Sivriada ( el, , ''Oxeia'') also known as Hayırsızada, is one of the

Princes' Islands The Princes' Islands ( tr, Prens Adaları; the word "princes" is plural, because the name means "Islands of the Princes", el, Πριγκηπονήσια, ''Pringiponisia''), officially just Adalar ( en, Islands); alternatively the Princes' Arch ...

in the

Sea of Marmara The Sea of Marmara,; grc, Προποντίς, Προποντίδα, Propontís, Propontída also known as the Marmara Sea, is an inland sea located entirely within the borders of Turkey. It connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea via the ...

, near

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, ...

. The island, which has an area of 0.05 km², is officially a neighbourhood in the

Adalar The Princes' Islands ( tr, Prens Adaları; the word "princes" is plural, because the name means "Islands of the Princes", el, Πριγκηπονήσια, ''Pringiponisia''), officially just Adalar ( en, Islands); alternatively the Princes' Arch ...

district of

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. Sivriada was often used by the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

clerics as a distant place for peaceful worship, and by the Byzantine emperors as a convenient prison to detain prominent people whom they deemed troublesome. The first famous person to be imprisoned in the island by the order of emperor

Nikephoros I Nikephoros I or Nicephorus I ( gr, Νικηφόρος; 750 – 26 July 811) was Byzantine emperor from 802 to 811. Having served Empress Irene as '' genikos logothetēs'', he subsequently ousted her from power and took the throne himself. In r ...

was

Plato of Sakkoudion Platon the Studite, also Plato of Sakkoudion ( gr, Ὅσιος Πλάτων τῆς Μονῆς τῶν Σακκουδίων), probably Constantinople, ca. 735 – Constantinople, 4 April 814, was a Byzantine minor official who became a monk in 759 ...

, the uncle of renowned cleric Theodoros Stoudites, for supporting his nephew in his conflict with the emperor. Other famous people who stayed in the island for religious and political reasons were Gebon, Basil Skleros,

Nikephoritzes Nikephoritzes ( el, Νικηφορίτζης) was an influential Byzantine eunuch official, who served as chief minister and virtual ruler of the Byzantine Empire during the reign of Emperor Michael VII Doukas (r. 1071–1078). His actual name was ...

(the chief minister of

Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas ( gr, Μιχαήλ Δούκας), nicknamed Parapinakes ( gr, Παραπινάκης, lit. "minus a quarter", with reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine e ...

), Patriarch John of Antioch and

Patriarch Michael II of Constantinople Michael II Kourkouas (Oxeites) (Greek: Μιχαήλ Β΄ Κουρκούας), (? – after 1146) was an Eastern Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople (July 1143 – March 1146). In early 1143 Patriarch Leo and Emperor John II Komnenos died ...

. The graves of those who died on the island during the Byzantine period can still be seen today. The ruins of a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

settlement and a 9th-century Byzantine monastery can still be seen on the shore, close to the fishermen's shelter, a small wharf which is often used by yachts. The most important buildings on the island were built in the 9th century AD, including a church, a chapel dedicated to religious martyrs, a monastery on the eastern end (with its walls still seen today) and a cistern in the center of the island (a part of which can still be seen). In 1911, in an event called "''Hayırsızada Dog Massacre''", the Governor of Istanbul ordered the stray dogs in the streets to be rounded up and exiled to Sivriada. About 80,000 dogs were killed during the ordeal, mostly due to hunger and thirst on the barren land of the island, and some due to drowning as they tried to escape the horrible conditions of the island. A severe earthquake which immediately followed the event was perceived by the local as "a punishment by God for abandoning the dogs." That is why the island is known both as Sivriada and Hayırsızada ("the inauspicious island").

References

Islands of the Sea of Marmara Islands of Turkey Fishing communities in Turkey Neighbourhoods of Adalar, Istanbul Islands of Istanbul Province {{Istanbul-geo-stub