The Galatasaray Islet ( tr, Galatasaray Adası) is a small island on the

Bosphorus 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 Tu ...

strait off Kuruçeşme neighbourhood in

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, ...

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 ...

, owned by Galatasaray Sports Club. Being situated just north of the

Bosphorus Bridge The Bosphorus Bridge ( tr, Boğaziçi Köprüsü), known officially as the 15 July Martyrs Bridge ( tr, 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü) and unofficially as the First Bridge ( tr, Birinci Köprü), is one of the three suspension bridges spannin ...

with its view of the Bosphorus it is an attractive location for its bars, 6 restaurants and two swimming pools. Only from the European coast, the islet is reachable by free ferry service. From Autumn 2002 to July 2007 Galatasaray Islet has undergone massive construction works, resulting in its transformation into the entertainment and recreation centre that is now serving the Galatasaray community and Istanbul. In the same year the constructions had been finished, on 4th October 2007, a fire broke out in a kitchen chimney and burnt down two restaurants and damaged four other premises on the

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanent ...

. In 2017 Nilhan Osmanoglu ( Sultan Abdulhamid's granddaughter) stated she would claim ownership of the islet in the future.

History

In 1872, Ottoman sultan Abdülaziz (reigned 1861–1876) granted the islet to the Ottoman-Armenian court architect

Sarkis Balyan The Balyan family ( hy, Պալեաններ; tr, Balyan ailesi or ''Palyan ailesi'') was a prominent Armenian family in the Ottoman Empire consisting of court architects in the service of Ottoman sultans and other members of the Ottoman dyna ...

(1835–1899), who erected a three-story house on it as his own residence. In 1874, during one of his several visits to Istanbul, Russian-Armenian painter

Ivan Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized a ...

stayed in the mansion of Sarkis on the islet, and made here a number of paintings commissioned by the sultan for the

Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace ( tr, Dolmabahçe Sarayı, ) located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coast of the Bosporus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 t ...

. Called as the "Sarkis Bey Islet" during his lifetime, it was rented out by his legal heirs after the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

to "Şirket-i Hayriye", the company operating passenger ferries in Istanbul, and was used for a long time as a coal depot. In 1957, Galatasaray S.K. purchased the islet and constructed premises and sports facilities on it. The swimming pool on the islet served home to the water polo team from 1957 to 1968.

References

External links

*
Galatasaray SK Official Web Site

Galatasaray Islet on Wikimapia
{{Galatasaray Sports Club Galatasaray S.K. facilities Islands of Istanbul Province Bosphorus Restaurants in Istanbul Islands of the Sea of Marmara Islands of Turkey