Walls and Market Gardens on the Marmara Shore, from Kumkapı to Yedikule

Kumkapı carries the name of one of the gates in the Marmara walls; according to Wikipedia it is the fifth gate on the shore as you go from Yedikule towards Ahırkapı. Its Byzantine name was Kontoskalion, the small harbour. The article on Eremya Çelebi notes that the harbour here was rebuilt in 1263 under Michael VIII Palaiologos, and that Kumkapı was one of the most densely populated parts of the city. After the conquest it remained a crowded quarter by the shore; the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam records that the Kumkapı mosque of Karamani Mehmed Paşa, a vizier of Mehmed the Conqueror, was built in 1465.

Wikipedia counts it among Istanbul's quarters famous for their fishermen, and Kumkapı keeps that identity today. The Kumkapı fish market beside the coastal road ended up inside the Eurasia Tunnel construction site and was rebuilt by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality. According to the municipality's opening report, the number of shops was kept the same and 25 fishmongers were resettled as before. The fishing season runs from September to May, but thanks to line fishing the market is open all year. The wholesale fish hall that used to stand next to it moved to Gürpınar in Büyükçekmece.

Come early in the morning to look at the day's catch on the stalls and ask the sellers which fish is in season; a good traveller asks about the season rather than the price. It is good practice to ask before photographing people at work. After the market, follow the coastal road west. It runs in front of the walls, and as you walk you will see stretches of towers and wall. It is about three kilometres on foot to Samatya.

Source: Wikipedia; Yalova Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi (Kazancıoğlu); TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi; İBB Tarım ve Su Ürünleri Müdürlüğü.

Samatya's name comes from the Greek Psamathion, meaning sandy; Wikipedia suggests the quarter may owe it to the sandy soil that was once plentiful here. The Samatya Gate on the shore also had a landing stage. According to the article on 17th-century sources, there were houses with gardens around the gate, and it lay on one of the city's main roads. For many centuries the quarter was home to different communities living together; until fairly recently many Istanbulites of Armenian origin also lived here.

Today the heart of Samatya is the historic market and square just behind the railway line. Fishmongers are the most visible face of the quarter, and because it has kept much of its historic fabric it is a favourite location for television and film. The series İkinci Bahar and Nuri Bilge Ceylan's film Three Monkeys were shot here. Every year the square hosts the Istanbul Fish Festival organised by the Şehristanbul Association, when cooked fish is handed out to the public and various events are held.

Do not rush here. After the long walk along the shore from Kumkapı, stop for a glass of tea on the square and look at the shops of the market and the side streets. A quiet weekday morning and the crowds of festival day feel very different, so choose your day according to what you want. From the square walk north to the Koca Mustafa Paşa Mosque. It is a few hundred metres away and the road climbs gently.

Source: Wikipedia; Yalova Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi (Kazancıoğlu).

The Koca Mustafa Paşa Mosque is the centre of the complex that gave the quarter its name, and it is also popularly called the Sümbül Efendi Mosque; the tomb of Sümbül Efendi stands in the courtyard. The building dates from the Byzantine period and was converted into a mosque in 1486 by Koca Mustafa Paşa, grand vizier of Bayezid II. The Arabic inscription over one of the doors of the portico gives the date 891 (1486), and the inscription over the other names Bayezid II.

The TDV Encyclopedia of Islam article explains why the conversion is so interesting architecturally. To turn the mihrab towards Mecca, the Ottoman architect did not force the building into a skewed plan; instead he set a new axis at right angles to the old one and turned the building into a wide mosque oriented north to south. Two half domes with windows were built over the side passages, the walls were wrapped in an outer stone skin, and a five-domed portico on six columns was added to the north. The article also notes that, since it predates the Bayezid Mosque, it can be seen as the forerunner of this plan type.

Look for three things in the courtyard. The octagonal base of the minaret, with twisted colonnettes and niches, has decoration that according to TDV is unmatched in elegance among Istanbul minarets. In the middle of the courtyard stands the column-shaped fountain set up in 1737 by Beşir Ağa, chief black eunuch of the palace. The surrounding graveyard also holds the tomb of the famous calligrapher Hafız Osman. Yahya Kemal's poem named after this quarter describes the neighbourhood too.

The mosque is in use for worship. Avoid prayer times, take off your shoes, wear clothing that covers shoulders and knees, women should cover their hair, and stay quiet inside.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi; Wikipedia.

The market gardens around the land walls are among Istanbul's oldest areas of urban farming. Fatih Municipality describes the Yedikule gardens as an important part of the city's culture of production and its urban memory for centuries. According to a DergiPark article on 18th-century records, in 1733 there were 77 gardens along the walls from Yedikule to Ayvansaray. Their owners included high-ranking officials as well as tradesmen, and the article treats the gardens as an important source of income in feeding the city.

The best-known product of the gardens today is Yedikule lettuce. In the municipality's words, this lettuce is known for its soft, oily leaves; it is grown from seedlings, likes cool and humid weather and needs plenty of water, especially in the two weeks before harvest. Fatih Municipality is working with academics, the Yedikule Gardeners' Association and the gardeners themselves on a project to carry the gardens into the future while protecting their historic character.

