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Büyükada | |
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 One of the main squares of the island, with the statue ofMustafa Kemal Atatürk. | |
  Büyükada  Büyükada  Büyükada | |
| Coordinates:40°51′28″N29°07′12″E / 40.85778°N 29.12000°E /40.85778; 29.12000 | |
| Country |  Turkey |
| Region | Marmara |
| Province | Istanbul |
| District | Adalar |
| Area | |
• Total | 5.4 km2 (2.1 sq mi) |
| Population (2018) | |
• Total | 8,586[1] |
| • Density | 1,600/km2 (4,100/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
| Postal code | 34970 |
| Area code | 0216 |
Büyükada (Greek:Πρίγκηπος or Πρίγκιπος, renderedPrinkipos orPrinkipo), meaning "Big Island" in Turkish, is the largest of thePrinces' Islands in theSea of Marmara, nearIstanbul, with an area of about 2 square miles (5 square kilometres). It is made up of the Maden and Nizam neighbourhoods in theAdalar (Islands) district ofIstanbul Province,Turkey.
During the first half of the 20th century, the island was popular with prosperousGreeks andArmenians as a refuge from the summer heat of Istanbul.[2] Nowadays the island's demographics are more similar to a typical suburb of mainland Istanbul.
Historically, many residents of Büyükada were fishermen. However, by the late 2010s tourism to Büyükada swelled enormously as it became a favourite day-trip destination for visitors from greenery-starved Arab countries in particular. The surge in tourism was a major factor in bringing to an end the tradition of using phaetons as the only transport on the island in 2020.
Visitors have been writing about Büyükada since the Turkish travel writerEvliya Çelebi recorded in hisSeyahatname (Book of Travels) that there were 200 Greek houses on the island in 1640 and that it was ringed with dalyan fishermen. In 1884 the French historianGustave Schlumberger publishedLes Iles des Princes, describing his visit to the archipelago.Ernest Mamboury recorded the sites of the island in hisLes Iles des Princes, published in 1943 andJak Deleon updated his work in 2003 in hisBüyükada: A Guide to the Monuments. In 1929Leon Trotsky settled on the island after being exiled from the Soviet Union; after leaving the island in 1933, he wrote an essay calledFarewell to Prinkipo. In 1997Çelik Gülersoy, who had worked to restore some of the island's buildings, publishedBüyükada Dün (Büyükada Yesterday). In 2007John Freely'sThe Princes' Islands exhaustively listed the historic mansions on the island. In 2009 the poet and translator Joachim Sartorius published an exquisite short travelogue calledThe Princes' Islands: Istanbul's Archipelago which mainly focused on Büyükada. In 2023,Yapı Kredi Yayınları publishedBüyükada – The Moris Danon Collection byBüke Uras, which documents a period from the second quarter of the 19th century to the middle of 20th century with photographs and supporting text.
The island is accessible byŞehir Hatları ferries fromEminönü andKabataş on the European side of Istanbul and fromKadıköy andBostancı on the Asian side of the city.
Büyükada is 4.3 km (2.6 miles) long and 1.3 km (0.8 miles) wide. The centre of the island is dominated by two peaks. The one nearest to the ferry landing is theHill of Jesus (Turkish:İsa Tepesi), which is 164 m (538 ft) high. The second is the Great Hill (Turkish:Yücetepe) which is 202 m (663 ft) high. The island has several small strips of sand and pebble beach too, the most popular being Yörük Ali Plajı near Dilburnu.
Most development on the island is on its northern side with the south still largely wooded.
During the period of Byzantine rule the Princes' Islands became a place where rulers founded churches and monasteries but where they also dumped their enemies to prevent them from plotting to harm them. The Byzantine EmperorJustin II was the first of the rulers who is known to have built a convent (as well as a palace) on Prinkipo in C.E. 569.[2] This was expanded byEmpress Eirene and soon began to serve as a place of exile for the Byzantine empressesIrene,Euphrosyne,Theophano,Zoe andAnna Dalassena.
Prinkipo was one of the last places that the Ottomans managed to seize from the Byzantine. It then settled down as a sleepy backwater until 1846 when the first ferry service made it easily accessible from mainlandConstantinople/Istanbul whereupon it became an increasingly popular summer retreat for wealthier city residents. Most of its Greek residents left in thepopulation exchange of 1923 or after thepogrom of 1955 and the expulsion order of 1966. Many of the Armenians were driven out in 1924. Just a few Jews still live on the island.
