Abdul Hamid II Abdulhamid II or Abdul Hamid II (; ; 21 September 184210 February 1918) was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire, from 1876 to 1909, and the last sultan to exert effective control over the fracturing state. He oversaw a Decline and modernizati ...

Monument or Haydarpaşa Breakwater, is a monument located on the breakwater opposite

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 ...

Haydarpaşa railway station Haydarpaşa station () is a railway station in Istanbul, that was, until 2012 the main city terminal for trains travelling to and from the Anatolian side of Turkey. It used to be Turkey's busiest railway station. (Its counterpart on the European ...

. The monument was built by the architect

Alexander Vallaury Alexandre Vallaury (1850–1921) was a French- Ottoman architect who established architectural education in the Ottoman Empire at the School of Fine Arts in Constantinople. Nicknamed "architect of the city" () by Osman Hamdi Bey, Vallaury, alon ...

in honor of the 25th anniversary of Abdul Hamid II's accession to the throne. The monument, made entirely of

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

, was completed in 1902 and inaugurated on the 21st of September, Abdul Hamid II's birthday.

About

There is a

tughra A tughra (; ) is a calligraphy, calligraphic monogram, Seal (emblem), seal or signature of a sultan that was affixed to all official documents and correspondence. Inspired by the Tamga, tamgha, it was also carved on his seal and stamped on the co ...

and an

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

on the land side of the

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

, and a

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

on the sea side. Today, the tugra, coat of arms and inscription on the monument are not original.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haydarpaşa Breakwater Buildings and structures completed in 1902 Abdul Hamid II Monuments and memorials in Istanbul