Hasanpaşa Gasworks (, also known as ''Kadıköy Gazhanesi'' or ''Kurbağalıdere Gazhanesi''), today known as Museum Gasworks (''Müze Gazhane''), was a

gasworks A gasworks or gas house is an industrial plant for the production of flammable gas. Many of these have been made redundant in the developed world by the use of natural gas, though they are still used for storage space. Early gasworks Coal ...

to produce

coal gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...

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. Built in 1892, it was redeveloped into an arts, cultural center and technology museum in 2021.

History

Hasanpaşa Gasworks, today Museum Gasworks () is located at Kurbağalıdere St. 125 in Hasanpaşa neighborhood of

Kadıköy Kadıköy () is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district on the Asian side of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 25 km2, and its population is 467,919 (2023). It is a large and populous area in the Asian si ...

district in Istanbul, Turkey. It was built in 1892 during 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 ...

to meet the need of

and electric power on the

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

n part of Istanbul. At that time, it was one of the four gasworks in Istanbul, the others were at Dolmabahçe,

Yedikule Yedikule (''Seven Towers'') is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Fatih, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 15,789 (2022). It is named after the seven-towered Yedikule Fortress, which surrounds the neighborhood. Urbaniz ...

and

Kuzguncuk Kuzguncuk is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Üsküdar, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 4,151 (2022). It is on the Asian side of the Bosphorus. The neighborhood is centered on a valley opening to the Bosphorus and i ...

. The lighting of Istanbul's Anatolian side has been done since the 1860s by gas supplied from the Kuzguncuk Gasworks. As it became insufficient, the building of a new gasworks was projected. On 28 July 1891, a 50-years concession was granted to the Ottoman incorporated company "Lighting with Gas and Electricity" to serve the districts

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 ...

and the Anatolian side with lighting and heating using

. The agreement was signed between Engineer Anatoli Barcil representing

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

-based iron industrialist Charles Georges and Mayor Rıdvan Pasha representing the Ottoman State. Architect-contractor Guglielmo Semprini started the construction of the gasworks on 1 August 1891. The gasworks went into service in 1892 run by "Üsküdar-Kadıköy Gaz Şirket-i Tenviriyesi" ("Üsküdar-kadıköy Gas Lighting Company"). Located close to the stream Kurbağalıdere in Kadıköy, coal was brought over the stream, transported to the gasworks by rail, and processed to coal gas. The gasworks, named "Kurbağalıdere Gasworks" or "Kadıköy Gasworks", was called later as " Hasanpaşa Gasworks" due to its location. The gasworks operated continuously until

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Its gas production discontinued from time to time shortly during and after the war. During the times of coal shortage, it fired

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

pits to prevent interruption in gas supply. It continued to function during the Republican era. In October 1924, one year after the foundation of the Republic, the Turkish government extended the concession with the "Üsküdar-Kadıköy Gas Company" for another 50 years. The agreement was signed by Mayor Emin for the government and company's board member Arif Hilmet.The company, which run the Yedikule Gasworks, purchased the "Üsküdar-Kadıköy Gas Co." in 1926, and continued as "İstanbul Havagazı ve Elektrik Teşebbüsatı Sanaiye Türk Anonim Şirketi" ("Istanbul Gas and Electricity Industrial Enterprise Turkish Inc. Co."). Between 1938 and 1944, Kadıköy Gasworks continued to exist independently. It served under the roof of the company "Istanbul Elektrik, Tramvay ve Tüne Şirketi, IETT" ("Istanbul Electricity, Tram and Funicular Co.") between 1945 and 1993. The operation of the gasworks ceased on 13 June 1993 due to the decrease in gas demand after

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

came into use.

Redevelopment project

After the gasworks closed down, its land was used by the İETT as warehouse, garage,

wrecking yard A wrecking yard (Australian, New Zealand, and Canadian English), scrapyard ( Irish, British and New Zealand English) or junkyard (American English) is the location of a business in dismantling where wrecked or decommissioned vehicles are brou ...

garbage dump A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials. It is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of waste with daily, intermediate and final covers only began in the 1940s. In the past, waste was ...

and coal storage. In 1994, it was decided to dismantle the remaining parts of the structure. The demolition was prevented as a result of the resistance of the residents and the support of non-governmental organizations. The gasworks was declared a protected area. The non-profit organization "Gazhane Çevre Gönüllüleri" ("Gasworks Environmental Volunteers") started to organize in 1996, and turned into a cooperative in 1998. The volunteers requested to transform the gasworks into a cultural center. Eight festivals were held at the site until 2009. The free-of-charge festivals consisted of exhibitions, music concerts, dance and theatre shows. A restoration project was prepared by

Istanbul Technical University Istanbul Technical University, also known as Technical University of Istanbul (, commonly referred to as İTÜ), is an public university, public technical university located in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the world's third-oldest technical university ...

(İTÜ) between 1998 and 2001. After approval of the project by the Conservation Board in 2014, Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality issued invitations for tender on 8 January the same year. Responsible for the supervision and direction of the project was the

History of Architecture The history of architecture traces the changes in architecture through various traditions, regions, overarching stylistic trends, and dates. The beginnings of all these traditions is thought to be humans satisfying the very basic need of shelt ...

and Restoration Deportment at İTÜ's Faculty of Architecture. The renovation works started on 7 March 2014 and were completed in 2021 with two years delay.

Museum Gasworks

The building was opened as the new culture and arts center of Istanbul on 9 July 2021, under the name of "Müze Gazhane" ("Museum Gasworks"). It is a science and technology museum with a cartoon exhibition section. The museum covers an area of . It consists of a library having about 10,000 books, named after Prof. Afife Batur, the leader of the restoration project, two theater halls, one with 300 seating capacity and the other one with 130 seater, cafeteria, restaurant and social areas.

Gallery

File:Müze_Gazhane_(11).jpg, Site of the Gasworks File:Gazhane.jpg, Open air concert inside the complex File:Müze_Gazhane_2021_(3).jpg, Site of the Gasworks File:Müze Gazhane 2021 (1).jpg, A view from the museum's interior. File:Afife Batur Kütüphanesi (2).jpg, Afife Batur Library at the museum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hasanpasa Gasworks Gasworks in Turkey Buildings and structures in Istanbul Industrial buildings in Turkey 1892 establishments in the Ottoman Empire 1993 disestablishments in Turkey Redevelopment projects in Istanbul Museums in Istanbul Arts centres in Turkey Cultural centers in Turkey Technology museums in Turkey Museums established in 2021 2021 establishments in Turkey Kadıköy

History

Redevelopment project

Museum Gasworks

See also

Gallery

References