Eminönü: The Heart of The Walled City of Constantine

Eminönü is a former district of Istanbul in Turkey, now a neighbourhood of Fatih district. This is the heart of the walled city of Constantine, the focus of a history of incredible richness. Eminönü covers the point on which the Byzantine capital was built.

The Galata Bridge crosses the Golden Horn into Eminönü and the mouth of the Bosphorus opens into the Marmara Sea. And up on the hill stands Topkapı Palace, the Blue Mosque (Sultanahmet Camii) and Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya).

Thus Eminönü is the main tourist destination in Istanbul. It was a part of the Fatih district until 1928, which covered the whole peninsular area of old Istanbul within the medieval city walls - that area which was formerly the Byzantine capital Constantinople.

Since the resident population of Eminönü is low today, it rejoined the Fatih district in 2009 as it was used to be until 1928.

Things to see in Eminönü: Eminönü has many historical mosques and buildings, many of Istanbul's best-known landmarks.

Recent development has improved Eminönü greatly and many of its winding streets which can at first seem imposing, have been developed and improved, while Eminönü has started to repair the many mosques.

• Sultanahmet - which contains Topkapı Palace, Aya Sofia, the Blue Mosque and Aya İrini among about a thousand other incredible pieces of architecture;

• Sülaymaniye - the huge mosque complex of Suleyman the Magnificent;

• Yeni Cami (The New Mosque) - the mosque that dominates the waterfront by the Galata Bridge; there is a wide open space in front where people feed the pigeons.

• The Grand Bazaar - as much to look at as to shop in.

• The Spice Bazaar - another Ottoman caravanserai, not as huge as the Grand Bazaar but right on the water, next to Yeni Camii;
• Sokollu Mehmed Pasha Mosque - in Kadırga District (the Byzantine Sophianòn Limin in Greek).

Shopping in Eminönü: The area is heaving with shoppers; especially at weekends people come from all over the city, looking for discount clothing, or plastic accessories, stationery and cheap toys in the streets behind the Spice Bazaar.

You will not find the classy boutiques of the big shopping centres, the clientele in Eminönü is much more traditional and working class.

The narrow climbing street called Mahmutpaşa for example is the place where those of a conservative nature come to buy a coat or a headscarf, or to kit their boys out in the costume they wear on circumcision day. [Thanks Wikipedia.]

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