Kandilli Anatolian High School for Girls () is a secondary educational institution located in the Kandilli neighborhood of

Üsküdar Üsküdar () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is border ...

district in

Istanbul 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 Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. Known traditionally as ''Kandilli Kız Lisesi'', it is one of the oldest girls' high schools of the country and a top-level

Anatolian High School Anatolian High School, or Anadolu High School (), refers to public high schools in Turkey that admit their students according to high nationwide standardized test (LGS) scores, though this is not required for entering all Anatolian High Schools. ...

History

The prominent Young Turk activist, statesman, educational reformer Ahmed Rıza and her sister Selma Rıza intended the school to be opened as early as the first decade of the 20th century as the first public girls' high school in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

, as the girls branch of the

Galatasaray High School Galatasaray High School (, ), established in Istanbul in 1481, is the oldest and Selective school, highly selective high school in Turkey. It is also the second-oldest Turkish educational institution after Istanbul University, which was establi ...

, but the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

, the

Italo-Turkish War The Italo-Turkish (, "Tripolitanian War", , "War of Libya"), also known as the Turco-Italian War, was fought between the Kingdom of Italy and the Ottoman Empire from 29 September 1911 to 18 October 1912. As a result of this conflict, Italy captur ...

, and

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

prevented this project from happening. The Ottoman princess Adile Sultan had donated her summer residence, the Adile Sultan Palace, to the state shortly before her death in 1899 under the condition that it be turned into a secondary school for girls. The residence had been constructed upon orders of her brother,

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Abdülaziz Abdulaziz (; ; 8 February 18304 June 1876) was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 25 June 1861 to 30 May 1876, when he was 1876 Ottoman coup d'état, overthrown in a government coup. He was a son of Sultan Mahmud II and succeeded his brother ...

(reigned 1861–76) on an unregistered date. Ahmed Rıza finally succeeded in opening the school in 1916 under the name ''Adile Sultan İnas Mekteb-i Sultanisi'' ("Adile Sultan Imperial Girls School") in Kandilli, on the Asian bank of the

Bosphorus The Bosporus or Bosphorus Strait ( ; , colloquially ) is a natural strait and an internationally significant waterway located in Istanbul, Turkey. The Bosporus connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Marmara and forms one of the continental bo ...

in the Adile Sultan Palace building. The first graduates left the school in 1920. The school was renamed in 1924 after its location, becoming the Kandilli Secondary School. In 1931, the school took on its present name Kandilli High School for Girls (later becoming a public

), and has been a respected educational institution since then. The classes of the high school moved to a new building in 1969. The old Adile Sultan Palace was used as

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm), also known as a hall of residence, a residence hall (often abbreviated to halls), or a hostel, is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential qu ...

for boarding girls of the school until 1986, when it burned down due to an electrical

short-circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

. The historic building became a ruin consisting of only four walls. Soon afterwards, some alumni of Kandilli High School established a foundation, and raised funds to rebuild the palace. Due to lacking funds, however, the former building was only restored and opened again in 2006 upon a donation from billionaire businessman and philanthropist

Sakıp Sabancı Sakıp Sabancı (7 April 1933 – 10 April 2004) was a Turkish business tycoon and philanthropist. Biography He was the second son of a cotton trader and worked in his father's business without completing high school. He was the head of Turkey's ...

as a cultural center unaffiliated with the high school.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official websiteSchool Culture and Education FoundationAlumni AssociationAcademic Achievements of the School
High schools in Istanbul Üsküdar Educational institutions established in 1916 1916 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Girls' schools in Turkey Anatolian High Schools