Time has not been kind to Kağıthane, a messy suburb at the inland end of the Golden Horn that was once a famous beauty spot known as the Sweet Waters of Europe. Where once there were grand palaces and fountains, and miniature waterfalls there are no only high-rises and flyovers. But despite the unpromising superficial appearance the walk along the river to the Kağıthane Cami can be very pleasant, especially in autumn, and if you walk through the grounds of the Belediye you will come to a small “open-air museum” where such slight stray traces of the more illustrious past as survive have been assembled. They face the battered remains of what was once a çağlayan (small waterfall) over which water would have trickled in front of a lovel 18th-century çeşme (fountain).
Transport info
The Golden Horn tram has made it much easier to get to Kağıthane.
