BÜYÜK VALIDE HAN - Historical Peninsula

I was reading a book about Istanbul. Its name is: Where is Istanbul? Global City, Culture Europe

Authors: Deniz Göktürk, Levent Soysal and İpek Türeli

I went after the cover photo, a beautiful view of Istanbul and a wall graphic of domes. I learned about Büyük Valide Han thanks to this photo.

I was working at the Büyük Yeni Han, it was facing Çakmakçılar Hill, and Büyük Valide Han was apparently a neighboring inn facing the same direction and quite close to me... One of the craftsmen I worked with said, "I'll take you there, but you might get scared." There was no light at the entrance of the inn and when I first passed by, I was really a little scared... But this feeling lasted until I found the guard, had him open the roof door and went up there. I was fascinated when I looked at the view, and later it became the place with the most beautiful view on the Historical Peninsula for me... It became my secret place when I was feeling down or needed to collect my thoughts. I went there many times. I took my friends and guests. It was a wonderful feeling to watch Istanbul from such a point, to embrace the sea, the clouds and the seagulls...

Ozlem Tuna