'City of Gold' offers mansions, mosques and fabulous Istanbul skyline

 

By Metin Demirsar

 

Uskudar, Istanbul (Dunya) – When ancient traders founded Uskudar, along the Asian shoreline of the Bosphorus in the 7th century B.C., they named their settlement 'Chrysopolis,' 'the City of Gold,' according to some accounts, because of the fabulous homes the rich built in the coastal township.

Now, nearly 2,700 years later, the Istanbul district continues to shine with the homes of the some of Turkey's wealthiest families. The magnificent shoreline yalis, or wooden Ottoman mansions, are among the most expensive properties in the world, some costing as much as $25 million each, according to estimates of real estate agents.

With 33 neighborhoods stretching halfway up the Bosphorus and several kilometers inland, the densely populated Uskudar -- it had 532,182 inhabitants as of December 2011-- continues to charm visitors with its bustling ferry boat landing, busy markets and its shoreline cafes with spectacular views of the Istanbul skyline.

Save for Kiz Kulesi (the Maiden's Tower or Leander's Tower), a lighthouse at the mouth of the Bosphorus now a restaurant-café, no major ancient Byzantine or Roman monuments remain in Uskudar, located at the Sea of Marmara mouth of the Bosphorus on the Asian side of Istanbul.

Instead, the district municipality contains numerous old Ottoman mosques and military schools and barracks.

Uskudar Square, facing the ferry boat landing, has been closed for nearly four years because of construction of Marmaray, a new rail system running under the Bosphorus and linking Asia and Europe. Repair work is also continuing on the magnificent 16th Century Iskele Camii, a stately mosque built on a terrace overlooking the boat landing and the square.

The area behind the square is Uskudar's main shopping district with many shops and restaurants, including Kanaat Lokantasi, one of Istanbul's best eateries serving Ottoman cuisine, including various lamb stews, shish kebabs, olive oil dishes and tasty pastries.

The Yeni Valide Mosque, built in 1710 by Sultan Ahmet III and dedicated to his mother Valide Rabia Gulnus Ummetullah, represents the hub of the town. The open turbe (or tomb) of the Valide (the Sultan's mother) is located at outer precinct of the mosque, along the main street of Uskudar.

 

The winding shoreline road linking the ferryboat landing to the Harem Bus Station and car ferry boat landing has many outdoor cafes and restaurants with great silhouettes of old and new Istanbul, across the busy Bosphorus.  

Fishermen with their rods and reels line the shore in the late afternoons, hauling in horse mackerel, smelts, whiting, and small Blue Fish, as the choppy waves of the seaway slap the embankment.

On the shoreline is the boutique 16th century Semsipasa Mosque, built by the Ottoman architect Sinan for the Vezir (Ottoman Prime Minister) Semsi Pasha.

Halfway along the shoreline road, built on the side of the hill, is a magnificent 19th century red mansion that was once the home of Muharrem Nuri Birgi (1907-1986), a prominent Turkish diplomat who served as Turkey's ambassador to London and NATO and who was one of the organizers of the secretive Bilderberg Conferences. 

The many shoreline cafes and restaurants offer great views of the crowded Bosphorus with gigantic oil tankers and cargo ships passing through and ferryboats and other smaller craft carrying passengers from work in European Istanbul to homes on the Asian shores of the city.