A yalı ( tr, yalı, from

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

''yialí'' (mod. ''yialós''), literally "seashore, beach") is a house or mansion built right on the waterside (almost exclusively seaside, particularly 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 A strait is an oceanic landform connecting two seas or two other large areas of water. The surface water generally flows at the same elevation on both sides and through the strait in either direction. Most commonly, it is a narrow ocean chan ...

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 ...

) and usually built with an architectural concept that takes into account the characteristics of the coastal location. A family who owned a waterside residence would spend some time in this usually secondary residence located at the sea shore, as opposed to the '' konak'' ("mansion", aside from the term's use to refer to buildings with administrative functions) or the ''

köşk Köşk is a district in Aydın Province, Aegean Region, Turkey. Köşk is a noun in Turkish and refers to an ornate wooden mansion, smaller than a palace. References External links the municipalitythe district governorate Populated places ...

'' ("pavilion", often serving a determined practical purpose, such as hunting, or implying a temporary nature). Thus, going to the "yalı" acquired the sense of both going to the seaside and to the house situated there. In its contemporary sense, the term "yalı" is used primarily to denote those 620 waterside residences constructed during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and sprinkled along the Bosphorus in

. As such, they are one of the area's landmarks. Finely worked wood was the predominant construction material chosen for yalıs, as it was for the large majority of traditional Turkish houses. Successive restorations often caused the wooden parts of the overall structure to be gradually reduced, but wood nevertheless remains the prominent and identifying material of historic yalıs. It is not uncommon for the most recently restored mansions to employ wood principally for external decoration purposes. The oldest surviving yalı is the one built by the

grand vizier Grand vizier ( fa, وزيرِ اعظم, vazîr-i aʾzam; ota, صدر اعظم, sadr-ı aʾzam; tr, sadrazam) was the title of the effective head of government of many sovereign states in the Islamic world. The office of Grand Vizier was first ...

Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha (" Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha the Nephew"; in sq, Hysein Pashë Kypriljoti) (1644–1702) of the Köprülü family, was the grand vizier of the Ottoman Empire under Mustafa II from September 1697 until September ...

(of the highly influent Köprülü family) in 1699 at the

Kanlıca Kanlıca is a neighbourhood on the Asian side of the Bosphorus strait, in the Beykoz district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. It is known for a yogurt sprinkled with caster sugar, which is sold in local cafés, ibcluding thİsmailağa Kahvesiwhich h ...

neighbourhood (within

Beykoz Beykoz (), also known as Beicos and Beikos, is a district in Istanbul, Turkey at the northern end of the Bosphorus on the Anatolian side. The name is believed to be a combination of the words bey and ''kos'', which means "village" in Farsi. Bey ...

district), on the

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

tic shores of the Bosphorus. From this yalı, the hall of audience (') and its immediate annexes have survived. On the opposite

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

an shores, the oldest to remain is the "Şerifler Yalısı" in the Emirgan neighbourhood (within

Sarıyer Sarıyer () is the northernmost district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European side of the city. It consists of the neighbourhoods of Rumelifeneri, Tarabya, Yeniköy, İstinye, Emirgan and Rumelihisarı. Sarıyer also administers the Black Sea co ...

district), which was built in 1780 but bears the name of a later owner. The most expensive yalı is "Erbilgin Yalısı" located in Yeniköy, Istanbul. In 2007,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

magazine listed "Erbilgin Yalısı" as the fifth most expensive house in the world with a price tag of $100 million.

Cornucopia In classical antiquity, the cornucopia (), from Latin ''cornu'' (horn) and ''copia'' (abundance), also called the horn of plenty, was a symbol of abundance and nourishment, commonly a large horn-shaped container overflowing with produce, flowers ...

, a magazine about the arts, culture and history of Turkey, has a regular feature on the Bosphorus yalıs, their architecture and their interiors. Notable inclusions have been the Yalı of

Kıbrıslı Mehmed Emin Pasha Kıbrıslı Mehmed Emin Pasha ("Mehmed Emin Pasha the Cypriot"; 1813–1871) was an Ottoman civil servant and statesman of Turkish Cypriot origin, who served at the top post of Grand Vizier during three different times under the reign of the ...

, the Yalı of Ethem Pertev, the Yalı of Saffet Pasha, and the Yalı of Zeki Pasha.

