For most people Ayrılık Çeşmesi is the name of a station on the Marmaray and the location of the Nautilus shopping centre. But the name gives the story away because once upon a time this was where people said goodbye to each other beside the ayrılık çeşme (fountain of separation) before setting off on the Haj or on a trip into Anatolia. The actual fountain still survives with a namazgah (outdoor prayer area) beside it. It was commissioned by Gazanfer Ağa, the chief eunuch in the harem, in 1601. It was renovated in 1742 and again in 1922 although the mosque originally associated with it is lost.
The fountain marked the original start of the Bağdat Yolu, the road to Baghdad, and the men setting off on the 90-day return Surre (caravan journey), carrying the sultans annual gifts to Mecca, would pause here first to drink and the fill up their water bottles. When the Hejaz railway started operating in 1908 the fountain lost its purpose and was buried, only to be dug up again in 1980. Of the original three troughs only one has survived.
From the fountain there’s a short but interesting walk to Yeldeğirmen and on to Kadıköy along Ayrılık Çeşmesi Sokaği. Along the way you’ll see wooden houses falling apart and newly restored, a range of street art and, perhaps, the house of Ecevit Çalıskan, the facade of which is covered with soft toys, particularly teddy bears.
Transport info
Take the Marmaray to the station of the same name, then cross the busy main road in front of the Nautilus shopping centre to find this insignificant-looking fountain on the other side.
