The Üsküdar Ferry Terminal, also known as the Üsküdar Pier ( tr, Üsküdar İskelesi), is a

ferry terminal A passenger terminal is a structure in a port which services passengers boarding and leaving water vessels such as ferries, cruise ships and ocean liners. Depending on the types of vessels serviced by the terminal, it may be named (for example) ...

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a large and densely populated district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy ...

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, ...

, located along Paşa Limanı Avenue on the

Bosporus 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 T ...

strait. It is used by Municipal

Şehir Hatları The city of Istanbul is at a geographic crossroads, straddling Europe and Asia Minor, and is divided by a sea lane called the Bosphorus Strait, which joins the Black Sea in the northeast and the Marmara Sea in the southwest. This strait has pla ...

(City Lines) ferries as well as private Dentur ferries. Şehir Hatları ferries operate to several piers along the Bosporus and

Golden Horn The Golden Horn ( tr, Altın Boynuz or ''Haliç''; grc, Χρυσόκερας, ''Chrysókeras''; la, Sinus Ceratinus) is a major urban waterway and the primary inlet of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with t ...

, while Dentur operates frequent ferry service to Kabataş and

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

. The first Üsküdar Pier was built in 1852 and is notable as the first public ferry landing built on the Bosporus strait. The modern terminal was built in 1965. Üsküdar Terminal is located near Üsküdar Square in central Üsküdar, from which connections to bus, train and metro service are available. Another private ferry operator, Turyol, operates ferry service from its pier just north of Üsküdar terminal.

History

Üsküdar Pier was first opened in 1853 by an Ottoman ferry company, Şirket-i Hayriye as the companies first ferry pier on the Bosporus strait. The first pier was located slightly inland, near the Fountain of Ahmed III. The first ferry service from Üsküdar operated to Kabataş, on the European shore of the Bosporus. As Üsküdar grew in the late 19th century, ferry service also increased and the existing pier was not large enough to handle the capacity. In 1905, Şirket-i Hayriye began operating ferry service from Beşiktaş to

Haydarpaşa station Haydarpaşa is a neighborhood within the Kadıköy and Üsküdar districts on the Asian part of Istanbul, Turkey. Haydarpaşa is named after Ottoman Vizier Haydar Pasha. The place, on the coast of Sea of Marmara, borders to Harem in the northwest ...

, via Üsküdar. Passengers used this route to connect to railway service east into

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...

. In 1906, the first pier was demolished and replaced by a larger pier. The inside of the pier consisted of decorative tiles, with ticket counters and bird cages. Şirket-i Hayriye was bought by the state-owned Şehir Hatları municipal ferry company in 1945. In the 1950s, the popularity of ferries grew along with passenger ridership. To increase capacity, a larger terminal was built in 1965 and remains in operation to this day.

Services

Üsküdar is a main pier for the municipal ferry service. Şehir Hatları operates ferries to 20 other piers on the Bosporus and Golden Horn, while Dentur operates to two other piers. Among these destinations are

, Kabataş, Eminönü,

Karaköy Karaköy (), the modern name for the old Galata, is a commercial quarter in the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey, located at the northern part of the Golden Horn mouth on the European side of Bosphorus. Karaköy is one of the oldest and ...

and

Kadıköy Kadıköy (), known in classical antiquity and during the Roman and Byzantine eras as Chalcedon ( gr, Χαλκηδών), is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district in the Asian side of Istanbul, Turkey, on the northern shore of the Sea of ...

. Ferries leave Üsküdar at an average of 10 minute intervals, making it one of the busiest ferry terminals in Turkey.

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , url=http://www.iett.istanbul/tr/main/duraklar/222001/%C3%9CSK%C3%9CDAR%20MARMARAY-%C4%B0ETT-Duraktan-Ge%C3%A7en-Hatlar-Durak-Bilgileri-Hatt%C4%B1n-Duraktan-Ge%C3%A7i%C5%9F-Saatleri, title=Üsküdar Marmaray - Duraktan Geçen Hatlar, language=Turkish, access-date=15 December 2017 {{cite web , url=http://www.sehirhatlari.istanbul/tr/kurumsal/gundelik-hayatta-sirket-i-hayriye-472.html, title=Üsküdar İskelesi - İskele Hakkında Genel Bilgiler, website=sehirhatlari.istanbul, language=Turkish, access-date=16 December 2017 {{cite web , url=http://www.sehirhatlari.istanbul/tr/kurumsal/tarihce-6492.html, title=Tarihçe, website=sehirhatlari.istanbul, language=Turkish, access-date=16 December 2017 {{cite web, url=http://www.arkiv.com.tr/proje/uskudar-vapur-iskelesi/6585, title=Üsküdar Vapu İskelesi, website=arkiv.com.tr, language=Turkish, access-date=16 December 2017 {{cite book , last=As , first=Efdal , date=2013 , title=Cumhuriyet Dönemi Ulaşım Politikaları (1923-1960) , url=http://www.atam.gov.tr/kitaplar/cumhuriyet-donemi-ulasim-politikalari-1923-1960 , language=Turkish , location=Ankara , publisher=Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi , page=401 , isbn=978-975-16-2635-6 Ferry piers in Istanbul 1853 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Üsküdar