Istanbul asv2021-11 img28 Aksaray PVS Mosque

Istanbul asv2021-11 img32 Aksaray PVS Mosque

Aksaray (literally "White Palace" in Turkish) is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

Istanbul Province Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Its population is 8,541 (2022). It is so named because it was founded by migrants from Aksaray in central Turkey, brought here in the 15th century by

Mehmet II Mehmed II (; , ; 30 March 14323 May 1481), commonly known as Mehmed the Conqueror (; ), was twice the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from August 1444 to September 1446 and then later from February 1451 to May 1481. In Mehmed II's first reign, ...

to repopulate the city after its conquest.Mamboury (1953), p. 99 Aksaray is a mainly modern neighbourhood centred on a busy square. It was historically known as ''Bóos'', (

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

: Forum Bovis,

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: ὁ Bοῦς, romanized: o Bous), It has a large population of migrants from the southeast of the country and many restaurants serve the cuisine of

Şanlıurfa Urfa, officially called Şanlıurfa (), is a city in southeastern Turkey and the capital of Şanlıurfa Province. The city was known as Edessa from Hellenistic times and into Christian times. Urfa is situated on a plain about east of the Eup ...

Diyarbakır Diyarbakır is the largest Kurdish-majority city in Turkey. It is the administrative center of Diyarbakır Province. Situated around a high plateau by the banks of the Tigris river on which stands the historic Diyarbakır Fortress, it is ...

and

Hatay Hatay Province (, ) is the southernmost Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey. Its area is , and its population is 1,686,043 (2022). It is situated mostly outside Anatolia, ...

. More recently it has also acquired a large population of Syrian refugees who have introduced their own cuisine to the mix. There are many shops and hotels here. To the east, Aksaray borders the textile-retailing neighbourhood of Laleli while to the west, along Millet Caddesi, lies Çapa. To the south is Yenikapı and to the north

. Busy Vatan Caddesi (AKA Adnan Menderes Bulvarı) runs northwest from Aksaray towards the

City Walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...

, following the route of the lost Lycos river.

Attractions

The Pertevniyal Valide Sultan Mosque stands by the busy road junction near Aksaray tram stop. Squeezed in between Aksaray and Yusufpaşa is the smaller, older and much less conspicuous Murad Pasha Mosque, built in 1473 in the early Ottoman architectural style perfected in

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

. On Aksaray Square the wooden Hindiler (Horhor) Tekkesi has been rebuilt behind an austere stone fountain. The small Camcılar (Glaziers) Mosque is also being rebuilt on the edge of the square. A little way along Vatan Caddesi stands the Fenari İsa Mosque which started life as the early 10th-century Byzantine Church of Constantine Lips. Facing it across the road is the Yavuz Sultan Selim Medrese, a work of

Mimar Sinan Mimar Sinan (; , ; – 17 July 1588) also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, ("Sinan Agha (title), Agha the Grand Architect" or "Grand Sinan") was the chief Ottoman Empire, Ottoman architect, engineer and mathematician for sultans Suleiman ...

dating from 1549 now used as a clinic. Nearby is the tomb of one of Sultan

Selim I Selim I (; ; 10 October 1470 – 22 September 1520), known as Selim the Grim or Selim the Resolute (), was the List of sultans of the Ottoman Empire, sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1512 to 1520. Despite lasting only eight years, his reign is ...

's daughters, Şah-ı Huban, partially hidden by a stone schoolhouse. It, too, was designed by

Transport

Aksaray is the starting point for the M1 line which runs to the Atatürk International Airport, now no longer in use for passenger aircraft. The Otogar stop on the line serves the large inter-city bus terminus at Esenler. Aksaray is also served by the T1 tram line.

Hub for sex trafficking

Aksaray is said to be a hub for the

sex trafficking Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Se ...

of young women from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Some reports in the Turkish media have claimed that the neighbourhood is especially prone to prostitution because it is a "no man's land" between two adjoining police jurisdictions,

Attractions

Transport

Hub for sex trafficking

References

Sources

External links