Beylerbeyi (Üsküdar)

Beylerbeyi is a place in Istanbul ( Turkey ) on the Asian side, on the Bosporus .

The place owes its name to Mehmet Pasa , who lived here in the 16th century and who was the highest administrator of the European part of the Ottoman Empire (" Beylerbey " means lord of lords and was the official designation for two civil servants who were in charge of the administration of the empire shared). The townscape is characterized by a large palace in the south ( Beylerbeyi Sarayı ), a mosque in the center and many yalıs (typical wooden houses of the upper class), which are now largely abandoned to decay, except in the tourist-oriented port area, to new buildings and facilities to build. Furthermore, in the course of the last few decades, instead of the Yalis, concrete silos have been built in the area of ​​the higher slopes, which take in numerous immigrants. When the Yalis lined the banks of the Bosporus in great numbers, those in Beylerbeyi were famous for their large gardens, which usually stretched behind the buildings. Two famous films were shot in one of these Yalis ( James Bond 007 - From Moscow with Love and Topkapi ).

Beylerbeyi was already inhabited at the time of the Roman Empire. The district in which the palace stands was formerly called 'Istavroz Bahceleri', which means something like cross gardens. The gardens got their name from the great cross that Constantine the Great had erected on the water after converting to Christianity. The small stream in the village got its name from the cross. A few years ago there were still ruins of a church from the time of the Byzantine Empire .

The first Bosphorus bridge ends in Beylerbeyi, opposite Arnavutköy and Bebek. Here you enter Asia coming from the west. The former fishing village has become a very lively tourist destination.

Coordinates: 41 ° 3 '  N , 29 ° 3'  E