Soğukçeşme Sokağı is a small street with historic houses in the Sultanahmet neighborhood of Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

, Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, sandwiched in-between the Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...

 and Topkapı Palace

Topkapi Palace

The Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, Turkey, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman Sultans for approximately 400 years of their 624-year reign....

. The car-free zone street is named after the fountain situated at its end towards Gülhane Park

Gülhane Park

Gülhane Park is a historical urban park in the Eminönü district of Istanbul, Turkey, located adjacent to and on the grounds of the Topkapı Palace; the south entrance of the park sports one of the larger gates of the palace...

.

The wooden, two or three-storey Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 houses consisting of four to ten rooms date to the 19th to 20th century, and have been restored with the initiative of Çelik Gülersoy

Çelik Gülersoy

Çelik Gülersoy was a Turkish lawyer, historical preservationist, writer and poet. He is best remembered for the heritage conservation works he carried out on historical sites during his long-time post as director general of the Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey .He was born in Hakkâri, the...

 in 1985-1986.

Called "Ayasofya Konakları" (Hagia Sophia Mansions), nine of the houses are run as a hostel chain by the Touring and Automobile Club of Turkey (TTOK). The houses are named after the flower shrubs next to them as "Yaseminli Ev" (Jasmine

Jasmine

Jasminum , commonly known as jasmines, is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family . It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of the Old World...

 House), "Mor Salkımlı Ev" (Wisteria sinensis

Wisteria sinensis

Wisteria sinensis is a woody, deciduous, perennial climbing vine in the genus Wisteria, native to China in the provinces of Guangxi, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Shaanxi, and Yunnan...

 House), "Hanımeli Ev" (Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the family Caprifoliaceae, native to the Northern Hemisphere. There are about 180 species of honeysuckle, 100 of which occur in China; Europe, India and North America have only about 20 native species each...

 House) etc. The buildings are decorated in the 19th century style with furniture including such items as beds and consoles, silk curtains, velvet armchairs and gilded mirrors.
Most notable guest of the hostel was Queen Sofía of Spain

Queen Sofía of Spain

Queen Sofía of Spain is the wife of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.-Early life and family:Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark was born in Psychiko, Athens, Greece on 2 November 1938, the eldest child of the King Paul of Greece and his wife, Queen Frederika , a former princess of Hanover...

, who stayed in the spring of 2000 for four nights.

The birthplace of Turkey's 6th president Fahri Korutürk

Fahri Koruturk

Fahri Sabit Korutürk was a Turkish navy officer, diplomat and the sixth President of Turkey.-Biography:He was born in Istanbul, at Soğukçeşme Sokağı, a small street between Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia. He attended the navy cadet school in 1916, was graduated in 1923 and from the Naval Academy...

 (1903–1987) is also situated in this street. One of the houses hosts the library "İstanbul Kitaplığı" with over 10,000 books about Istanbul owned by the Çelik Gülersoy Foundation.

On one end of the street towards Gülhane Park is a Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

cistern, which houses the "Sarnıç Restaurant" today.

External links

• Ayasofya Konakları hotels on Soğukçeşme Sokağı