Ayvansaray is a picturesque neighbourhood on the

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( tr, Altın Boynuz or ''Haliç''; grc, Χρυσόκερας, ''Chrysókeras''; la, Sinus Ceratinus) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with t ...

in the Fatih district of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, between Balat and

Eyüp Eyüp () or Eyüpsultan is a district of the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The district extends from the Golden Horn all the way to the shore of the Black Sea. Eyüp is also the name of a prominent neighborhood and former village in the district, lo ...

. It lies inside what was the walled city on Constantinople and later of İstanbul and corresponds to the old quarter of

Blachernae Blachernae ( gkm, Βλαχέρναι) was a suburb in the northwestern section of Constantinople, the capital city of the Byzantine Empire. It is the site of a water source and a number of prominent churches were built there, most notably the great ...

(''Vlachérnai'' in

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

). The name Ayvansaray comes from the

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

ایوان‌سرای (

Iwan An iwan ( fa, ایوان , ar, إيوان , also spelled ivan) is a rectangular hall or space, usually vaulted, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open. The formal gateway to the iwan is called , a Persian term for a portal projecting ...

+ Saray) and probably means "Veranda Palace", a name that hearkens back to the Palace of

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

(now lost), which was part of the complex of Blachernae. The Golden Horn ferry stops at Ayvansaray, linking it to

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; w ...

Karaköy Karaköy (), the modern name for the old Galata, is a commercial quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of Bosphorus. Karaköy is one of the oldest an ...

, Kasımpaşa,

Fener Fener (; Greek: Φανάρι, ''Phanári''; in English also: Phanar) is a quarter midway up the Golden Horn in the district of Fatih in Istanbul, Turkey. Its name is a Turkish transliteration of the word "phanarion" (Medieval Greek: Φανάρι ...

, Balat,

Hasköy Hasköy may refer to the following places in Turkey: * Hasköy, Istanbul, a quarter or neighborhood of the district of Beyoğlu in Istanbul * Hasköy, Ardahan, a village in the district of Ardahan, Ardahan Province * Hasköy, Çınar * Hasköy, ...

, Sütlüce and

. The T5 tram also skirts Ayvansaray, linking it to the bus terminal at Alibeyköy (with services to Anatolia) and to Cibali.

Attractions

Ayvansaray has a number of historic monuments including the Palace of the Porphyrogenitus ( Tekfur Palace), the

Mosque A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid, ; literally "place of ritual prostration"), also called masjid, is a place of prayer for Muslims. Mosques are usually covered buildings, but can be any place where prayers ( sujud) are performed, ...

of Atik Mustafa Pasha (once thought to have been the medieval

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

church of Sts Peter and Mark), the Mosque of Kazasker İvaz Efendi and the small church of St. Mary of Blachernae which was built over an ayazma or holy spring. and has a particularly attractive garden. The remains of the great Theodosian Land Walls run down to the Golden Horn, enclosing Ayvansaray behind three huge polygonal towers. Just inside this stretch of the walls is the small cemetery attached to the shrine of Ebu Şeybet-ül Hudri; in it are buried several companions of the Prophet Mohammed as well as Toklu İbrahim Dede who is believed to have taken part in the battle to capture Constantinople from the Byzantines in 1453.

Notes

References

* Neighbourhoods of Fatih Golden Horn Romani communities in Turkey {{Istanbul-geo-stub