Arnavutköy ( ' Albanian village'; ) is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Beşiktaş, Istanbul Province,

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 ...

. Its population is 3,574 (2022). It is renowned for its wooden Ottoman mansions and seafood restaurants, as well as for the campus of the prestigious Robert College with its historic buildings. It is part of the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, and is located between Ortaköy and Bebek on the

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

an shoreline of the Bosphorus strait. The existence of a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, church and

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

in close proximity to one another serves as a reminder of Arnavutköy's past cosmopolitanism. The coast road is usually lined with anglers and small fishing boats frequently pass Arnavutköy; the fresh fish caught is sometimes sold to the local seafood restaurants. At the eastern end of Arnavutköy the coast juts out to form Akıntıburnu (the Cape of the Current) where the waters of the Bosphorus once flowed so powerfully that small boats had to be towed round it, hence its Greek name for the area ("Great Current"). Infrequent Şehir Hatları (City Lines) ferries call in at the ferry terminal facing Arnavutköy's main square. Otherwise, the busy coast road is served by regular buses.

History

In antiquity, the area was known as Asomato and ''Anáplus''. In 1468, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror brought

Albanians The Albanians are an ethnic group native to the Balkan Peninsula who share a common Albanian ancestry, Albanian culture, culture, Albanian history, history and Albanian language, language. They are the main ethnic group of Albania and Kosovo, ...

to the city for pavement construction. He installed them in Arnavutköy, hence the name of the suburb. "Europäische Migranten sind verantwortlich für Ortsnamen wie Arnavutköy («Albanerdorf»)" "Some examples of prominent migrations such as migration of Albanians who were placed in Arnavutköy in 1468" "İlk defa Türkiye'ye Fatih Sultan Mehmet zamanında getirilen Arnavutlar, 1468 senesinde İstanbul’un Arnavutköy semtine yerleştirilmişlerdir. Arnavutköy, 1468 yılında Arnavut göçmenler tarafından oluşturulmuştur. Kültürümüzün temel taşlarından olan semtlere (Arnavutköy, Arnavutkaldırımı)" In 1863, Robert College, the oldest American school outside the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, was established on its current campus which originally stretched from Arnavutköy to the vicinity of Bebek and Rumelihisarı. In 1971, a section of this campus became part of Boğaziçi University, which was formerly the

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

section of the school. The

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

section, formerly named Robert Academy (RA) is still an American school and is located on the Arnavutköy side of the Robert College campus. According to the Salname for 1912, the district's total population was 7,482, consisting ethnographically of 5,973 Rûms (Christians), 493

Muslims Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

, 342

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

, 32

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

and 642 people of other nationality. During the WWI, the area suffered because of the British bombing of İstanbul. Arnavutköy used to be famous for its Ottoman strawberries, a less juicy and smaller version of the strawberries found throughout the rest of Turkey. A few strawberry fields still survive inland from the coast and every spring local greengrocers are mobbed by strawberry lovers.

Architecture

The waterfront at Arnavutköy is lined with some of the most picturesque late 19th and early 20th-century wooden houses to survive along the Bosphorus, many of them decorated in

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style. While they look very individual, it is thought that most of the decorative elements on the facades were actually mass-produced.

Education

The American Academy for Girls moved to Arnavutköy in 1914, but in 1923 moved to the Bağlarbaşı neighbourhood of

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

on the Asian side of the city where it continues to accept students as the Üsküdar American Academy.

Gallery

File:OldHouseIstanbul_(6).jpg File:Church of Hagia Strati in Arnavutköy Front.jpg File:OldHouseIstanbul_(8).jpg File:Sunset fishermen Arnavutköy.jpg File:OldHouseIstanbul (12).jpg File:Mitchell_Hall,_Robert_College.jpg File:Arnavutköy street 2.jpg File:Arnavutköy_quarter_of_Istanbul_on_the_Bosphorus,_Turkey_002.jpg

References

External links