Beşiktaş

This article is about a district in İstanbul. For the football club, see Beşiktaş J.K.

Beşiktaş Square

Beşiktaş (pronounced /bɛʃictɑʃ/ or 'Besh-ik-tash') is a district of İstanbul, Turkey located on the European side of the city, by the coast of the Bosphorus.

Beşiktaş district council administers a number of communities running up the Bosphorus on the European side (from Dolmabahçe Palace up to Bebek) and the land on the hills behind these settlements. The district includes some of İstanbul's best-known locations, such as Arnavutköy, Balmumcu, Bebek, Etiler, (parts of) Levent, Ortaköy, Ulus, and Yıldız. Beşiktaş has a population of 190,813 (2000 census).

History

Turkish Naval Museum

The Bosphorus has been settled for a long, long time and there are many places of historical interest. This stretch of the Bosphorus shore is slightly sheltered from the strong north-easterly winds that bring storms to Istanbul and thus ships have always been moored here. Indeed in Greek and Byzantine times the area was called Diklopion, meaning 'two pillars'. Furthermore one theory of the origin of the current name Beşiktaş is that it has mutated from Beştaş (meaning "five stones"), referring to the pillars to which ships were moored in the time of Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa.

However 'Beşiktaş' literally means 'cradle-stone' in Turkish; 'beşik' being 'cradle' and 'taş' being 'stone', and there is an alternative story about how the area got this rather absurd name: this being that a church was built above a relic, a stone said to have been taken from the stable in Nazareth where Jesus was born (the stone being later removed to Aghia Sofia in the city). Apparently there are Byzantine records of this church, named 'konapetri' (cradle-stone ).

In ancient times the villages on the Bosphorus shore were isolated communities in the forest that lined the water-side. The Bosphorus however was prominent in the history and mythology of the ancient Greeks, and villages like Beşiktaş would have had their place in traditional tales such as Jason and the Argonauts. In the Byzantine era churches and a monastery were built and the tradition of having a summer palace on the Bosphorus was begun by the Byzantines with their Ayios Mamas palace complex. The Bosphorus settlements however, being outside the city walls, were vulnerable to raiders from the Black Sea coasts and little of this architecture or the statuary that would have decorated it so gloriously has survived.

In the Ottoman period, once the emperors had established control of the Black Sea coasts the Ottoman navy was docked in the Bosphorus and the Bosphorus villages became safe and attractive again. One man in particular, the legendary sailor Barbarossa, built his palace and mosque in Beşiktaş, making it his home. By now Beşiktaş was an established Bosphorus crossing for caravans trading across Anatolia and along the silk road, and of course for the great Ottoman armies.

This coast was of course very attractive to the Ottoman rulers, who built hunting lodges and then great palaces in the area, and the Beşiktaş district contains some of the most important and attractive Ottoman buildings. The area was thus the scene of scene of great intrigues of the late Ottoman period such as the dethronement of Sultan Abdulaziz at Dolmabahçe Palace in a coup in 1876 and the announcement of the founding of the Ottoman parliament in 1908, and the deposal of Sultan Abdulhamid II at Yıldız palace in 1909.

Following the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1924, the Ottoman ruling family was deported and the palaces and mansions along the coast were emptied out. Some were given to new government ministries, some used as schools and other public buildings, other were pulled down.

Places to see

Statue of Barbaros Hayreddin Paşa in Barbaros Park near the ferry stop in Beşiktaş

Before Beşiktaş - Coming into Beşiktaş up the Bosphorus from Karaköy or down the hill from Taksim you will first go past the impressive Inönü Stadium, home of Beşiktaş football club, and then the last great Ottoman palace, Dolmabahçe. Leading uphill from here, through the districts of Vişnezade, Valideçeşme and all the way up to Teşvikiye, are quiet and pleasant residential streets. The buildings are small and there is a real Istanbul metropolitan feel to the area. Indeed some of the first apartment buildings is Istanbul are in this area.

The central district of Beşiktaş itself hosts a major bus terminal, a ferry port for boats to the Asian side of the city (the motor boats from here to Üsküdar are the fastest of all the Bosphorus crossings). There is a small bus terminal at the dock and at rush hour this whole area is busy with commuters transferring between boats and buses. From here it is easy to get a bus, dolmuş or taxi up to business and shopping districts such as Levent, Etiler, Taksim or Nisantaşı.

With all these transport connections, the centre of Beşiktaş is a very busy area indeed. The area is full of offices and shops and many of the large office buildings house schools where young people come to take evening and weekend classes to help them through university entrance examinations. However, some exploration off the beaten path reveals many winding streets, house cafés, restaurants and bars (food in the area is basic (much of it kebab or döner, with a beer to wash it down from one of the bars afterwards) but the choice is excellent). There are also some nice cafes on the Bosphorus waterfront near the ferry docks. Many of the streets in the shopping district are pedestianised and the area is quite tidy, the shops quite smart, not the swish international chains like Mango or Zara that you find up the hill in Nisantaşı or the big shopping centres in Levent, but quality locally-produced clothing. The boutiques have replaced some of the older butchers and grocers but there is still plenty of food-shopping, including a fish-market right in the centre of the shopping district. And you can still find tailors, shoemakers, and all kind of little shops that can make or fix anything from your umbrella to your underwear.

