Gündoğdu Square () is a city square in

İzmir İzmir is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, third most populous city in Turkey, after Istanbul and Ankara. It is on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, and is the capital of İzmir Province. In 2024, the city of İzmir had ...

, Turkey. Located within between the neighborhoods of

Alsancak Alsancak is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Konak, İzmir, Konak, İzmir Province, Turkey. Its population is 5,581 (2022). It is part of the historic center of the city of İzmir. Overview As a notional zone, Alsancak extends ...

and Konak, it marks the center-point of the Kordon esplanade. At the center of the square is the ''Tree of the Republic Statue'' () to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the

Republic of Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Located within one of the city's two most famous parks, it is a major meeting point for people as well as staging area for political rallies and demonstrations.

History

Gündoğdu Square is one of the city's new major squares. It was built together with the Kordon esplanade in 2000. Originally, the esplanade was built with the intention of extending a 6-lane highway from Liman Avenue (connecting to the D.300) to central Konak, where it would continue to the O-32, to

Çeşme Çeşme, officially the Çeşme Municipality, is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 285 km2, and its population is 48,924 (2022). It sits at Turkey's westernmost end, on a promontory on t ...

, in

Balçova Balçova is a municipality and district of İzmir Province, Turkey. Its area is 16 km2, and its population is 80,721 (2022). It covers the western part of the Greater Metropolitan Area of İzmir. Balçova is a fully urbanized at the rate of 10 ...

. This plan was heavily opposed by many and was later converted into a park. Construction of the park and square was completed in 1999 and was officially opened to the public on 15 June 2000. In 2003 mayor Ahmet Piriştina requested the construction of a statue to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Republic. Ferit Özşen was chosen to design a statue, which was named the ''Tree of the Republic''. Ever since the square's opening, it has been used for many political rallies by Prime Ministers and party leaders as well as political protests such as the 2007 Republic Protests. Similar to

Taksim Square Taksim Square (, ), situated in Beyoğlu in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops, and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of th ...

Istanbul Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Gündoğdu Square is the primary meeting point in İzmir for the annual

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the Northern Hemisphere's March equinox, spring equinox and midsummer June solstice, solstice. Festivities ma ...

celebrations.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web, url=http://www.izmirmag.net/2016/04/dunden-bugune-kordonun-gecirdigi.html , title=Dünden Bugüne Kordon'un Geçirdiği Evrimin Hikayesi , website=izmirmag.net , language=Turkish , date=27 April 2016 , access-date=12 January 2018 {{cite web , url=http://www.egemeclisi.com/haber/19987/gundogdudaki-anitin-yaraticisi-ozsen-eserini-anlatti.html , title=Gündoğdu'daki anıtın yaratıcısı Özşen, eserini anlattı , website=egemeclisi.com , language=Turkish , date=24 May 2015 , access-date=12 January 2018 , archive-date=26 May 2015 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150526000152/http://www.egemeclisi.com/haber/19987/gundogdudaki-anitin-yaraticisi-ozsen-eserini-anlatti.html , url-status=dead Squares in İzmir Konak District

History

See also

References