This excursion, the second one with respect to Istanbul (and the third one when including our visit to the Aegean region) will take us to the outskirts of the city, inşallah, where we plan to visit several aqueducts. Due to the help given by the university and the tireless efforts of Dzemil Nikšić, we will have a bus available. This is a great boon, as some of the Istanbul aqueducts are difficult to visit any other way. The scheduled date is Saturday 30 November – the weather report is positive, keep your fingers crossed!
The bus will depart from the dormitories at 10 am and pass by Kemerburgaz metro station. People who live in the city (as I do) will wait at the main entrance/exit of Kemerburgaz metro station as of 10.15. Please look out for us; as I do not know the station, I cannot give any details. If this station has several major entrances (that may be the case), take a look at all of them.
We will continue to the Kemerburgaz Ormanı, where we hope to visit the Uzun Kemer, Göktürk Merkez, İstanbul Cd. 2-3, 34077, Eyüpsultan Istanbul. The foundations are Roman, but the structure we see is due to Mimar Sinan and dated to 1554-1564. As there are other aqueducts nearby, we may make a detour to see one of them, but our main goal will be the aqueduct of Mağlova, (Mithatpaşa, 34075 Eyüpsultan/İstanbul). One of our graduate students lives in the area, and I hope that we will be able to benefit from his local knowledge.
After this excursion, we will enter the city and see the aqueduct of Valens (or Bozdoğan kemeri), which as the name says dates back to the late Roman period. Nearby there is a student cafe much frequented by Istanbul University students. If it is open, we will have our tea there – as accustomed ‘Çaylar şirketten’)
Hoping to see you all on Saturday.
All the best, Suraiya.
