Yeşilköy's natural beauty and reputation as a quiet forested suburb on the Marmara Sea (warranting its renaming the “green village” in 1924 under the new Turkish Republic), conceals the neighborhood's complex military history and industrial past. Previously called Ayastefanos, Yeşilköy served as a secluded seaside vacation destination for those looking to leave the city up until population increases in the 1970s and incorporation into Istanbul proper. Skarlatos Byzantios, author of Constantinople, writes:
“[San Stefano is] a favorite summer retreat for well-to-do Constantinoplitans hoping to taste the bounty of the earth and the sea, and especially the quail that is hunted nearby.”
The original name for the affluent neighborhood in the modern district of Bakırköy recalls the local legend of a crusade ship that anchored in the region on June 23, 1203, on its way to siege Constantinople. The story describes how the ship, which was carrying Saint Stephen’s relics to Rome from Constantinople, docked, and the relics were then taken into a local church until the sea calmed after a storm. Even before this legend, settlement in the area of Yeşilköy may be traced to the sparsely populated Phoinike 10 kilometers southwest of the city that functioned as a trading post and small fishing port.
For most of its history, Yeşilköy was on the far outskirts of Istanbul known for its gardens and fishing industry. In addition, almost all the major sixteenth-century monuments in Istanbul were made from limestone mined in state-owned queries modern-day Bakırköy, Yeşilköy, Bahçelievler, and Haznedar neighborhoods. The Greek history of the neighborhood really begins in the 18th and 19th centuries when Greek Orthodox gardeners, viticulturalists, and fishermen settled in the region and began to create a more formal community. In the 1870s, mass transportation projects that connected Yeşilköy with the city led to a boom in the population.
The first major project was the addition of a new steamboat route of the steam-powered ferry boats owned by the Hazine-i Hassa (the Administration of the Privy Purse) that ran in the Marmara between Sirkeci-Pendik, Adalar, and Yeşilköy. This link to the city led to the settlement of wealthy merchants and bankers transforming Yeşilköy into a desirable suburban neighborhood. The following year the creation
of a railroad line would more formally connect Yeşilköy to Istanbul. The 4th of January 1871 saw the opening ceremony of the addition of a 15 km railroad section from Yedikule to Küçükçekmece including Yeşilköy. The ceremony was attended by a large group of invited guests and the first passengers boarded the following day. The line made five daily trips in both directions stopping at Yedikule, Bakırköy, Yeşilköy, and Küçükçekmece. It was expanded in 1873 to be connected to Eminönü and Kumkapı. The expansion of transportation networks connected the outskirts of Istanbul to its center facilitated the development of these suburbs seeing their rapid incorporation into the city.
As the city was rapidly transforming, the late 19th century also marked the beginning of Yeşilköy’s military history. Standing by the Sea of Marmara, Yeşilköy held a precarious position in the Ottoman Empire’s military defense as a gateway into the city. During the Ruso-Turkish war (1877-78), Russian troops overtook the area, and The Peace of San Stefano, the treaty signed by the Ottoman Empire on March 3, 1878, to acquiesce their defeat to the Russians, took on the namesake of the area. In 1895, the Russians negotiated the building of a monument in San Stefano commemorating Russian soldiers who died in the battles. Opening in 1898 the monument, built on top of the hill above Yeşilköy and with classical Orthodox church domes, held the tombs of 5,000 soldiers who died during the war.
The 19th century transformed Yeşilköy from a waterfront vacation destination to an active part of the city. Housing development continuously expanded in the region, beginning in the 1830s and continuing until 1980. Yeşilköy’s lighthouse, built by French engineers in 1854 was the first of its kind in the Empire. The railway line going from Bakırköy to Yeşilköy began to gain prestige with suburban areas growing along the line. Steamers in 1896 rose to twenty in number and ran along the Marmara Sea between Sirkeci-Pendik, Adalar, and Yeşilköy. An aviation school that began in 1912 and was led by German officers to train Ottoman Aviation Squadrons in Yeşilköy marked the first aviation facility of the Ottoman Empire.
Yeşilköy was also a hub for the Armenian community and was considered one of the six major Armenian parishes. Its large Armenian population can be attributed to the gifting of Ayastefanos, at the time a small Greek fishing village, to the Dadyan family by the Sultan. With contributions from the Dadyan family, in the nineteenth century, the Surp Stepanos Armenian Church was established, also dedicated to Saint Stephen. The Armenian community in Yeşilköy was for the most part made up of migrants from other parts of the city - as they became wealthier they often moved from Kumkapı to Feriköy, Kurtuluş, or Bakırköy and then to Yeşilköy. As a suburb of the city, the neighborhood began to attract wealthier families and individuals.
After the building of the Surp Stepanos Church the San Stefano Latin-Catholic Church and Agios Stefanos (Άγιος Στέφανος) Church. The parish community of
Yeşilköy fell under the jurisdiction of the Metropolis of Derkoi which represented 15 neighbors during the Ottoman period but under the Turkish Republic only included Tarabya, Büyükdere, Yeni Mahalle, Bakırköy, and Yeşilköy. Towards the end of the 20th century, almost all Levantines and Greeks had migrated from Yeşilköy and the number of Armenians decreased as well. Despite major demographic shrinkage, the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Stefanos remains active within Yeşilköy and annually makes news for its Saint’s Day celebrations on December 26. The Ceremony of Thysias (Θυσίας) commemorates the landing of the ship carrying Saint Stephen’s relics into the area. The church maintains a tradition of ritually sacrificing a sheep, overseen now by the church’s Priest Papa Yorgi.
References
Byzantios, Skarlatos. Constantinople: A Topographical, Archaeological & Historical
Description Vol. 1. Translated by Haris Rigas. Istanbul: İstos Yayın, 2019.
Καμάρα Αφροδίτη, «Χώρα Βυζαντίου (Αρχαιότητα)», 2008,
Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic World, Constantinople
Achladi, Evangelia. 2022. “Rum Communities of Istanbul in the Nineteenth and
Twentieth Centuries : A Historical Survey.” Journal of the Ottoman and Turkish
Studies Association 9, no. 1 (Spring): 19 - 49.
Atasoy, Nurhan. “The Gardens of Istanbul.” In History of Istanbul. Vol. 4.
Baykal, Zeynep. 2011. “Construction of Armenian Identity in Istanbul: The Case of
Yeşilköy.” (May).
Emecen, Feridun M. “The Imperial Transformation of a Grand City: Istanbul.” In
History of Istanbul. Vol. 1.
Kiper, Nilgün. “The Transformation of Urban Space in Ottoman Istanbul.” In The
History of Istanbul. Vol. 1.
Yeşil, Fatih. “Istanbul: The Center of Diplomacy.” In History of Istanbul. Vol. 2.
Comments