The Galatasaray Islet ( tr, Galatasaray Adası) is a small island on the

Bosphorus The Bosporus Strait (; grc, Βόσπορος ; tr, İstanbul Boğazı 'Istanbul strait', colloquially ''Boğaz'') or Bosphorus Strait is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul in northwestern Tu ...

strait off Kuruçeşme neighbourhood in

Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_i ...

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

, owned by

Galatasaray Sports Club Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

. Being situated just north of the

Bosphorus Bridge The Bosphorus Bridge ( tr, Boğaziçi Köprüsü), known officially as the 15 July Martyrs Bridge ( tr, 15 Temmuz Şehitler Köprüsü) and unofficially as the First Bridge ( tr, Birinci Köprü), is one of the three suspension bridges spanning ...

with its view of the Bosphorus it is an attractive location for its bars, 6 restaurants and two swimming pools. Only from the European coast, the islet is reachable by free ferry service. From Autumn 2002 to July 2007 Galatasaray Islet has undergone massive construction works, resulting in its transformation into the entertainment and recreation centre that is now serving the Galatasaray community and Istanbul. In the same year the constructions had been finished, on 4th October 2007, a fire broke out in a kitchen chimney and burnt down two restaurants and damaged four other premises on the

islet An islet is a very small, often unnamed island. Most definitions are not precise, but some suggest that an islet has little or no vegetation and cannot support human habitation. It may be made of rock, sand and/or hard coral; may be permanen ...

. In 2017 Nilhan Osmanoglu ( Sultan Abdulhamid's granddaughter) stated she would claim ownership of the islet in the future.

History

In 1872, Ottoman sultan

Abdülaziz Abdulaziz ( ota, عبد العزيز, ʿAbdü'l-ʿAzîz; tr, Abdülaziz; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was overthrown in a government coup. He was a ...

(reigned 1861–1876) granted the islet to the Ottoman-Armenian court architect Sarkis Balyan (1835–1899), who erected a three-story house on it as his own residence. In 1874, during one of his several visits to Istanbul, Russian-Armenian painter

Ivan Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized ...

stayed in the mansion of Sarkis on the islet, and made here a number of paintings commissioned by the sultan for the

Dolmabahçe Palace Dolmabahçe Palace ( tr, Dolmabahçe Sarayı, ) located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coast of the Bosporus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1887 and from 1909 t ...

. Called as the "Sarkis Bey Islet" during his lifetime, it was rented out by his legal heirs after the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

to "Şirket-i Hayriye", the company operating passenger ferries in Istanbul, and was used for a long time as a coal depot. In 1957,

Galatasaray S.K. Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

purchased the islet and constructed premises and sports facilities on it. The swimming pool on the islet served home to the water polo team from 1957 to 1968.

References

External links

*
Galatasaray SK Official Web Site

Galatasaray Islet on Wikimapia
{{Galatasaray Sports Club Galatasaray S.K. facilities Islands of Istanbul Province Bosphorus Restaurants in Istanbul Islands of the Sea of Marmara Islands of Turkey