Bakırköy | |
|---|---|
 Bakırköy district center (2025) | |
 Map showing Bakırköy District in Istanbul Province | |
  Bakırköy Location in Turkey Show map of Turkey Bakırköy Bakırköy (Istanbul) Show map of Istanbul | |
| Coordinates:40°58′59″N28°51′13″E / 40.98306°N 28.85361°E /40.98306; 28.85361 | |
| Country | Turkey |
| Province | Istanbul |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Ayşegül Ovalıoğlu (CHP) |
Area | 29 km2 (11 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[1] | 226,685 |
| • Density | 7,800/km2 (20,000/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (TRT) |
| Postal code | 34140 |
| Area code | 0212 |
| Website | www |
Bakırköy is a municipality anddistrict in theEuropean part ofIstanbul Province, Turkey.[2] Its area is 29 km2,[3] and its population is 226,685 (2022).[1] Bakırköy lies between theD.100 highway (locally known as E-5) and the coast of theSea of Marmara. Bakırköy houses a largepsychiatric hospital, and is an important shopping and commercial center.
Bakırköy, which was one of the largest districts of Istanbul with an area of 275 km² until 1989 and was bounded byÇatalca to the west,Eyüpsultan andGaziosmanpaşa to the north, shrunk both in terms of population and area with the local elections of 1989 and 1992, first with the separation ofKüçükçekmece and thenBahçelievler,Bağcılar andGüngören districts. Nowadays Bakırköy has a surface area of 29.22 km² with its new borders.[4]
While the average elevation is 20-30 meters throughout Bakırköy, this value rises to 70 meters in the north of the district. The ridges slope north-south towards theMarmara Sea. The coastal length of Bakırköy is 13 km, with small cliffs inYeşilköy andYeşilyurt neighborhoods and a sandy beach inFlorya.[5]
According to a 2024 urban ecology study focusing on Bakırköy andZeytinburnu, Bakırköy's green areas are 520 hectares, covering 17.39% of the overall area of the district. Since these green areas are not cemeteries but roads, streets and large parks orurban forests, Bakırköy presents a greener appearance compared to the Istanbul average. The study also identified six veteran trees (three mastic trees and three hackberry trees) in the residential neighborhoods of Bakırköy. In comparison, neighboring Zeytinburnu has 151 hectares of green space, mostly in cemeteries, which covers 13.02% of the district.[6]
In theByzantine period Bakırköy was a separate community outsideConstantinople, a well-watered pleasant seaside retreat from the city, and was calledHebdomon (Greek:Ἕβδομον, "the Seventh", i.e. sevenRoman miles from theMilion, the mile-marker monument of Constantinople).[7] Here - where nowadays the Ataköy Marina lies - the EmperorValens built one of the two Imperial Palaces bearing the name ofMagnaura, whileJustinian erected another Palace namedJucundianae, also placed near the seaside.[8] Two churches, dedicated respectively to St. John the Evangelist and to St. John Baptist the Forerunner, the latter hosting the head of the Saint and burial place of the EmperorBasil II, were also erected here.Hebdomon was a place of military exercise and concentration in what became known in Greek as theKampos tou Tribounaliou (Greek:Κάμπος τοῦ τριβουναλίου) (inLatinCampus Tribunalis), where several Roman andByzantine Emperors were elected throughacclamation by the army.[9] Among them wereValens,Arcadius,Honorius,Theodosius II,Phocas, andNikephoros II Phokas.[9] The Campus lay in the valley ofVeli Efendi, where now thehorse race course lies.[10] The imperial court came often to the Hebdomon to attend military parades, to welcome the Emperor coming back from campaign, or to pray in the large church of St. John Baptist the Forerunner.[9]
Later the place acquired the name ofMakrohori (Greek:Μακροχώρι "Long Village"), which was adapted to Makriköy (Turkish:Köy "village") in the Ottoman period, when many large houses were built there.Yeşilköy (San Stefano), located within the present boundaries of the district, wasoccupied by the Russians in 1877-1878, and theTreaty of San Stefano was signed there on 3 March 1878. By the pre-First World War period it was known as a holiday resort for residents within Constantinople proper.[11]
In 1925 the ancient denomination was changed toBakırköy ("Copper Village") by a law suppressing place names of non-Turkish derivation.[12] It was a district inBeyoğlu province between 1923 and 1926 and also at that time included the presentAvcılar,Bağcılar,Bahçelievler,Başakşehir,Esenler,Güngören andKüçükçekmece districts, the western boroughs ofZeytinburnu and until 1957 a small part of theArnavutköy district. It was the biggest district of Turkey before the separation ofKüçükçekmece.There is little remaining of historical significance in the area: what there is includes a cistern (Fildamı Sarnıcı),[13] a powder house from the 17th century (today used asYunus Emre Kültür Merkezi in Ataköy), theGreek Orthodox church of Saint George (consecrated on May 2, 1832) and a Greek school, the central mosque and fountain of 1875, anArmenian Church and school and the resting place of theMuslim saint Zuhurat Baba, a Turkish soldier who died during the conquest ofConstantinople. His resting place is often visited by women on Fridays. The seafront is now a popular location for tea gardens, clubs andrestaurants, (although the beaches have been unusable for decades).After 1960, the population increased rapidly. As a result of this rapid growth, in the 1950s, rural settlements such as Güngören, Kocasinan and Sefaköy quickly turned into slums with title deeds. A similar development took place in Esenler, Yenibosna and Yeşilbağ around Halkalı in the 1970s. However,Küçükçekmece was the first settlement within the borders of Bakırköy district that showed rapid development and became a separate municipality in 1956.Bakırköy became a popular residential area in the late 19th century after the construction of arailroad connection to İstanbul and until the 1970s was one of the most relaxed and desirable locations in the city. It is still populated by Istanbul's upper middle-class (tradespeople, bureaucrats, the retired).Some parts of Bakırköy are very pleasant residential areas, particularly the streets from the hospital downwards to the sea. The planned satellite town of Ataköy to the west of Bakırköy centre is very tidy indeed, and was one of Turkey's first planned residential developments. Ataköy contains much social infrastructure including theGalleria shopping center and yacht marina.
