 4th Crusade and then subsequently by earthquake damage, and it was on the ruins of the church that the Fatih mosque was built, and around the mosque a large prayer school. Immediately after the conquest groups of Islamic schoolars ahd occupied the major churches of Aya Sofya and the Pantocrator (Zeyrek Camii today) but the Fatih complex was the first purpose built Islamic seminary within the city walls. The building of the mosque complex ensured that the area continued to thrive through the conquest, markets grew up to support the thousands of workers involved in the building and to supply them with materials. Also after the conquest the Edirnekapı gate in the city walls became the major exit to Thrace and this gave a whole new lease of life to the neighbourhoods overlooking the Golden Horn. The Fatih mosque was on the road to Edirnekapı and the Fatih district became the most populous area of the city in early Ottoman times and yet more mosques and markets were built including: Iskender Pasha Mosque, once famous as a centre for the Naqshbandi order in Turkey); Hirka-l-Sharif Mosque, which houses the cloak of the Prophet Muhammad (The Mosque is in common use but the cloak is only on show during Ramadan, the month of fasting); the Jerrahi Tekke; The Sunbul Effendi Tekke and the Ramazan Effendi Tekke both in the Kocamustafapaşa district and Vefa Mosque. The last 4 were named after the founders of various Sufi orders, and Sheik Ebü’l Vefa in particular was of major importance in the city and was very fond of Fatih. Many other mosques, schools, baths and fountains in the area were built by military leaders and officials in the Ottoman court.
From the 18th century onwards the city began to grow outside the walls, and Fatih began to decline, a process accelearated by fire which destroyed whole neighbourhoods of wooden houses, and a major earthquake in 1766, which destroyed the Fatih mosque and many of the surrounding buildings, which were subsequently rebuilt. Fires continued to ravage the old city and the wide roads that run through the area today are a legacy of all that burning.
Today, there are still remnants of the sea walls along the Golden Horn and along the Marmara shore, to give a sense of the shape of old walled city and there are a number of important pieces of architecture in the Fatih district including; the acqueduct across Ataturk Bulvari, the fortress on the city walls at Yedikule, The Byzantine palace of Blahernai, Fethiye Camii, Kariye Camii (the Byzantine church of the Chora) and the Fatih mosque itself.
To the south on a parallel to Fevzi Pasa Caddesi is the tram, which begins at Sirkeci and snakes its way up the hill to Sultan Ahmed past Beyazit and Laleli Mosques and Istanbul University and on to Aksaray. From there the tram goes through Fistikagacı to the south (an area popular with students from Istanbul University of Fatih (roughly between Fatih proper and Koca Mustafa Pasa) to the city walls.It is also in Fatih, where Istanbul’s metro system starts (at Aksaray) and where Istanbul’s central police HQ is (Emniyet), which also issues foreign nationals resident permits or visas.

İstanbul Eyüp İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı

İstanbul Eyüp İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı 

Eyüp is a district of the city of İstanbul, Turkey, up where the Kağıthane and Alibey streams meet at the head of the Golden Horn. Although this area lies outside the city walls, there was always a village here, as the two streams provided plenty of fresh water, and in the Byzantine period there was a church in the village and later a monastery (which was built on the steep hill behind today’s Eyüp Camii). The name Eyüp comes from Abu Ayyub al-Ansari, the companion and standard bearer of the Prophet Muhammad. He came to Istanbul with the Arab army during the first attempted Muslim conquest of the city, died and as his last request was buried there.
His resting place was venerated during Byzantine times but after the Latin rampage through Istanbul in the Fourth Crusade fell into an unkempt state, along with many other Byzantine holy places. Seven centuries later the tomb was re-discovered by Ak Şemsettin the Sheikh of Mehmed II. After the conquest of Constantinople Sultan Mehmet ordered a tomb, or “Türbe”, be constructed over Abu Ayyub’s resting place and a Mosque constructed in his honour. The first major mosque to be built in Istanbul, it was surrounded by the traditional bath, school room and canteen complex, also the first of these to be built in Istanbul. From that point on the area became something of a ‘sacred place’. More mosques, prayer schools, and fountains were built, and as many Ottoman officials wished to be buried at or near the site of Abu Ayyub’s resting place, the cemetery became one of Istanbul’s most desirable final resting places.
The area grew and acquired a great deal of valuable sacred architecture, becoming a place where Dervish Tekkes could be found alongside visitors both Turkish and foreign, who came from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul to the area to enjoy the cooler air and fine view. During the 17th and 18th centuries, Istanbul grew as the fringes of the Ottoman Empire became unsettled and Turkish communities from the Balkans and the Caucasus came to the city. During this period the Eyüp area became incorporated into the city, losing some of its spiritual air as factories were built along the Golden Horn. At the same time the industry and the growing population, as well as the continuing numbers of visitors to the holy places, encouraged the growth of the shopping district around and behind the mosque; fish markets, dairy markets, people selling scriptures and prayer beads and gifts for children were all mixed in together.
From the 19th century onwards, the area took on a more ‘working class’ feel as wealthier residents of Istanbul preferred to buy housing on the Asian side of the city or further along the Bosphorus, since the Golden Horn was becoming increasingly polluted due to the industrial development. The industrial zone expanded as major roads were put through the Eyüp area and the market gardens and flower fields of Alibeyköy ddisappeared. In recent years however, many of the factories have been closed or cleaned up. The district is busy trying to re-create its old image as an area of spiritual calm and relaxation, not only in the mosques and the cemetery, but also on the wooded hill above, where Pierre Loti Kahvesi has a wonderful view over the Golden Horn all the way to Eminönü. The Eyüp Sultan Mosque continues to draw tourists visiting İstanbul, as well as rather larger numbers of Turkish religious pilgrims.

