The street on the N. side (Restaurant Tokatlian, see p. [537]) leads to the W. after a few paces to the Bezestán (Pl. Bez.; G, 6), where artistic old weapons, gold and silver wares, inlaid furniture, etc. are displayed. In the street on the E. side are sold jewels and trinkets; on the N. side cloth, Oriental antiquities, and books; on the W. side Turkish women’s apparel and embroidery; on the S. side leather-work, etc.
From the W. gate of the Bezestán we pass through the Bezestán Jaddesí, with its clothes-shops, to the Ousoun Tcharchi, the main street ascending from the Rustem Pasha Mosque (p. [545]) to the S. gate (Kalpakjilar Kapu, p. [550]). Going straight on we may ascend through the curved Fesjiler Jaddesi, the fez-market, to the Bit Bazar Jaddesi, a street running to the N. and S., the entrance to the (left) Second-hand Market (Bat Bazar, jestingly called ‘bit bazar’ or louse-market). In the other direction, a few paces to the N., is the Hakkaklar Sokak, with the stalls of the seal-engravers, booksellers, etc., leading to the Bayazid Mosque.
Those who intend to return from the Great Bazaar direct to the New Bridge (p. [545]) may visit also the Valideh Han (Pl. G, 5, 6; see above), the seat of the Persian traders, situated in the Chakmakjilar Yokussu, diverging to the E. from the Ousoun Tcharchi.
On the third hill of the city, the site of the forum of Theodosius I., rise the Bayazid Mosque and the Seraskerat in its large court.
The *Mosque of Bayazid (Pl. G, 6) was erected in 1489–97 by the Albanian Kheireddin, under sultan Bayazid, son of Mohammed II., the conqueror. The handsome portals of the forecourt recall Seljuk prototypes. The beautiful forecourt, enlivened ever since the time of the founder by countless pigeons, has pointed arcades with elegant domes. In the centre is an octagonal fountain. The interior, tastelessly painted in the Turkish rococo style in the 18th cent., is a simplified imitation of the Aya Sophia.
To the N. of the mosque the Serasker Kapu, the modern S. gateway, leads into the court, now a drilling-ground, of the Seraskerat (Pl. F, G, 5; or ministry of war). Here once stood the Eski-Seraï, the oldest palace of the sultans (comp. p. [546]). The *Serasker Tower (closed on Frid.; fee 3–5 pias.), about 200 ft. high, built by Mahmud II. (d. 1839) of white marble from the island of Marmara (p. [535]), affords a magnificent view of the city.
Behind the barracks on the N. side of the Seraskerat, or by the Serasker Jaddesi to the right, we descend to the terrace of the Suleiman Mosque, which is surrounded by schools, baths, and the Residence of the Sheikh ul-Islam.
The **Mosque of Suleiman the Great (Turk. Suleïmanieh; Pl. F, G, 5), erected in 1550–66 by the Albanian Sinán (Mimar Sinán Agha), on the model of the Aya Sophia and the Bayazid Mosque, is one of the two master-works of this most famous of Turkish architects (the other being the Selim mosque at Adrianople). The superb chief portal on the N.W. side is three stories in height. At the angles of the forecourt (63 by 49½ yds.) rise four minarets of unequal height. The exterior of the mosque is embellished with two arcades; the smaller domes are charmingly grouped round the great dome; the latter, only 85 ft. in diameter, is loftier than that of Aya Sophia.
Notwithstanding the striped decoration with which it was marred at the time of the restoration under Abdul Aziz (p. [550]), the interior surpasses all the other mosques of Constantinople in harmony of structure, in picturesqueness of perspective, and in magnificence of ornamentation, but is unfortunately badly lighted. Between the four pillars of the dome, on each side, are two monolith columns, 29 ft. high, with stalactite capitals, supporting the upper stories of the aisles. The *Mihrâb Wall is enriched with beautiful fayence tiles and with stained glass by Serkosh Ibrahim.
In the burial-ground behind the mosque rise the handsome Türbehs of Suleiman (fee 5 pias.) and his favourite wife Roxolana.