The centre of Sultanahmet. (48.00771,28.974767).
This man did not have any alcoholic beverages.
The ruins of the Martyrium of St Euphemia provide convenient seats and hiding places for eccentrics and cats. It must have been a massive, solid structure once. It was built in the early fifth century to provide an appropriately respectable resting place for the body of St Euphemia, a virgin, as seems to have been a prerequisite for a female to become a martyr. There are apparently some frescoes in the ugly little shed leaning against the law courts. I have never been able to get in to see them.
The shed allegedly containing the frescoes is in the middle distance on the right.
Reliefs in the Archaeological Museum.
Restoration is a growth industry in the backblocks of Sultan Ahmet
The photo above shows the situation in July 2019.
The leisurely pace of work is exemplified by this inhabitant
An idea of what used to be in this area can be gained from a look at Nicholas Artamonoff’s photographs from around the late 1930s, on the Dumbarton Oaks site.
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