Gülhane Park (, "Rosehouse Park") is a historical

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in the

Fatih Fatih () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 15 km2, and its population is 368,227 (2022). It is home to almost all of the provincial authorities (including the mayor's office, police headquarters, metro ...

district of

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 ...

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 ...

; it covers an area of 9.7 ha, is adjacent to and on the grounds of the

Topkapı Palace The Topkapı Palace (; ), or the Seraglio, is a large museum and library in the east of the Fatih List of districts of Istanbul, district of Istanbul in Turkey. From the 1460s to the completion of Dolmabahçe Palace in 1856, it served as the ad ...

. The south entrance of the park sports one of the larger gates of the palace. It is the oldest and one of the most expansive public parks in Istanbul.

History

The namesake of the park, the Gülhane ( English: ''Rosehouse'') present on the grounds, was the place where the 1839 Edict of Gülhane ( or ''Gülhane Hatt-ı Şerif-î'') was proclaimed. The edict launched the

Tanzimat The (, , lit. 'Reorganization') was a period of liberal reforms in the Ottoman Empire that began with the Edict of Gülhane of 1839 and ended with the First Constitutional Era in 1876. Driven by reformist statesmen such as Mustafa Reşid Pash ...

reforms in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, which modernized the empire and included changes such as the equalization of all Ottoman citizens, regardless of religion, before the law. The proclamation was made by Grand Vizier Mustafa Reşid Pasha, a leading statesman, diplomat, and reformer in the Empire. Gülhane Park was once part of the outer garden of

, and mainly consisted of a grove. A section of the outer garden was planned as a park by the municipality and opened to the public in 1912. The park previously contained recreation areas, coffee houses, playgrounds etc. Later, a small zoo was opened within the park. During the bombing of Istanbul, the area was affected by the British bombs in 1918. The park underwent a major renovation in recent years; the removal of the zoo, fun fair and picnic grounds effecting an increase in open space. The excursion routes were re-arranged and the big pool was renovated in a modern style. With concrete structures removed, the park regained the natural landscape of the 1950s, revealing trees dating from the 1800s.

The Istanbul Museum of the History of Science and Technology in Islam is located in the former stables of

, on the western edge of the park. It was opened in May 2008 by the Turkish Prime Minister

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

. The museum features 140 replicas of inventions of the 8th to 16th centuries, from astronomy, geography, chemistry, surveying, optics, medicine, architecture, physics and warfare. The Procession Kiosk ( Turkish: ''Alay Köşkü'') sits on the outer wall of the park overlooking the tramway and is accessible from inside the park. It contains the Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar Museum Library.

Future

The old

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

within the area of Gülhane is expected to be converted to a cultural center in due course; the center will host a library and exhibition hall together with a workshop on

kilim A kilim ( ; ; ) is a flat tapestry-weaving, woven carpet or rug traditionally produced in countries of the former Persian Empire, including Iran and Turkey, but also in the Balkans and the Turkic countries. Kilims can be purely decorative ...

and handicrafts. The park is so important for Istanbul because it has a dust holding capacity of 422.88 ton/year, and its carbon sink reaches up to 2738.9 ton. It can also produce 33.4 tons of oxygen per year.

References

Literature

* * Fanny Davis. ''Palace of Topkapi in Istanbul''. 1970. ASIN B000NP64Z2

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gulhane Park Fatih Parks in Istanbul Topkapı Palace Urban public parks

History

Future

See also

References

Literature

External links