The rule for visiting is simple: the gardens are farmland on which people make a living. Do not walk between the beds without permission; look from the streets and the paths around the walls. The municipality runs a garden called Yedikule Bahçe on Hacı Evhaddin Caddesi in the Yedikule neighbourhood, where events such as lettuce harvests with children are held and which is open on certain days of the week. Check those days on the municipality's website. This stretch lies in the Land Walls Conservation Area, part of the Historic Areas of Istanbul that UNESCO added to the World Heritage List in 1985; seeing the walls and the gardens together is the easiest way to understand that the city's line of defence was, for centuries, also the edge of a field.

Source: Fatih Belediyesi; Türk Kültürü İncelemeleri Dergisi (Sönmez).

According to the TDV Encyclopedia of Islam, the İmrahor İlyas Bey Mosque is the oldest religious building still standing in the city. It was built by Studios, eastern consul in 454, probably around the 460s, and foundation officials describe it as about a century older than Hagia Sophia. Under Bayezid II (1481-1512) it was converted into a mosque by İlyas Bey, the sultan's mirahur or master of the stables, and it came to be known by his name. A dervish lodge was established alongside the mosque, and TDV writes that in the Ottoman period it was a centre where famous calligraphers were trained.

The building's fortunes declined from the late 18th century. It was badly damaged in the fire of 1782, repaired in 1804 and 1821, damaged again in the earthquake of 1894, and its rotting timber roof collapsed under the weight of snow in the winter of 1908. For roughly a century afterwards it stood open to the sky. In 2012 it was handed over to the General Directorate of Foundations, restoration projects were approved in 2019, and as part of works that began in 2023 it was covered with a temporary space-frame roof. The directorate aims to reopen it for worship once restoration is complete.

The building has a long three-aisled plan; of the rows of green breccia columns, the northern one partly survives. According to TDV the marble capitals, window arches and mouldings are fine examples of 5th-century stonework, because none of them is reused; all were carved for this building. As the works continue you may not be able to go inside; read the scale of the building from its outer walls, the projection on its eastern end and the surviving shaft of the minaret. Check the current situation before you go.

Source: TDV İslam Ansiklopedisi; Diyanet Haber; Wikipedia.

Narlıkapı is the gate of the Marmara walls closest to the land walls, the first gate in the walls that run along the shore after Yedikule. Eremya Çelebi, who described Istanbul in the 17th century, links its name to the pomegranate trees that once grew around it. The article examining his account notes that in Ottoman times the gate was also called Bab-ı Atik, the old gate, and that according to the inscription on the neighbouring tower it was built under the Byzantine emperor Manuel Komnenos (1143-1180). The same article gives Narlıkapı as the seventh and last in its list of gates on the Marmara shore, while Eremya Çelebi himself begins his account of the city's gates right here.

The gate lies behind the old Yedikule railway station. According to Wikipedia, inscribed marble blocks were found during clearance work around it and can be seen on the green area in front of the gate. Koç University's project documenting Istanbul's walls notes that the sea and city faces of the gate are not accessible at close range. So rather than walking through the gate, you come here to see it from the surrounding streets and from the shore side.

It is a short stop, but a good place to pull the route together. The sea walls you have followed since Kumkapı end here, and a few hundred metres to the west the land walls begin. Think of every gate you passed since the morning opening onto a landing stage or harbour, and of the shore quarters that grew up around them. From here walk parallel to the shore to Yedikule Fortress; its gate is only a few minutes away.

Source: Yalova Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi (Kazancıoğlu); Koç Üniversitesi İstanbul Surları projesi; Wikipedia.

Yedikule Fortress stands in the corner where the land walls meet the Marmara. Built on the orders of Mehmed the Conqueror around 1457-1458, it closed off a section of the walls that included the two towers of the Golden Gate, the triumphal gate of the Roman emperors Theodosius I and Theodosius II, by adding three Ottoman towers, turning it into an inner citadel of seven towers. Its first job was to guard the state treasury; valuables, documents, arms and bullion were kept in the towers. Later the fortress became notorious as a state prison. The young sultan Osman II was killed here by the Janissaries in 1622. The building was turned into a museum in 1895.

Today the fortress is run by Fatih Municipality, which is also carrying out its restoration. According to the municipality's page it is closed on Mondays. The municipality also organises daytime guided tours covering the construction of the fortress, the walls, the gates and the dungeons. The open-air theatre in the courtyard hosts cultural events and concerts. The municipality is also repairing the listed timber houses on Hacı Piri Sokak and İmrahor İlyas Bey Caddesi, the streets leading up to the fortress; try to walk through them on your way in.

Once inside, first find the towers of the Golden Gate and see how a Roman triumphal gate and an Ottoman treasury fortress came together in one structure. Then take one of the paths up onto the walls; the municipality's guided tour announcement describes a wide panorama of the city and the sea from the high points. Take care on the walls, especially with children. When you finish the day here, you can walk to Kazlıçeşme Marmaray station and head back into the city.

Source: Fatih Belediyesi; Wikipedia.