İstanbul Şişli İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı

İstanbul Şişli İlçe İngilizce Tanıtımı

Şişli is a cosmopolitan district of İstanbul, Turkey.It is north of Taksim, an area many consider the entertainment centre of Istanbul. It used to be a center of the elite during the last years of the Ottoman Empire and the early years of the Republic on whom French culture had a great influence. Many of Istanbul’s Armenians live in the Kurtuluş area of Şişli.
Şişli is now a center of trade and shopping. Europe’s largest and the world’s second largest (urban-area) shopping mall, Cevahir Mall, is situated here. It is home to many upmarket shops especially in the Nişantaşı area and İstanbul’s military museum, which houses the cannon used by Sultan Mehmed II in his conquest of Constantinople.Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey, also once lived here. His house, where Atatürk reportedly made his plans for the modern republic, is now a museum.

Eminönü İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı

Eminönü İlçesinin İngilizce Tanıtımı



Eminönü is a district of Istanbul in Turkey, stretching from the mouth of the Bosphorus, where it has ferry crossings to the Asian shore and the Prince’s Islands up the hill to Sultanahmet, the main tourist destination in Istanbul. This is the heart of the walled city of Constantine, the focus of a history of incredible richness, the point where the Golden Horn and the mouth of the Bosphorus open into the Marmara Sea. The Golden Horn was a natural port, particularly the Eminönü/Sirkeci shore, which being on a peninsula was also eminently defensible. It was for this port that İstanbul was built, and from here that İstanbul grew, with the oldest neighbourhoods being the port districts along the Golden Horn. In time the Byzantine port was also occupied by merchants from Genoa and Pisa, who eventually acquired their own wharfs and waterfront districts.
The Golden Horn was still a thriving port in Ottoman times, occupied by importers, warehousemen, sailors and traders of every description, the centre of trade in the city, a labryinth of narrow streets wokshops and markets leading uphill to Topkapi Palace, the Ottoman capital. The district’s name, Eminōnū, also reflects its’ place in history. Translated from Turkish to English it roughly means ‘in front of justice’. Emin meaning ‘justice’, ōnū meaning ‘in front of’. While the exact root of the name is uncertain, some Ottoman historians believe the name was given because the most important Ottoman courts were in the area. To this day many important governmental buildings are found in the neighborhood, including the municipality of Istanbul’s headquarters.

The nature of the palace did of course change in the industrial age; the Galata Bridge was built across the Golden Horn; steamships came, then electricity, then the railway and the Istanbul terminal of the Orient Express was naturally sited at Sirkeci Station. The sea walls still surrounded the city, and the sea gates of the port of Eminonu were the point of entry for goods, and for people.

Following the huge railway station, other grand stone buildings followed in the late Ottoman period, commercial buildings, the central post office among others. And in the early days of the Turkish Republic, Eminönü was renovated extensively; the big square was opened up in front of Yeni Cami (by clearing out the tollbooths at the end of the Galata Bridge); The Spice bazaar was restored; the fish market was cleared off the shore of the Golden Horn and a road opened up to the new bridge at Unkapanı. By the 1950s, the area was continuously clogged up with traffic, which was eased somewhat by the construction of the large coast road around the point and all the way out to Istanbul airport.
Although Istanbul has expanded rapidly to becoming the enormous city we have today, and the centre of the business world is now in huge shiny buildings elsewhere in the city, Eminönü is still buzzing, still has the busiest ferry crossings for the Bosphorus and for the Marmara Sea, still has the only car ferry across the Bosphorus and still has the only mainline railway terminus (where trains can be caught to Eastern Thrace (Trakya) and Europe) Eminönü has many historical mosques and buildings such as the Yeni Mosque, one of Istanbul’s landmarks. Recent development has improved Eminonu greatly and many of its winding streets which can at first seem imposing have been developed and improved.
Sub-districts (semt) of Eminönü include Sirkeci – the waterfront by the railway station where all the ferries dock; Çağloğlu -Istanbul’s Fleet Street – a maze of printers, booksellers and traditionally newspapers; Sultanahmet – which contains Topkapı Palace, Aya Sofia and the Blue Mosque among about a thousand other incredible pieces of architecture; Süleymaniye – the huge mosque complex of Suleyman the Magnificent; Beyazıt -the home of Istanbul University and the far end of the Grand Bazaar; Laleli – buzzing with hotels, bars and people from Eastern Europe buying discount clothing; Kumkapı – the fish market and restaurants about as numerous as the fish themselves.Several public transport lines like buses, tram (known as the “Tramvay” in Istanbul, light metro (Which starts at Aksaray, some distance walk from Eminonu but can be reached by taking the Tramvay to Yusuf Pasa and then changing train (there is no extra cost for changing from tramvay to metro in Istanbul), ferryboat (there are boats to almost all destinations from Eminonu, boats leave to Kadikoy and Uskudar on the Asian side, the Islands, Karakoy, Beykoz, Eyup and Sile) and sea bus have stations here.Meanwhile,Eminonu has started to repair all mosques