Image gallery

File:Istanbul - Yeniköy.JPG, Yeniköy, on the

. File:Istanbul img 4941.jpg, Ottoman era waterfront houses (''yalı'') on the Bosphorus. File:36, Bosforo-ko yali gehiago ferrytik.jpg, Ottoman era waterfront houses (''yalı'') on the Bosphorus. File:Yalı in Kanlıca on the Bosphorus, Turkey 001.jpg, Ottoman era waterfront houses (''yalı'') on the

. File:Istanbul Bosphorus 04 (7697805260).jpg, Ottoman era waterfront houses (''yalı'') on the

. File:قصر نور و مهند.JPG, Ottoman era waterfront house (''yalı'') on the

. File:Elbiseci Ahmet Bey Yalısı and Esre Umur Yalısı in Kanlıca on the Bosphorus, Turkey 001.jpg, ''Elbiseci Ahmet Bey Yalısı'' and ''Esra Umur Yalısı'' in

on the

. File:Elbiseci Ahmet Bey Yalısı and Esre-Esra Umur Yalısı.jpg, ''Esra Umur Yalısı'' and ''Necati Bey Yalısı'' in

on the

. File:Haci Ahmet Bey Yali on Bosphorus, Kanlica, Turkey.JPG, ''Hacı Ahmet Bey Yalısı'' in

on the

. File:Sadrazam Kadri Pasha Yalısı in Kanlıca, Turkey 001.jpg, ''Sadrazam Kadri Paşa Yalısı'' in

on the

. File:Yağcı Hacı Şefik Bey Yalısı on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey 001.jpg, ''Yağcı Hacı Şefik Bey Yalısı'' in

on the

. File:Zarif Mustafa Paşa Yalısı in Kanlıca on the Bosphorus, Turkey 002.jpg, ''Zarif Mustafa Paşa Yalısı'' in

on the

. File:Zarif Mustafa Paşa Yalısı in Kanlıca on the Bosphorus, Turkey 001.jpg, ''Zarif Mustafa Paşa Yalısı'' in

on the

. File:Hekimbaşı Salih Efendi Yalısı on the Bosphorus, Turkey001.jpg, ''Hekimbaşı Salih Efendi Yalısı'' in

on the Bosphorus, before being damaged in 2018 File:Saffet Paşa Yalısı in Kanlıca on the Bosphorus, Turkey 001.JPG, ''Saffet Paşa Yalısı'' in Kanlıca on the Bosphorus. File:Ahmet Rasim Paşa Yalısı (A'ija Hotel) on the Bosphorus, Turkey 001.jpg, ''Yalı'' of Ahmet Rasim Pasha in Kanlıca on the

. File:Kanlica.JPG, Kanlıca, on the

. File:İstanbul - Kanlıca, Beykoz r2- Şub 2013.JPG, Kanlıca, on the Bosphorus. File:Âli Pasa Yalısı (Hidiva Sarayı) in Bebek, Istanbul, Turkey 001.jpg, ''Yalı'' of Âli Pasha (currently the Egyptian Consulate) in Bebek on the

. File:Ostrorog.jpg, ''Yalı'' of Count Ostrorog on the

. File:Kıbrıslı Yalısı.jpg, ''Yalı'' of

in Kandilli on the

. File:Edibefendi.jpg, ''Edib Efendi Yalısı'' in Kandilli on the

. File:Marko Paşa Köşkü, İstanbul, Turkey.jpg, A ''yalı'' in Anadolu Kavağı on the

. File:İstanbul - Anadoluhisarı, Beykoz r1 - Şub 2013.JPG,

Anadoluhisarı Anadoluhisarı ( en, Anatolian Castle), known historically as Güzelce Hisar ("the Beauteous Castle") is a medieval Ottoman fortress located in Istanbul, Turkey on the Anatolian (Asian) side of the Bosporus. The complex is the oldest surviving ...

, on the

. File:Arnavutköy quarter of Istanbul on the Bosphorus, Turkey 002.jpg,

Arnavutköy Arnavutköy ( Albanian village; el, Μέγα Ρεύμα, Mega Revma) is a neighbourhood in Istanbul, Turkey renowned for its wooden Ottoman mansions and seafood restaurants, as well as for the campus of the prestigious Robert College with its ...

, on the

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yali Architecture in the Ottoman Empire Architecture in Turkey Turkish words and phrases Buildings and structures in Istanbul

Image gallery

See also

References