Beyazit Square & İstanbul University

Lonely Planet review

Beyazıt Square is officially called Hürriyet Meydanı (Freedom Square), though everyone knows it simply as Beyazıt. Under the rule of the Byzantines it was called the Forum of Theodosius. Sections of the forum's columns decorated with stylised oak-knot designs were dug up from the square during the 1950s and can be seen on the other side of Yeniçeriler Caddesi.

Today the square is home to street vendors, students from İstanbul University and plenty of pigeons, as well as a few policemen who like to keep an eye on student activities. The square is backed by the impressive portal of the University. After the Conquest, Mehmet the Conqueror built his first palace here, a wooden structure called the Eski Sarayı (Old Seraglio). After Topkapı was built the Eski Sarayı became home to women when they were pensioned out of the main palace - this is where valide sultans came when their sultan sons died and they lost their powerful position as head of the harem. The original building was demolished in the 19th century to make way for a grandiose Ministry of War complex designed by Auguste Bourgeois; this now houses the university. The stone tower, visible from most of Old İstanbul, was built as a lookout for fires. Both the university and tower are off limits to travellers.