The Mehmet Çakır Cultural and Sports Center ( tr, Mehmet Çakır Kültür ve Spor Merkezi) is a

cultural Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human Society, societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, and habits of the ...

and

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

complex located in

Çengelköy Çengelköy is a neighborhood in the Üsküdar district on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul, Turkey, between the neighborhoods of Beylerbeyi and Kuleli. It is mainly a residential district. Many mansions were built there in th ...

neighborhood of

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; w ...

district 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. It is named after Mehmet Çakır, the former mayor of Üsküdar district. The center was built by the Municipality of Üsküdar as a water sports complex on an area of in Çengelköy near

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 ...

. Inaugurated officially on May 26, 2015, the center has three indoor swimming pool halls for males and three for females, including two semi-olympic swimming pools of size with 200-spectator capacity each. It has further a multi-purpose hall and fitness center of , two

watsu Watsu is a form of aquatic bodywork used for deep relaxation and passive aquatic therapy. Watsu is characterized by one-on-one sessions in which a practitioner or therapist gently cradles, moves, stretches, and massages a receiver in chest-deep w ...

pools for

aquatic therapy Aquatic therapy refers to treatments and exercises performed in water for relaxation, fitness, physical rehabilitation, and other therapeutic benefit. Typically a qualified aquatic therapist gives constant attendance to a person receiving treat ...

, two shallow pools, gender-separated mini spa pools and a multi-purpose foyer of in addition to administrative offices, a meeting hall and changing rooms. The complex has a parking lot capable of 400 vehicles in total, including a covered obe for 300 vehicles. It is the biggest sports venue 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 part of Istanbul. The complex was closed for use due to leaking water from the pool beds down to the basement as reported in October 2015.

References

Sports venues in Istanbul Swimming venues in Turkey Sports venues completed in 2015 Üsküdar 2015 establishments in Turkey {{Turkey-sports-venue-stub