Falih Rıfkı Atay Nature Park ( tr, Falih Rıfkı Atay Tabiat Parkı) is a nature park located in

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is the northernmost district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European side of the city. It consists of the neighbourhoods of Rumelifeneri, Tarabya, Yeniköy, İstinye, Emirgan and Rumelihisarı. Sarıyer also administers the Black Sea co ...

district of

Istanbul Province ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_in ...

, Turkey. Situated northwest of Bahçeköy neighborhood of Sarıyer and next to the Neşet Suyu Nature Park, it covers an area of . It was established in 2011, and is one of the nine nature parks inside the

Belgrad Forest Belgrad Forest ( tr, Belgrad Ormanı) is a mixed deciduous forest lying adjacent to Istanbul, Turkey. It is named after the village next to the forest, settled by thousands of Serbs who were deported to the capital Constantinople from the city of ...

. The protected area is named in honor of journalist, writer and politician Falih Rıfkı Atay (1894–1971).

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

who were taken prisoners of war at the

Siege of Belgrade (1521) The siege of Belgrade in 1521 is an event that followed as a result of the third major Ottoman attack on this Hungarian stronghold in the Ottoman–Hungarian wars at the time of the greatest expansion of the Ottoman Empire to the west. Ottom ...

by Ottoman sultan

Suleiman the Magnificent Suleiman I ( ota, سليمان اول, Süleyman-ı Evvel; tr, I. Süleyman; 6 November 14946 September 1566), commonly known as Suleiman the Magnificent in the West and Suleiman the Lawgiver ( ota, قانونى سلطان سليمان, Ḳ ...

(reigned 1520–1566), were brought to Istanbul and settled in a village, which used to lie within the park boundaries. The nature park contains the ruins of a church, which is a protected

historic building This list is of heritage registers, inventories of cultural properties, natural and man-made, tangible and intangible, movable and immovable, that are deemed to be of sufficient heritage value to be separately identified and recorded. In many i ...

and was registered as cultural heritage in November 1999. The nature park offers outdoor recreational activities such as

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from t ...

and picnicing for visitors on daily basis. There are playgrounds for children. Admission is charged for visitors and vehicles and an open-air restaurant serves the visitors.

Ecosystem

The nature park has rich flora and fauna. Flora The park is the habitat for diverse species of plant. The main trees present are oak (''

Quercus robur ''Quercus robur'', commonly known as common oak, pedunculate oak, European oak or English oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native to most of Europe west of the Caucasus. It is widel ...

'') and hornbeam ('' Carpinus betulus''). Other

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, ...

trees include sessile oak (''

Quercus petraea ''Quercus petraea'', commonly known as the sessile oak, Cornish oak, Irish Oak or durmast oak, is a species of oak tree native to most of Europe and into Anatolia and Iran. The sessile oak is the national tree of Ireland, and an unofficial embl ...

''), kasnak oak (''

Quercus vulcanica ''Quercus vulcanica'' is a species of flowering plant in the Fagaceae family. It is referred to by the common name Kasnak oak, and is a rare species of tree native to Lebanon, Syria, and Turkey. It is placed in section ''Quercus''. ''Quercus vu ...

'') and shrubs are blackberry ('' Rubus plicatus''), butcher's-broom (''

Ruscus aculeatus ''Ruscus aculeatus'', known as butcher's-broom, is a low evergreen dioecious Eurasian shrub, with flat shoots known as cladodes that give the appearance of stiff, spine-tipped leaves. Small greenish flowers appear in spring, and are borne singly ...

''), tree heath (''

Erica arborea ''Erica arborea'', the tree heath or tree heather, is a species of flowering plant (angiosperms) in the heather family Ericaceae, native to the Mediterranean Basin and Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa. It is also cultivated as an o ...

'') and bay laurel (''

Laurus nobilis ''Laurus nobilis'' is an aromatic evergreen tree or large shrub with green, glabrous (smooth) leaves. It is in the flowering plant family Lauraceae. It is native to the Mediterranean region and is used as bay leaf for seasoning in cooking. ...

''). Some uncommon trees include silver linden ('' Tilia argentea'') and oriental beech (''

Fagus orientalis ''Fagus orientalis'', commonly known as the Oriental beech, is a deciduous tree in the beech family Fagaceae. It is native to Eurasia, in Eastern Europe and Western Asia. Description ''Fagus orientalis'' is a large tree, capable of reaching he ...

''). Anatolian catbrier (''

Smilax excelsa ''Smilax'' is a genus of about 300–350 species, found in the tropics and subtropics worldwide. In China for example about 80 are found (39 of which are endemic), while there are 20 in North America north of Mexico. They are climbing flowering ...

''), aubrietia (''Aubrieta cultorum''), wild strawberry (''Fragaria'') and catnip (''

Nepeta cataria ''Nepeta cataria'', commonly known as catnip, catswort, catwort, and catmint, is a species of the genus '' Nepeta'' in the family Lamiaceae, native to southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and parts of China. It is widely ...

'') are some of the flowering plants found in the nature park. Fauna Mainly observed fauna of the nature park are porcupines, squirrels,

turtle Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...

s, magpies,

crow A crow is a bird of the genus '' Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifica ...

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

s, sparrows and

finch The true finches are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Fringillidae. Finches have stout conical bills adapted for eating seeds and nuts and often have colourful plumage. They occupy a great range of habitats where they are usua ...

es. Across the nature park, there is a

deer farm A deer farm (technically a ranch) is fenced piece of a land suitable for grazing that is populated with deer species, such as elk, moose, reindeer, or especially white-tailed deer, raised as livestock. New Zealand is the largest supplier of farm ...

( tr, Geyik Üretme İstasyonu).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falih Rifki Atay Nature Park Nature parks in Turkey Protected areas established in 2011 2011 establishments in Turkey Parks in Istanbul Sarıyer Belgrad Forest

Ecosystem

See also

References