Politically this area has always been centre–left leaning and has in the past been a stronghold of the Republican People's Party. Today there are also many students and much of the accommodation is pricey, especially considering much of it was built in the 50s and 60s, and the streets are narrow. The area today has a cosmopolitan feel to it. However Beşiktaş does invoke pride in its residents, and there is still a solid family feel to the place, compared with the very transient population of Beyoğlu for example. With its narrow streets winding uphill, too narrow for lot's of traffic so fairly quiet, people sitting on doorsteps, a warm breeze coming off the sea, people with handcarts collecting scrap metal or selling boiled sweetcorn, and cats everywhere, Beşiktaş, along with Kadıköy on the Anatolian side, is one of the best preserved neighbourhoods in the city; not as pretty as the villages up the Bosphorus, but then they are much smaller.

Beşiktaş is also home to: the city's naval museum (Deniz Muzesi); and opposite the museum is a historical Ottoman mosque; and the Yahya Efendi Tekke—one of the best-preserved surviving tekkes in İstanbul.

File:Barbaros Boulevard in Istanbul.jpg

Barbaros Boulevard in Beşiktaş

The long Barbaros Boulevard takes traffic uphill and inland from the centre of Beşiktaş, a major route to the Bosphorus bridges. To the left (going uphill) is the centre of Beşiktaş, Abbasağa Park and streets of apartment buildings leading to Ihlamur Kasrı (a summer palace of the Ottoman dynasty in its last period - the 19th century) and up to Dikilitaş and Şişli. This was orchards and fruit-gardens in the 18th century but today is a densely-populated residential area and Beşiktaş Pazarı near Ihlamur has been one of the best-known open air markets of İstanbul for several decades. Ihlamur means 'linden' in Turkish and there are plenty of these beautifully-scented trees in the park and throughout Beşiktaş. Abbasağa Park was a cemetery in Ottoman times, and was dug up in the early days of the Turkish Republic to create the park that exists today. Unfortunately this was done without taking any records and the operation was a loss to the historical record of Istanbul.

To the right of Barbaros Bulvarı lies Yıldız palace and Yıldız park, the largest green area in Beşiktaş, now home to Yıldız Technical University. From this point on, housing becomes more upmarket and much more expensive as we get into the Balmumcu, Etiler (where Boğaziçi University is located) and Ulus areas. All this was farmland in the Ottoman period, and the small palace called Balmumcu Kasrı was a hunting lodge of the sultans.

Going along the Bosphorus from Beşiktaş in northward direction we pass the Çırağan Palace hotel and come to a number of well known districts that still retain some of their original village identity:

Ortaköy. In the past this was a cosmopolitan area with communities of Turks, Greeks, Armenians and Jews. Ortaköy is highly visible from the Bosphorus because of the incredibly ornate mosque right on the jetty (a product of the feverish imagination of the Balyan family). Today Ortaköy is a popular city neighbourhood with art galleries, cafes, bars and restaurants and on Sundays a craft market in the streets.

Kuruçeşme: the coast and the steep hillside behind it from the little point in Ortaköy called Defterdarburnu up to the beginning of Arnavutköy at Sarrafburnu and the entrance to Robert College. There is still some of the lush green on the hillside which gave the area its original name, Koruçeşme.

Arnavutköy (previously known as Hestai, then Promotu and Anaplus). The long lost Byzantine church of Ayios Mihael built by Constantine was here. It was pulled down and its stones used to build the castle of Rumeli Hisarı.

Bebek, named in the period of the conquest when Bebek Çelebi (most likely a nickname, as "bebek" means "baby" in Turkish), lieutenant of Fatih Sultan Mehmet, was sent here to build the castle of Rumeli Hisarı and thus establish control of the Bosphorus. Bebek Çelebi built himself a house and a garden here. Since then many of Turkey's great and powerful have followed in his footsteps and built themselves luxury homes along this coast.

Aşiyan, between Bebek and Rumeli Hisarı. Now best known for the cemetery where many of İstanbul's aristocracy chose to be buried, this area is built on a slight point out into the sea, and as this narrows the Bosphorus it was known in Greek as Lomekopi or in Turkish, Boğazkesen, the Bosphorus breaker. The area today takes its name from the house of poet Tevfik Fikret up on the hill overlooking the sea, and "âşiyan" means 'bird's nest' in Persian.

BJK

The district also gives its name to Turkey's oldest sports club, Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü (Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club), founded in 1903. The club's football team is one of the top three in Turkey and has won twelve Turkish Super League titles and participated three times (1997-98, 2000-01, 2003-04) in the UEFA Champions League. The club's 30,000 seater grand Inönü stadium is on the Bosphorus sea-front just before the centre of Beşiktaş and on match days the area is crowded with football fans. The Kazan pub in the centre of Beşiktaş is the traditional raucous pre-match meeting place.

The football team wears black-and-white shirts and are nicknamed the "Black Eagles". The club is widely supported by the working class and also has earned fame with their notoriously faithful fans. Beşiktaş also has basketball, volleyball and other teams.

CARŞI

Çarşı (means Bazaar in Turkish) is the biggest fan group of BJK. It took its name from the Beşiktaş Bazaar. The core of the group is from the Bazaar, working class and university students. Beşiktaş has the most university per kilometer square in Turkey. Before every match, Carşı meets up at Kazan Pub, and walk all the way from Beşiktaş, thru the historic avenue of Dolmabahçe to the Inönü Stadium. The group is mostly left wing. When the ex prime minister of Turkey, Bulent Ecevit (Democratic Left), died, the group blackened its website for a day as a respect to the ex prime minister.

External links

• Municipality of Beşiktaş Web Site
• Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü Home Page
• Fans of Besiktas - Videoblog
• Çarşı Group's Official Web Site