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. Eminönü is the PALACE where Istanbul starts. It is called as the historical peninsula that covers acropolis.
Although the capital of Turkey moved to Ankara in 1920s, Istanbul has expanded to become an enormous city with the centre of business in huge shiny buildings elsewhere, Eminönü is still buzzing with very many activities. It has the busiest ferry crossings for the Bosphorus and for the Marmara Sea, the only car ferry across the Bosphorus and the mainline railway terminal on the European part of the city that welcomes trains from Europe. It was also the terminal station of the legendary train ‘Orient Express’.
People keep streaming into the area on boats, buses, trains and metro. During the daytime the area is packed with merchants and their customers, hordes of shoppers and many tourists. Add to this a number of key government buildings including the governor's office and the main campus of Istanbul University in Beyazıt. Every day roughly three million people work in or pass through Eminönü.
First thing to remember is Yeni Camii (New Mosque) when mention about Eminönü. The construction begun by Valide Safiye, mother of Sultan Mehmet III, in 1597, the mosque was designed by the architect Davud Aga, apprentice of the Great Architect Mimar Sinan. Construction initially dragged on for several decades due to water seeping and funding problems, then stopped completely when the sultan died - Safiye was no longer the Queen Mother so she no longer had the revenues or power to support the project. The mosque was completed by another queen mother, Valide Sultan Turhan Hatice, mother of Mehmet IV in 1663.
It calls New Mosque because it built after Suleymaniye and Sultan Ahmet Mosque (Blue Mosque) and it becomes third biggest mosque in the city. It is also as classical example of Ottoman architectural style and has many dominantly blue colored tiles just like the Blue Mosque.
What makes crowded the district Eminonu is the Spice Bazaar and Hans (large commercial buildings dating from the Ottoman times) and also other bazaar looking shopping facilities such as food, clothes, jewel, electronics etc. nearby the Spice Bazaar.
Practical Information
*Eminonu tram stop is just in center of the square,
*It becomes really crowded during the rush hours and weekends. |
