Travel Istanbul » Sights

Kuruçeşme

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:01:25 +0000

The district is located near Ortaköy. Defterburnu is between Ortaköy and Kuruçeşme. District residents claim that, the old name is Koruçeşme because of its plenty of rivers. Throughout history, the place has been known with its green groves.

Kuruçeşme is a post from: Travel Istanbul

Aşiyan

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:18:13 +0000

The place between Bebek and Rumeli Hisari was named as Lamekopi in Greek and Boğazkesen in Turkish. The district takes its current name from the Turkish poet Tevfik Fikret’s home. The meaning of the Persian word “Aşiyan” is “bird’s nest”. Aşiyan is a post from: Travel Istanbul

Aşiyan is a post from: Travel Istanbul

Arnavutköy

admin — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 12:04:38 +0000

It’s located between Kuruçeşme and Bebek. Its name was Hesta in antiquity. In the Byzantine period the place was also known as Promotu and Anaplus. Ayios Mihael Church, one of the important places of worship in Boğaziçi was here. Mosaic icons of Archangel Mihael were stored in this church told as built by Constantine. It’s unknown when and for what reason this place named as Arnavutköy. According to a rumor, Albanians have been settled there by II. Mehmet (Fatih).

Arnavutköy is a post from: Travel Istanbul

Besiktas

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 13:25:49 +0000

Besiktas is one of the oldest neighborhoods in İstanbul. It’s located in the Rumeli side of the Bosporus, between Ortaköy and Tophane. It’s neighbor to Sisli in the West, Beyoglu in the south, and Sarıyer in the north.

According to the written sources about past, its original name is “Beştaş”. This name is coming from five-stone columns Barbaros Hayreddin Pahsa set up to connect the ships to the coast. “Beştaş” name has evolved to Besiktas over in time.

Besiktas district, consists of 23 neighborhoods which are Abbasağa, Akatlar, Arnavutköy, Balmumcu, Bebek, Cihannüma, Obelisk, Etiler, Gayrettepe, Mansions, Kuruçeşme, Kültür, Levazim, Levent, Mecidiye, Ortaköy, Muradiye, Nispetiye, Sinanpaşa, Türkali, Ulus, Yıldız and Vişnezade.

Besiktas was the major settlement along the shores of the Bosphorus in Byzantine period. In Byzantine period (4th century -15. century) Beşiktaş coast was known as three important structures called Ayios Mihael Church in “Auaplus” (upstream), Ayios Mamas palace the summer residence of emperors, and the Phocas monastery complex. Ayios Mihael was built in 305-337 and was a famous pilgrimage center.

Besiktas won its identity of a living place in the Ottoman period. During the Byzantine period, destruction of predators especially coming from the Black Sea blocked the development of settlements out of the walls.

Besiktas has gained importance especially in terms of maritime because of Kaptan-ı Derya Barbaros Hayreddin. He lived here and was buried here after his death.

Besiktas is a post from: Travel Istanbul