On a Sunday, if you attend one of the cultural tours Fest Travel organizes, you would be able to have the chance to lose yourself in this old Istanbul neighborhood’s rich history.
Our well known writer Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil, is known as the name father of Yeşilköy which was known as the Ayastefanos in the old times. Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil was born in Istanbul on 1866 but his childhood and early youth were spent in Izmir. His family had returned to Istanbul, and lived in Buyukada and afterwards with the requests of a family friend who was also the owner of the Serveti Funun magazine Ahmet Ihsan Tokgoz, they have moved to Yeşilköy and remained in this neighborhood until the end of his days and tied to this nice waterfront community with all of his heart. This commitment reflected itself frequently in his novel “Forty Years”.
Even though it is not well known, according to some rumours, in 1920s when the local names were being replaced by the Turkish ones, Halit Ziya in a conversation had told Ataturk that, instead of Ayastafenos, this nice neighborhood should be called the mixture of the blue of Marmara and the green of the land and the name should be “Yeşilköy”. And since then, the Byzantine Ayestefanos, the name of a Christian saint, was changed and to be known as Yeşilköy.
According to the sources, the history of Ayastefanos goes back to the Byzantium times. After the spread of Christianity, and with an order of the Byzantium Emperor, the bones that were taken from the Saint Stephan’s grave in Jerusalem were brought to Constantinople, but as a gesture it was decided to be sent to Rome for the Pope. The ship that was carrying the bones of Saint Stephen had hit a big storm and in the face of capsizing had come ashore in Yeşilköy, and awaited the end of the storm. However, the storm had gotten only stronger, and the bones were carried to the shore from the ship and put into a small shack. In the meanwhile, the “Guests of God” sailors and the religious men were hosted for 10 days and when the storm ended, the bones were reloaded into the ship and went to their way to Rome. As it was mentioned in the sources, the sailors and the religious men had left some small pieces of the bones as gifts to this small village, and after a short time, a church was built where the shack stood, and in time this little fisherman’s village was getting to be known as Ayios Stefanos.
Some documents and sources point out that Yeşilköy Rum Church Ayios Stefanos was the the spot where the bones of the saint was protected.
In Halit Ziya Usakligil’s time, during the beginning of the 20th century, Yesilkoy was known as favorite of the fisherman, boatmen, coachmen, and the dairy producers along with politicians, writers and business people and from Istasyon Avenue to the Istanbul Avenue that stretches on the seaside, beautiful mansions and houses were built side by side, housing some of the most important people of that time. The first occupants of this small village were the Greeks, and later on they were followed by the Levantines, Armenians, Turks, Jews and their families and cultures and traditions had mixed into one amazing society. This cohesion had created one of the most beautiful mosaics of Istanbul. At the beginning of the century, some of the rich Levantine families that lives in Pera had their summer vacation mansions built in Yeşilköy and began to spend their summers there. Painter Count Amadeo Presziosi, architect Barborini, architect Guglio Mongeri, architect Semprini, architect Phillipe Bello, architect Carlo Amancich, Ferry family that had given their name to Feriköy, pharmacist Dellasuda family, musician Batrthelemy, Duyun-u Umumiye inspector Edouard Crespin, British Consul Peage, 3 generations of the Babiali translators Marinitch family had lived in Yeşilköy as the Levantine population. The churches of the three different societies that were built in this place and the Mecidiye Mosque that was built by one of our famous national architects Kemallettin Bey, are the most explicit examples the colorful history of this place. This place where for many many years the Ezan voices of the Muezzin that was mixed with the bells of the churches, had found a new blood with the passing railway, and the Pasa families of the Kececizade, Gelenbevizade’s; Istanbul Sehremaneti urban expert Salih Efendi; the last Albanian governor Hayrettin Pasa, Dr. Ahmet Nurettin Bey, Ahmet İhsan Tokgöz, one of our first pilots, Tayyareci Mithat Nuri Bey, Celal Sahir Ozansoy, Halit Ziya Uşaklıgil, and Operator Murat Bey were some of the Turkish population that had moved and lived in this lovely place.
Yeşilköy still remains as one of the better protected places in Istanbul. Some of the old eclectic wooden buildings, as in the Islands and other Bosphorus neighborhoods of Istanbul reflect this past. Also, some of the historical events that had taken place in this small fisherman’s village had shown us the importance of this place, and many interesting engravings of the district were made. One of the most important events in Yeşilköy’s history is the resting and the hosting place of the 4th Crusaders and their leader Enrico Dandolo before they capture the city. Also, before the conquest of Istanbul by Fatih Sultan Mehmet, the Turkish warships had battled the Byzantium ships and defeated them and this entered into the history books and the “Ayastefanos Sea Victory.” At the end of the 1877-1878 Russian Turkish war, the advancing Tsarist armies had come to Yeşilköy and placed their headquarters there in February-March 1878 and the most destructive agreement of the Ottoman history was signed here as the “Ayastefanos Agreement.” The Harekat Ordusu that came from the west in the command of Mahmut Sevket Pasa to put down the religious rebellion known as the “31 Mart Vakasi” had stayed in Yeşilköy and it was here that the decision was made to send the Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamit’s fate and his place of exile. During the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, this aea was turned into a field hospital and with the outbreaks of cholera, typhoid and typhus; thousands of soldiers had died awaiting treatment in this small village. Finally the renown Yeşilköy Lighthouse, with its fog horn, is one of the oldest light houses of Istanbul.
Today, Yeşilköy is one of the few neighborhoods of Istanbul that endeavors to preserve its cultural and physical attributes and characteristics alive. Some of the remaining Levantine families, few Greek and Armenian and Jewish families, old Turkish families and politicians, scientists, and artists, are trying to keep the colorful culture and identity of Yeşilköy alive.
Yeşilköy’s biggest chance is, they have one of the few “homegrown” municipal leaders running this neighborhood. Muhtar Bulent Yurtsever, has been producing formulas to keep and to preserve the culture and the identity of this nice place. One of his most important work is the “Yeşilköy Platform” that should be a good example to all local mayors. Through his online platform, all the people of Yeşilköy that were moved into the many parts of the world had found a chance to unite and get together and share their past, history, memories and experiences with each other and this had resulted on the creation of a marvelous neighborhood archive.
On a Sunday if you attend one of the cultural tours that Fest Travel organizes, you would be able to catch the chance to lose yourself in this old Istanbul neighborhood’s rich history.
