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“path”, and to construct a sebil was to build a path for oneself to paradise. There are some 80 sebils still extant in Istanbul, although that belonging to Yeni Cami is one of the very few still serving something like its original purpose (bottled water is now sold there rather than given away free). These sebils are often extremely attractive, with ornate bronze grilles and sculptured marble façades. The architects who designed the pious foundations of Istanbul were quite fond of using sebils to adorn the outer wall of a külliye, particularly at a street-corner. Although most of the sebils in town no longer distribute free water, they still gratify passers-by with their beauty. For that reason they should still provide a path to paradise for their departed donors.
    TOWARDS THE FIRST HILL
    The next street to the right beyond the sebil is a narrow alley which leads to the hamam, or public bath of Y ı ld ı z Dede. This gentleman, whose name was Necmettin, was an astrologer (Y ı ld ı z = Star) in the court of Sultan Mehmet II and won fame by predicting the fall of Constantinople from the celestial configurations at that time. According to tradition, Y ı ld ı z Dede built his hamam on the site of an ancient synagogue, probably one belonging to the Karaite Jews. The present bath, however, appears to date only from the time of Sultan Mahmut I, about 1730. It is now known as Y ı ld ı z Hamam ı , but of old it was called Ç ı f ı t Hamam ı , the Bath of the Jews.
    A little farther down the main street (Hamidiye Caddesi) and on the same side we come to the türbe of Sultan Abdül Hamit I. During his reign, from 1774 till 1789, the Ottoman armies suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Russians and the Empire began to lose its dominions in the Balkans. By that time the reputation of the once proud Ottomans had sunk so low that Catherine the Great was heard to remark to the Emperor Joseph: “What is to become of those poor devils, the Turks?” Buried alongside Abdül Hamit in this türbe is his son, the mad Sultan Mustafa IV. Mustafa, the second imperial lunatic to bear that name, was responsible for the murder of his cousin, Selim III, and nearly succeeded in bringing about the execution of his younger brother, Mahmut II. Mustafa was eventually deposed on 28 July 1808 and was himself executed three months later.
    Behind the türbe there is a medrese, or theological school, also due to Abdül Hamit I. The türbe and medrese were part of a külliye built for that sultan in 1778 by the architect Tahir A ğ a. The remainder of the külliye has since disappeared except for the sebil, which has been moved to a different site.
    A short distance beyond the türbe, Hamidiye Caddesi intersects Ankara Caddesi, a broad avenue which runs uphill. Ankara Caddesi follows approximately the course of the defence-walls built by Septimius Severus at the end of the second century A.D., a circuit of fortifications that extended from the Golden Horn to the Sea of Marmara along the course of the present avenue, enclosing the ancient town of Byzantium. Looking to the left at the intersection we see the recently refurbished Sirkeci Station, the terminus of the famous Orient Express, which made its first run through to Istanbul in 1888. There is an antique locomotive dated 1874 on view outside the station.
    We now turn right along Ankara Caddesi and follow it as it winds uphill. The district through which we are now strolling is the centre of the publishing world of Istanbul; all of the major newspapers and magazines have their presses and offices here. There are also a number of bookshops along the avenue, with one of them built over a Byzantine basement that can be seen at the back of the store. Ahead and to the left we see the building that houses the Istanbul Governor’s Office. The view down Hükümet Kona ğ ı Sokak past the governor’s office is a good perspective of the west façade of Haghia Sophia.
    CA Ğ ALO