page_title: Beşiktaş
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Beşiktaş / History
caption_attribution_description: Author: David Bjorgen
context_page_description: Beşiktaş is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and on the east by the Bosphorus. Directly across the Bosphorus is the district of Üsküdar.
  The district includes a number of important sites along the European shore of the Bosphorus, from Dolmabahçe Palace in the south to the Bebek area in the north. It is also home to many inland neighborhoods such as Levent and Etiler. Some of its other well-known neighborhoods include Yıldız, Kuruçeşme, Ortaköy, and Arnavutköy.
  Beşiktaş' historic commercial centre is the Beşiktaş quarter and Çarşı, which adjoins the small Abbasağa Park. Running in the north-south direction, Barbaros Boulevard is a major feeder road for the inner-city motorway O-1and the Bosphorus Bridge, terminating at the important public transport hub of Zincirlikuyu. Büyükdere Avenue also runs through the district.
context_section_description: The Bosphorus has been settled for a long time, and there are many places of historical interest in Beşiktaş. The area is believed to have been settled by Constantine the Great during his reign (306-337 CE). This stretch of the Bosphorus shore is somewhat sheltered from the strong northeasterly winds that bring storms to Istanbul, and thus it forms an ideal mooring place for ships.
  In Byzantine times, the area was called Diplokionion, meaning "double pillar" in Greek, as it was the location of a set of twin pillars marking a key entry from the water into Constantinople. These columns would later provide the model for the twin pillars at the water's edge in Venice.
  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 Hayreddin, 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 for the great Ottoman armies.
  According to Ottoman estimations of 1882, the district of Beşiktaş had a total population of 28.777, consisting of 10.753 Muslims, 9.248 Greeks, 4.897 Armenians, 3.057 Jews, 601 Catholics, 203 Bulgarians and 18 Latins.
  This coast was very attractive to the Ottoman rulers, who built hunting lodges and then great palaces in the area, and the Beşiktaş district today contains some of the most important and attractive Ottoman buildings. The area was thus the scene of great intrigues of the late Ottoman period such as the dethronement of Sultan Abdülaziz at Dolmabahçe Palace in a coup in 1876, the announcement of the founding of the Ottoman parliament in 1908, and the deposing of Sultan Abdul Hamid II at Yıldız Palace in 1909.
  Following the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, 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, others were demolished.
  Today, it is widely accepted by the residents of the area that the most significant resident of Beşiktaş was Zübeyde Hanım, the mother of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who lived in the old quarter at the heart of Beşiktaş, literally right next to the then headquarters of Beşiktaş J.K.
  Besides the more historic areas such as Yıldız, Ortaköy, Kuruçeşme, Arnavutköy, Bebek, many residential areas in the district started to form around the 1950s. For example, the foundations of Levent (named after the Levent Farm previously located there) were established in the 1950s when construction began on a prestigious suburban mass housing project. The Etiler, Konaklar, Akatlar, Nisbetiye, Levazım and Kültür neighborhoods followed soon after.
caption: Barbarossa Hayreddin Pasha Memorial by Zühtü Müridoğlu and Ali Hadi Bara
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