Büyük Valide Han

The Büyük Valide Han is distinguished by the massive, crumbling brick arches that ring its uppermost rooftop, offering a jagged silhouette against the Istanbul skyline. Built in the mid-seventeenth century by Kösem Sultan, this sprawling caravanserai once functioned as a commercial hub for merchants traveling the Silk Road. Inside the central courtyard, a man named Mehdi often climbed to the roof to tend his pigeons, eventually turning the panoramic view into a local legend before the authorities closed the precarious ledge to visitors.