'I sat in Rumeli Hisari / I sat and sang a song...' So says the poet Orhan Veli in his poem Song of Istanbul, which he later said was written in a state of 'indescribable grief'. It tells of the profound loneliness of one period in his life, or perhaps, who knows, all of it. It seems as if everyone but the poet has a friend or lover to talk to, tell their troubles and cheer them up. While he, the loneliest man of all, wanders amongst the graves on the hillside above Rumelihisari, talking to the gulls and pouring out his thoughts to them. Rumelihisari does not have such melancholy associations for most of us though. The generation who spent their youth here in the 1980s remember it not as a place of loneliness, but on the contrary, of deep friendships and the taste of freedom. In spring and early summer the green almonds and fresh cherries of Rumelihisari were a delight.

The 17th century Turkish writer Evliya Çelebi wrote that these huge luscious cherries were known as 'Anatolian pomegranates', and that 'just two weighed a beaten riyal.' Our walks on sunny spring mornings usually ended up at Ali Baba's coffee house, which was like a second home to us. There we recited poems, discussed films, argued politics, exchanged books and records, fell in love, laughed a lot, and occasionally, supposedly, studied. Years later when I decided to visit the district again, I felt a vague sense of jealousy. It was no longer 'mine' or 'ours', but belonged to everyone. Ali Baba's coffee house had disappeared, and Rumelihisari was no longer the tranquil backwater that I remembered. Now throughout the summer concerts are held in the great castle whose walls sweep up the hillside overlooking the Bosphorus, and they have transformed the lower part of Rumelihisari into a brightly lit, lively and crowded place. But I found that there was no need to regret the changes.

Other streets are lined by high walls and seem to isolate you in their own world, as if you were neither within nor completely outside time. One of the most famous buildings here is the 18th century Yilanli Yali - House of Snakes. An interesting story is connected with this name. About two centuries ago Sultan Mahmud II was passing by in his royal barge when he saw this house, and liked it so much that he decided to buy it. But one of his companions knew the owner and, reluctant to see his friend lose his house, dissuaded the sultan from this plan by claiming that the house was infested with snakes. Ever since it has been known as the House of Snakes. Rumelihisari is the place where the Turks first settled on the European side of Istanbul and is noted for its many historic buildings. Undoubtedly the most celebrated of these is the hisar (fortress) after which the district is named.