At one time iron mining took place on the island in the area now called Maden (Mine). International tourism to the Princes' Islands was relatively slow to take off but by 2015 was becoming the dominant economic factor.
Until 2020 the only transportation on Büyükada (as on the other inhabited Princes' islands) had been horse-drawn phaetons (fayton). However, the explosion of tourism on the island had made this increasingly unsustainable and, under pressure from animal-rights activists, the decision was made to replace the horses with electric vehicles, bringing to an end a tradition that had made the islands unique in Turkey.[3][4]
The introduction of electric buses on the island prompted protests from local residents who see them as a threat to the island's pedestrianized areas.[5]
By far the most important attraction for tourists on Büyükada is theGreek Orthodox monastery ofHagios Georgios Koudonas (St George of the Bells) on Yüceptepe, which was probably founded in the 10th century although what remains on the site now dates from the mid-18th to 19th centuries. The monastery's name recalls an early 17th-century legend according to which a shepherd boy watching his flocks heard the sound of bells coming from underground, dug down into the earth and uncovered an icon of St George that had been buried to protect it from the Fourth Crusaders in 1204. A copy of the icon can be seen in the monastery church although the original is now in the Ptriarchate church in Fener. The monastery now consists of half a dozen buildings spread across three levels and is he focus of an annual pilgrimage every April.[6] Traditionally standard phaeton tours used to bring visitors to the foot of the rocky path leading up to the monastery but these ceased to operate in 2020. The panoramic view back to mainland Istanbul from the monastery is reason enough for a visit.[7]
A second, less frequently visitedGreek Orthodox monastery dedicated to Sotiros Christou.(Christ the Saviour) stands on the top of İsa Tepesi. Although it, too, dates back to Byzantine times, most of what a modern visitor sees is work of the mid-19th century.
Also on İsa Tepesi is what should be the pride and joy of the island but is instead on its very last legs, the hugeGreek Orthodox Orphanage (Turkish: Rum Yetimhanesi) believed to be the largest wooden construction in Europe and the second largest in the world.[8] Originally intended to be a casino, it was built for a French company in 1898 and was designed by the Levantine architectAlexander Vallaury. AfterSultan Abdülhamid II refused to allow its use as a casino, it was bought by a woman who donated it to thePatriarchate to serve as an orphanage which it did until 1964 except during the First World War when it was used by theKuleli Military School. The building was given back to the Patriarchate by the state in 2010 but nothing was done to protect it from decay. In 2021 plans to restore the building were finally announced.[9] In the meantime it is off-limits to visitors.
There are several churches on the island although they are not always accessible to visitors. These are the Greek Orthodox Churches of the Panagia (Virgin Mary) and Hagios Demetrios (St Dimitri), the Franciscan Church of San Pacifico and the Armenian Church of Surp Astvadzadzin Verapolium.
One synagogue,Hesed Le Avram, still survives on the island although it is only open in the summer. The Hamidiye Mosque was built forAbdul Hamid II in 1893.
The island is still home to many beautiful 19th-century mansions especially alongÇankaya Caddesi, which has been described as "one of the most beautiful streets in the world".[10] Among the best known mansions are the Con Pasa Köşkü, the Yelkencizade Köşkü, the Hacopolo Köşkü, the Fabiato Köşkü and the Mizzi Köşkü.[11][12]
Opened in 2010, theMuseum of the Princes' Islands (Turkish: Adalar Muzesi) tells the story of the islands' people as much as of its buildings.[13]
In the 19th century the island had several well known hotels. The most conspicuous survivor is the Splendid Palace Hotel (1911) which still lords it over the waterfront with its two domes which once covered water cisterns.[14]
The prettyferry terminal was designed byArmenian architectMihran Azaryan inFirst National Architectural style in 1899 and started service in 1915.[15] It once housed the island's cinema. Not far inland is aclock tower erected in 1923, the year of the founding of the Turkish Republic. Beside it isFayton Meydanı which was, until 2020, filled with phaetons and their horses waiting to take visitors on a tour of the island.
Every year on St George's Day (23 April) visitors flock to the island to take part in a pilgrimage to the monastery of Hagios Georgios Koudanas on Yücetepe. Both Christians and Muslims take part in arcane rituals such as winding thread all the way along the path leading to the monastery. Since the date coincides with Turkey's Children and National Sovereignty Day public holiday (and sometimes with the Easter tourism period) the crowds attending can be enormous.[16]
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Today's masonry structure constructed in a place of former wooden pier, built at Büyükada in 1899, was designed by Mihran Azaryan.
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