Lonely Planet İstanbul Guide

Kandilli, is the long white Kıbrıslı (Cypriot) Yalı ( MAP ; Kandilli; g 15, 15E, 15H, 15KÇ, 15M, 15N, 15P, 15ŞN, 15T, 15U from Üsküdar, 14R & 15YK from Kadıköy) , which dates from 1760. Next to the Kıbrıslı are the Büyük Göksu Deresi (Great Heavenly Stream) and Küçük Göksu Deresi (Small Heavenly Stream), two brooks that descend from the Asian hills into the Bosphorus. Between them is a fertile delta, grassy and shady, which the Ottoman elite thought perfect for picnics. Foreign residents referred to it as the Sweet Waters of Asia. If the weather was good, the sultan joined the picnic, and did so in style. Sultan Abdül Mecit’s answer to a simple picnic blanket was Küçüksu Kasrı ( MAP ; % 0216-332 3303; Küçüksu Caddesi, Küçüksu; adult/student/child under 7yr ₺ 5/1/free; h 9am-4.30pm Tue, Wed & Fri-Sun Apr-Oct, to 3.30pm Nov-Mar; g 15, 15E, 15H, 15KÇ, 15M, 15N, 15P, 15ŞN, 15T, 15U from Üsküdar, 14R & 15YK from Kadıköy, f Kabataş) , an ornate hunting lodge built in 1856– 57. Earlier sultans had wooden kiosks here, but architect Nikoğos Balyan designed a rococo gem in marble for his monarch. You’ll see its ornate cast iron fence, boat dock and wedding-cake exterior from the ferry. Close to the Fatih Sultan Mehmet Bridge are the majestic fortress structures of Rumeli Hisarı ( MAP ; Fortress of Europe; % 0212-263 5305; Yahya Kemal Caddesi 42; ₺ 10; h 9am-noon & 12.30-4pm Thu-Tue; g 22 & 25E from Kabataş, 22RE & 40 from Beşiktaş, 40, 40T & 42T from Taksim) and Anadolu Hisarı ( MAP ; Fortress of Anatolia; g 15, 15KÇ & 15ŞN from Üsküdar, 15F from Kadıköy) . Mehmet the Conqueror had Rumeli Hisarı built in a mere four months in 1452, in preparation for his siege of Byzantine Constantinople. For its location, he chose the narrowest point of the Bosphorus, opposite Anadolu Hisarı, which Sultan Beyazıt I had built in 1394. By doing so, Mehmet was able to control all traffic on the strait, cutting the city off from resupply by sea. To speed up Rumeli Hisarı’s completion, Mehmet ordered each of his three viziers to take responsibility for one of the three main towers. If his tower’s construction was not completed on schedule, the vizier would pay with his life. Not surprisingly, the work was completed on time. The useful military life of the mighty fortress lasted less than one year. After the conquest of Constantinople, it was used as a glorified Bosphorus toll booth for a while, then as a barracks, a prison and finally as an open-air theatre.