A Peaceful Walk along the Hillsides of Anadolu Fortress in Istanbul

On my many visits to this city, I love visiting this area because there are many cafes along the water. Also, walking up the Setüstü streets from the Anadolu Fortress will provide amazing views and lovely houses. On one of my recent visits, we found that the road ends up as a walking path, which provided a natural experience on this hillside. Here is the overview of my walking tour in this historic area.

This tour starts near the Anadolu Fortress on the Asian side. Boats come there, and also to Küçüksu. When we visit this area, we have breakfast along the Bosphorus and then walk toward the Fortress. Here is my walking tour map below. I included my earlier one since it covers a broader area for observation.

Anadolu Hisarı is the first Ottoman fortress built in Istanbul, and it is fairly simple but nice. Here is some spolia that I found in one of the towers. This shows that there was previously some type of Byzantine building at this location. This is located next to the Telgrafhane 1855 cafe, which formerly housed a telegraph office.

The walk up the hill is on Setüstü, but just before that are these fun phone booths. Above this walled area is the street you want to walk up.

When you walk up, look for Oba Street – there is a street sign at the corner. Don’t go down this yet.

Once you get to the end of the walking path, turn back around and come down this pleasant walkway. This will go to a corner water fountain, take a right from there to return towards the fortress.

On this walk, I came upon old trees, a 19th-century water balance tower, old tinwork on a house, and interesting fountains. One site is like a comedy, and my story below is about this interesting place.

Cafe Rusta or Cafer Usta?

At first I thought this place was an old cafe from 1931, but walking this street again with a friend, he saw not “Cafe Rusta” but Cafer Usta, which means Jafar the builder. A common early-19th-century trend among tinsmiths. What do you think the name says? Historical records suggest a store or cafe at this location from the 1930s to the 1940s. The outside still bears the name or the tinsmith…you decide.^[1]https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/606295 – on page 297, Cafer Usta is mentioned with this same design on another building.

Sundial Mystery

The 1574 mosque was commissioned by Muhaşşi Sinan Efendi, a Quran commentator who later became the Chief Judge of Istanbul in 1547 and, in 1551, the Chief Judge of Anatolia (Anadolu Kazaskeri). Interestingly, the Değirmen (Asiyab) incident in 1551 cost him his position. In this incident, another leader was awarded a mill. Later, he was granted innocence, but the damage was done. Maybe he commissioned this mosque to regain his honor before his death in 1578.

As a judge, he knew the law, but most likely a knowledgeable astronomer (muvakkits) or mathematician read the sundial on this mosque. They placed the sundial high to maximize the sun’s light and avoid the shadows that often fall on steep hills like this.

Sundials, especially on top of a mosque minaret, would need to cast a shadow of their projecting rod (called a gnomon) onto a calibrated marble or stone dial plate. However, when located up top, reading a nearby plate requires a different procedure. The high vertical sundial is read by looking at the very tip of the shadow cast by the gnomon. The shadow tip moves along the top curve during the winter solstice (when the sun is low) and along the bottom curve during the summer solstice (when the sun is high). You read the time where the shadow tip intersects the current season’s curve.^[2]good explanation from https://www.reddit.com/r/Astronomy/comments/1jhzwr1/can_anyone_explain_on_how_to_read/ – yet still very confusing

After the Walk…

At the end of your walk, stop by the Gelato place (Buontalenti Gelateria) for refreshments, or stop by the store next door for other options.

As you enjoy the beauty of nature and the views of the Bosphorus, remember, “You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.” (Nehemiah 9:6, ESV)

Here are more views from this walk…

Follow my other walking tours of Istanbul or other major cities.

Walking through Ephesus repurposed churches – https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1_r4k60I1vGtz3v_VCAfjU-uCFWGSd4M&usp=sharing

Walking Ancient Nicaea: (Iznik) https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1s2OfrX7zySILIBLY98lQphorMbHQUzk&usp=sharing

https://nakhatijon.com/series/searching-for-the-byzantine-ruins-of-nicomedia-izmit-in-kocaeli/

Walk around Hagia Sophia https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1iiZcOZRU9ap5S_qnvowMXYaVKcQyfOM&usp=sharing

A walk around Hagia Sophia: https://nakhatijon.com/a-walk-around-hagia-sophia/

Istanbul Archeology Museum – https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1Gcfjl64hKfS5AsgkNqEUeNo0RWV5AFg&usp=sharing

Zeytinburnu walking tour: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=12ZSqlFdeUzZCvPaMBvW2t4UzE7V6uFQ&usp=sharing