There are 15neighbourhoods in Bakırköy District:[14]
The centre of Bakırköy is an important commercial district. There is a huge shopping district (including a number of huge shiny shopping centres asCarousel), a range of cinemas, bars andcafés, as well as conversion of streets to pedestrian malls.Bakırköy is easy to reach by public transport; there are minibuses (Turkish:Dolmuş) to Beyoğlu throughout the night; there are buses toMecidiyeköy (although using theD.100 highway by bus is unpleasant indeed: there is aferry boat service that takes passengers toKadıköy andBostancı on theAsian side of the city and also to theAdalar (Islands); and the light-railway from the airport toAksaray runs through here. Moreover, the quarter has a station of the suburban railway line betweenSirkeci and Halkalı.Built in 1913,Veliefendi Race Course, Turkey's largest and oldest modernhorse-racing track (not including the ancienthippodromes in Turkey), is in close proximity.Istanbul's largest mental hospital is in Bakırköy, and the parkland surrounding it is the largest green space in the district.There is a popular belief that the underground water of Bakırköy comes from the river Danube.Being near theFault in the Sea of Marmara, Bakırköy is vulnerable to earthquake damage.
The headquarters ofTurkish Airlines are on the grounds ofIstanbul Atatürk Airport inYeşilköy in Bakırköy.[15]Borajet also has its head office in Yeşilköy.[16]
Bakırköy experiences aMediterranean climate (Csa/Cs) according to bothKöppen andTrewartha climate classifications, with cool winters and warm to hot summers. Bakırköy is, by a margin, the warmest district in Istanbul, with an average temperature of almost 15 °C (59 °F), with an especially significant difference in summer. Bakırköy is also one of the only districts in Istanbul with aUSDA hardiness zone rating of 9b and anAHS heat zone rating of 4.[17]
| Climate data forFlorya, Bakırköy, Istanbul (normals 1991–2020, extremes 1937–present, sunshine 1981-2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 20.5 (68.9) | 21.0 (69.8) | 26.0 (78.8) | 30.5 (86.9) | 33.5 (92.3) | 36.2 (97.2) | 37.4 (99.3) | 38.6 (101.5) | 39.5 (103.1) | 32.3 (90.1) | 26.4 (79.5) | 23.1 (73.6) | 39.5 (103.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.2 (48.6) | 9.8 (49.6) | 12.4 (54.3) | 17.1 (62.8) | 22.2 (72.0) | 26.8 (80.2) | 29.5 (85.1) | 29.7 (85.5) | 25.8 (78.4) | 20.8 (69.4) | 15.8 (60.4) | 11.1 (52.0) | 19.2 (66.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 6.2 (43.2) | 6.3 (43.3) | 8.3 (46.9) | 12.2 (54.0) | 17.2 (63.0) | 22.0 (71.6) | 24.7 (76.5) | 25.0 (77.0) | 21.1 (70.0) | 16.7 (62.1) | 12.1 (53.8) | 8.1 (46.6) | 15.0 (59.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 3.7 (38.7) | 3.6 (38.5) | 5.3 (41.5) | 8.6 (47.5) | 13.4 (56.1) | 17.8 (64.0) | 20.5 (68.9) | 21.1 (70.0) | 17.4 (63.3) | 13.6 (56.5) | 9.3 (48.7) | 5.7 (42.3) | 11.7 (53.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −12.6 (9.3) | −10.0 (14.0) | −9.6 (14.7) | −1.4 (29.5) | 1.4 (34.5) | 8.4 (47.1) | 11.0 (51.8) | 11.4 (52.5) | 6.7 (44.1) | 1.8 (35.2) | −4.6 (23.7) | −11.5 (11.3) | −12.6 (9.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 72.0 (2.83) | 78.8 (3.10) | 61.0 (2.40) | 51.5 (2.03) | 30.2 (1.19) | 31.5 (1.24) | 19.8 (0.78) | 26.1 (1.03) | 44.7 (1.76) | 80.4 (3.17) | 69.3 (2.73) | 87.3 (3.44) | 648.0 (25.51) |
| Average extreme snow depth cm (inches) | 7.0 (2.8) | 7.5 (3.0) | 1.1 (0.4) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | trace | 1.2 (0.5) | 12.4 (4.9) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 18.3 | 16.8 | 15.5 | 10.6 | 9.0 | 6.3 | 3.3 | 3.2 | 7.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 17.2 | 132.8 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 cm) | 2.7 | 3.5 | 0.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 8.0 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 79.1 | 78.4 | 75.7 | 73.1 | 73.1 | 70.3 | 68.2 | 69.7 | 71.8 | 77.2 | 78.3 | 78.9 | 74.5 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 89.3 | 103.4 | 154.8 | 198.2 | 279.0 | 286.2 | 310.7 | 284.2 | 201.7 | 152.1 | 112.0 | 83.3 | 2,254.9 |
| Mean dailysunshine hours | 2.8 | 3.6 | 4.9 | 6.6 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 9.1 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 3.7 | 2.6 | 6.1 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 28 | 32 | 40 | 50 | 64 | 63 | 66 | 65 | 55 | 44 | 37 | 28 | 48 |
| Source:[18][19][20][21][22] | |||||||||||||
The neighbourhoodassociation football team is calledBakırköyspor, once one of top teams in the country, currently a local lower league outfit.
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