Atatürk Arboretum is an

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

Bahçeköy, Sarıyer Bahçeköy or Bahçeköy Merkez is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Sarıyer, Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 3,737 (2022). Bahçeköy is situated from Sarıyer. It is bordered by Fatih Forest, ...

Istanbul Province Istanbul is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, constituting the country's economic, cultural, and historical heart. With Demographics of Istanbul, a population over , it is home to 18% of the Demographics ...

, Turkey. The establishment of an arboretum was proposed by Hayrettin Kayacık, professor of the Faculty of Forestry at

Istanbul University Istanbul University, also known as University of Istanbul (), is a Public university, public research university located in Istanbul, Turkey. Founded by Mehmed II on May 30, 1453, a day after Fall of Constantinople, the conquest of Constantinop ...

in 1949. Initially, an area of was foreseen for the arboretum. Between 1959 and 1961, Camille Guinet, inspector of the

Sorbonne University Sorbonne University () is a public research university located in Paris, France. The institution's legacy reaches back to the Middle Ages in 1257 when Sorbonne College was established by Robert de Sorbon as a constituent college of the Unive ...

's botanical garden, planned the road network inside the arboretum. Due to financial shortages, accomplishment of the project took time. Opened on July 12, 1982, it was named in honor of

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

(1881–1938), the founder of Turkish Republic, on his 100th birthday anniversary. It is owned and financed by the Directorate General of Forestry, which is also responsible for the administrative operation. Istanbul University's Faculty of Forestry is the scientific partner of the park's executive board. The main goal of the arboretum is to serve the faculty and the students of Istanbul University's Forestry Department including the relevant agencies of the Ministry of Forest and Water Management, forest engineers,

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manage ...

s, domestic and foreign scientists as well as nature lovers in their research work. The arboretum covers an area of southeast of

Belgrad Forest Belgrad Forest () is a mixed deciduous forest lying adjacent to Istanbul, Turkey. It is named after the village next to the forest, settled by thousands of Serbs who were deported to the capital Constantinople from the city of Belgrade in 1521, w ...

. It contains the 1818-built Kirazlı Dam () and a 1916-establıshed

plant nursery A nursery is a place where plants are plant propagation, propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which se ...

Gallery

File:AtatürkArboretum (6).jpg, A view of the arboretum. File:AtatürkArboretum (8).jpg, A view of the larger pond. File:AtatürkArboretum (17).jpg, A view of the smaller pond. File:AtatürkArboretum (20).jpg, Pond lilies. File:AtatürkArboretum (24).jpg, An old big dead oak tree trunk. File:AtatürkArboretum (28).jpg, A conifer. File:AtatürkArboretum (29).jpg, A walkway. File:AtatürkArboretum (7).jpg, A duck in the larger pond. File:AtatürkArboretum (13).jpg, Swans in the larger pond.

References

Arboreta in Turkey Botanical gardens in Turkey Protected areas of Turkey Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1992 1992 establishments in Turkey Istanbul University Sarıyer {{Arboretum-stub