__NOTOC__ The Ahırkapı Feneri, a historical

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mar ...

still in use, is located at the southern

Seraglio Point Sarayburnu ( tr, Sarayburnu, meaning ''Palace Cape''; known in English as the Seraglio Point) is a promontory quarter separating the Golden Horn and the Sea of Marmara in Istanbul, Turkey. The area is where the renowned Topkapı Palace and Gülh ...

on the

Rumelia Rumelia ( ota, روم ايلى, Rum İli; tr, Rumeli; el, Ρωμυλία), etymologically "Land of the Names of the Greeks#Romans (Ῥωμαῖοι), Romans", at the time meaning Eastern Orthodox Christians and more specifically Christians f ...

n coast of

Bosporus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern T ...

' south entrance, in Ahırkapı neighborhood of

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Fatih Fatih () is a district of and a municipality (''belediye'') in Istanbul, Turkey, and home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the governor's office, police headquarters, metropolitan municipality and tax office) but not the co ...

district,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. It is across from the

Kadıköy İnciburnu Feneri The Kadıköy İnciburnu Feneri (aka ''Kadıköy Feneri'' or ''İnciburnu Feneri'') is a lighthouse located at the head of Kadıköy Harbor's İnciburnu Breakwater on the Anatolian coast of Bosporus' south entrance, in Kadıköy district of Istanb ...

, which is on the

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

n coast of the strait at a distance of . A line connecting the two lighthouses marks the southern boundary of the Port of Istanbul.

History

It is told that a marine accident, which occurred near this location, led to the establishment of the lighthouse. In 1755, a merchant sail ship bound for

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

ran aground off the shore of

Kumkapı Kumkapı (meaning 'sand gate' in Turkish) is a quarter in Fatih district of Istanbul. It is located along the northern shore of Marmara Sea. Up to recent times, Kumkapı is the center of the Armenian community of the city, boasting a school an ...

due to bad weather conditions in the night. Hearing of the ship grounding, Ottoman

sultan Sultan (; ar, سلطان ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it ...

Osman III Osman III ( ota, عثمان ثالث ''Osmān-i sālis'';‎ 2 January 1699 – 30 October 1757) was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1754 to 1757. Early life Osman III was born on 2 January 1699 in the Edirne Palace. His father was Mus ...

(reigned 1754–1757) rushed to the scene, where a seaman complained about the lack of a lighthouse there that could provide safe navigation around the hazardous waters. On the sultan's order, a light fueled by

olive oil Olive oil is a liquid fat obtained from olives (the fruit of ''Olea europaea''; family Oleaceae), a traditional tree crop of the Mediterranean Basin, produced by pressing whole olives and extracting the oil. It is commonly used in cooking: f ...

was established by the

Kapudan Pasha The Kapudan Pasha ( ota, قپودان پاشا, modern Turkish: ), was the Grand Admiral of the navy of the Ottoman Empire. He was also known as the ( ota, قپودان دریا, links=no, modern: , "Captain of the Sea"). Typically, he was based ...

atop a watchtower of the city's walls at this location.

Ahırkapı Lighthouse

In 1857, Sultan

Abdülmecid I Abdulmejid I ( ota, عبد المجيد اول, ʿAbdü'l-Mecîd-i evvel, tr, I. Abdülmecid; 25 April 182325 June 1861) was the 31st Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and succeeded his father Mahmud II on 2 July 1839. His reign was notable for the r ...

(reigned 1839–1861) commissioned the building of a lighthouse, which was constructed by

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

engineers in Ahırkapı (literally en, Stable Gate) right outside of the city walls south of the

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace ( tr, Topkapı Sarayı; ota, طوپقپو سرايى, ṭopḳapu sarāyı, lit=cannon gate palace), or the Seraglio A seraglio, serail, seray or saray (from fa, سرای, sarāy, palace, via Turkish and Italian) i ...

. The masonry lighthouse has a

conical A cone is a three-dimensional geometric shape that tapers smoothly from a flat base (frequently, though not necessarily, circular) to a point called the apex or vertex. A cone is formed by a set of line segments, half-lines, or lines conn ...

shape and is painted white with one narrow black horizontal band. To the tower, a keeper's house is attached. Initially, the lighthouse was lit by

kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

, however the light source was later replaced by

Dalén light A Dalén light is a light produced from burning of carbide gas (acetylene), combined with a solar sensor which automatically operates the light only during darkness. Overview The technology was the predominant form of light source in lighthouse ...

using

carbide In chemistry, a carbide usually describes a compound composed of carbon and a metal. In metallurgy, carbiding or carburizing is the process for producing carbide coatings on a metal piece. Interstitial / Metallic carbides The carbides of the ...

(

acetylene Acetylene (systematic name: ethyne) is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in its pure ...

gas). Finally, it was electrified. The lighthouse's lantern has a 500mm

catadioptric A catadioptric optical system is one where refraction and reflection are combined in an optical system, usually via lenses (dioptrics) and curved mirrors (catoptrics). Catadioptric combinations are used in focusing systems such as searchlights, he ...

cylindrical lens A cylindrical lens is a lens which focuses light into a line instead of a point, as a spherical lens would. The curved face or faces of a cylindrical lens are sections of a cylinder, and focus the image passing through it into a line parallel to i ...

and a 1,000 W lamp. At a focal height of , it flashes white every 6 seconds, which is visible at a range of in the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

. Ahırkapı Feneri is listed in Turkey under the code "TUR-056" and its radio call sign is TC1ALH. It is operated and maintained by the Coastal Safety Authority ( tr, Kıyı Emniyeti Genel Müdürlüğü) of the Ministry of Transport and Communication.

Transport

The lighthouse is in walking distance from the

Cankurtaran railway station Cankurtaran is an indefinitely closed railway station on the Istanbul suburban, in Istanbul, Turkey. It is located in the neighborhood of Cankurtaran in the historic peninsula of İstanbul. The station is located on Şadırvan Street. Cankurtaran ...

, now dismissed, which was served by the

İstanbul-Halkalı Line The Istanbul suburban railway, locally referred to as B1 ( tr, İstanbul Banliyösü), was an important rail line in İstanbul, Turkey. It was operated by the Turkish State Railways and was one of Istanbul's two commuter rail lines (the other bein ...

before the construction of

Marmaray The Marmaray () is a intercontinental commuter rail line in Istanbul, Turkey. A rail tunnel running under the Bosphorus strait was connected to an upgraded version of the old suburban train service (known as the banliyö), allowing trains ...

References

External links

Directorate General of Coastal Safety
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahirkapi Feneri Lighthouses completed in 1857 Bosphorus Sea of Marmara Fatih Lighthouses in Istanbul 1857 establishments in the Ottoman Empire

History

Ahırkapı Lighthouse

Transport

See also

References

External links