Vefa and Zeyrek: the quarter time skipped
Sinan's apprentice mosque, a boza shop since 1876, and the Byzantine Pantokrator on the next street. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Vezneciler metro (M2)
M2 at İstanbul Üniversitesi. The Süleymaniye walk also starts here, but you're going the other direction — west, past the back of the university, into a quieter quarter.

2. Şehzade Camii
Sinan's 1548 mosque for Şehzade Mehmed, Suleiman's son who died at twenty-two. The architect's first imperial commission — he later said it taught him everything, that everything after was variation. The garden behind holds Şehzade's türbe; the İznik tilework inside holds up against anything in the city.

3. Kalenderhane Camii
A twelfth-century Byzantine church converted to a mosque after 1453, dedicated then to the wandering dervishes (kalender). Mid-13th-century Byzantine frescoes were uncovered in the 1960s and partially restored. Quiet between prayers; modest dress to enter.

4. Vefa Bozacısı
The corner is the shop — Vefa Bozacısı since 1876, four generations of the same family making boza by the same recipe. Order a glass with leblebi (chickpeas) and a dusting of cinnamon; drink it standing if you can. In winter it tastes essential.

5. Zeyrek Camii / Pantokrator
The 12th-century Byzantine Pantokrator Monastery — three connected churches built by Komnenian emperors, converted to a mosque after 1453. The Comneni dynasty is buried here. UNESCO World Heritage; recent restoration brought back the original brickwork and surviving floor mosaics.

6. Cibali tram (T5)
T5 along the Golden Horn — east to Eminönü or west to Eyüp. Cibali itself was a tobacco factory until 1995 (now Kadir Has University); look right as you walk down the hill.

Vefa and Zeyrek: the quarter time skipped