Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Edebiyat Müze Kütüphanesi (Alay Köşkü)

The Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Literature Museum Library is a museum library housed in the Alay Köşkü, the Procession Kiosk, which rises at the corner of the outer wall of Topkapı Palace at the Alemdar Caddesi entrance of Gülhane Park. It is the Istanbul branch of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism's network of literature museum libraries and opened on 12 November 2011. The kiosk stands directly opposite the Sublime Porte, the Bab-ı Ali, once the seat of the Ottoman government. History of the kiosk According to Semavi Eyice's entry in the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, a wooden kiosk stood on this corner at the end of the 16th century, and the site is thought to have been designed for a kiosk since the time of Mehmed II. The Alay Köşkü takes its name from its function. From here the sultans watched the processions passing along Divanyolu, the parades of the guilds and the janissaries, and received their salutes. The present building was commissioned by Mahmud II; the date is read by the abjad system as 1810 or 1819-20, and the second date is more widely accepted. Eyice writes that the design was most probably the work of Krikor Amira Balyan of the Balyan family. The kiosk sits on the corner bastion of the wall; inside there is a circular imperial hall, a vestibule and three rooms. The hall is covered by a fluted, onion shaped dome. In the arches of the seven semicircular windows, a fourteen line chronogram by Keçecizade İzzet Molla is written on black marble. The kiosk is reached from the Gülhane Park side by a wide ramp. After the Tanzimat, when processions shifted to other routes, the kiosk lost its function and was used as a telegraph office in 1855. In 1926 it was allocated to the Fine Arts Association on Atatürk's orders; later it became the performance hall of the Eminönü People's House. In 1938 it was attached to the Topkapı Palace Directorate and underwent a thorough restoration. For many years the Kenan Özbel Folk Arts Collection was exhibited here. In 2011 the kiosk was given a new function in keeping with its historic identity and opened as a literature museum library. Collection The library's purpose is to bring writers, publishers, readers and critics together under one roof. According to the Ministry's page, the shelves hold the works of more than 1,000 authors and books on literary theory, more than 7,500 books in all, together with the printed issues of 107 literary magazines. According to the English Wikipedia, separate corners have been arranged for around fifty Istanbul authors. There are special collections belonging to Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar, Yahya Kemal, Orhan Pamuk and Nedim. Letters that Tanpınar wrote to his friends are also on display. Busts of writers such as Nedim, Yahya Kemal Beyatlı, Nazım Hikmet, Necip Fazıl Kısakürek, Aziz Nesin and Orhan Pamuk stand in the halls. The library is not only a place for reading; poetry readings, talks, writing workshops, award ceremonies and temporary exhibitions are held here. The Istanbul talks of the Istanbul Provincial Directorate of Culture and Tourism also take place here. Visiting The library is open on weekdays; check the current working hours on the page of the General Directorate of Libraries and Publications. There is a cafe service for visitors inside the building. When you enter the circular imperial hall, first look at the inscription above the windows and the decoration inside the dome. Then watch the gate of the Bab-ı Ali and Alemdar Caddesi through the windows; the road along which the processions passed lies right below you. The exterior of the kiosk, with its yellow washed upper storey and gilded window grilles above the stone body of the wall, photographs best from Alemdar Caddesi in morning light. Getting there and around The Gülhane stop of the T1 tram is right in front of the kiosk. Sirkeci Station and the Marmaray Sirkeci station are a few minutes' walk away. Gülhane Park, the Istanbul Archaeological Museums and the Tiled Kiosk are neighbours entered through the same gate. Soğukçeşme Sokağı climbs from the other end of the park up to Hagia Sophia. If you leave the library and walk down through the park to Sarayburnu, the road brings you to the front of the Sepetçiler Kasrı.