The Bosdogan Water Channel, stretching from the top of the high ground where the University of Istanbul and the High Mosque is located, is one of the architectural monuments of the last phase of the Roman era and the first phase of the Byzantine era.
This channel, known as Hadrianus and Valens in the Roman and Byzantine period, does not know the exact date of its creation. However, some references mention that it was established in the period 117 - 138 AD, which is the rule of Roman Hadrianus and between 364 AD - 378 AD Roman rule of Valence. It was restored in 576 AD in the time of the second Eustenius and in the years between 741 AD - 775 CE and Constantine the fifth, and in 1019 AD the time of Basilius II. In the years after the 11th century it was damaged as a result of the city being besieged and seized.
The canal was used in the 6th century for the delivery of brackish water to the palaces and the bath of Achilleus. We can also refer to the Spanish ambassador (Roy Gonzalez de Clavigu), who visited the city in 1403, that the fields and gardens nearby were also watered with water as well. After the conquest of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmet al-Fateh ordered the restoration of the water channel and the water network and added what was necessary to the network to solve the water problem in Istanbul. This channel also received the attention of the sultans after that, where it was restored and improved several times during the reign of Sultan Beyazid II, Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent and Sultan Mustafa II and this helps the survival of this historic channel properly and delivery to this day.
This canal, which was more than 1 km in the early Byzantine period, is 971 meters tall and 63.5 meters above sea level and 28 meters above ground. Many parts of the canal have been destroyed, leaving only the part that is located above Ataturk Street. During the Second World War, H. Proust, who was charged with setting up an organizational plan for the city, opened a motorway to protect it without damaging the canal. In 1988, the section on Ataturk Street was cleaned and reinforced by the Municipality of Istanbul. The canal was restored between 1990 and 1993 by Dogan Kuban and Okenge.
