Üsküdar

Overview

Every Turk knows the song: “Üsküdar’a gider iken aldı da bir yağmur,” on the way to Üsküdar, the rain caught us. The old folk song, also known as Kâtibim, has followed this ferry town for more than a century. Yet Üsküdar is no museum piece. It is where the Asian side of Istanbul begins its day, with commuters running for ferries past mosques by Mimar Sinan, and where the city ends its day, with tea on the shore facing the sunset over the old city. By city ferry, join our Istanbul ferry tour.

We often start our Asian-side days here. So here is Üsküdar the way we walk it with guests.

Üsküdar by the Water

Step off the ferry, and two mosques by Mimar Sinan stand right at the water’s edge. Both belong to the great age of Suleiman the Magnificent and his heirs, and both are worth ten minutes before you go anywhere else.

Mihrimah Sultan, the Dock Mosque

Facing the ferry square stands the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, built for Suleiman’s daughter. Locals simply call it the İskele Camii, the Dock Mosque, because for centuries it was the first thing travelers saw as they landed. Its wide porch still shelters people waiting for the ferry on rainy days.

Şemsi Pasha, the mosque where birds do not land

A few steps south, the small Şemsi Pasha Mosque sits almost in the sea. It was built for Şemsi Ahmed Pasha, a statesman descended from the İsfendiyaroğulları. By legend, birds never land on its dome, so Istanbullus know it as the Kuşkonmaz Camii, the mosque where birds do not land. Whether or not you test the legend, sit on its seaside wall for the view across to the palace.

Yeni Valide

Across the square stands the large Yeni Valide Mosque, built in the early 18th century for the mother of Ahmed III. Nearby, the sultan also built a fountain, the simpler twin of the Fountain of Ahmed III at Topkapı Palace. Look at its tomb, which is open to the sky and covered only with a metal grille.

Up the Hill: Sinan and the Valide Sultans

Üsküdar has many mosques, and several were built for the women of the imperial harem. Behind the busy shopping streets, the lanes climb toward two fine examples.

Atik Valide

The Atik Valide Mosque, another work of Sinan, was built for Nurbanu Sultan, the mother of Murad III. Its courtyard and the red and white arches inside sit right beside the ferry square.

The Tiled Mosque

A little further up, the small Çinili Mosque, the Tiled Mosque, is lined with blue İznik tiles from top to bottom.

Karacaahmet Cemetery

Inland, Karacaahmet is a vast old cemetery. Its old gravestones, carved with turbans and flowers, tell their own story of the Ottoman city.

From Chrysopolis to Scutari

Üsküdar is an old settlement. Its ancient name, Chrysopolis, is usually read as “the Golden City”, and finds from the Marmaray digs take its past back at least to the 6th–5th centuries BC. Tradition has it that around 410 BC, the Athenian general Alcibiades taxed the ships passing to the Black Sea from here. In AD 324, Constantine won his battle against Licinius at Chrysopolis, and Licinius was killed.

In the 14th century, Orhan Gazi came to Üsküdar and pitched his tent above the Maiden’s Tower, and the Ottomans gained a foothold within sight of Constantinople. To Europeans, however, it became Scutari. Much later, Florence Nightingale nursed wounded British soldiers of the Crimean War in the Selimiye Barracks, just south of the center.

Salacak at Sunset

South of the ferry square, a long promenade runs along the water toward Harem. Many locals come here for the sunset. The sun sets behind the domes and minarets of the old city, while the Maiden’s Tower stands alone on its rock just offshore. Tea gardens line the way, and families sit on the low sea wall with simit (a sesame-crusted bread ring) and tea.

Boats to the Maiden’s Tower

From the Salacak pier, small boats cross to the Maiden’s Tower during the day. Behind the coast, the streets of Salacak still hold a few classic Ottoman wooden houses.

Beyond Üsküdar’s Center

Üsküdar, however, is a whole district, not just a ferry square. Further inland, Çamlıca Hill rises high above the city, with a view over both continents. North along the Bosphorus, the old village of Kuzguncuk, Beylerbeyi with its palace and Çengelköy also belong to Üsküdar.

How to Visit Üsküdar

• By ferry: cross from Eminönü, Karaköy, Kabataş or Beşiktaş in about 15 to 20 minutes.
• By Marmaray: ride the rail tunnel under the Bosphorus from Sirkeci.
• By metro: the M5 line runs from Üsküdar to Çekmeköy.
• Dress modestly for the mosques, and avoid the times of prayer.
• Want more of the Asian shore? Our guides in Istanbul can link Üsküdar, Kuzguncuk and Kadıköy in one day, as our Istanbul Asian side tour does.