Üsküdar - WikiHQ

Sights of Üsküdar

thumb| [[Yeni Valide Camii, the "New Mosque" of the mother sultan]]

Though densely populated, Üsküdar has many areas of greenery, including the Çamlıca hills, the Bosphorus coastline, and various parks. In addition, the area has a high concentration of historic buildings and religious sites.

Parks

Fethi Paşa Korusu is a large park on the hillside that extends down to the Bosphorus shore, slightly beyond Üsküdar in the area called Paşalimanı. It is named after Fetih Ahmet Paşa an Ottoman prince who among other things was responsible for industrializing the glassworks of Ottoman Turkey, and had a home in the area. The parkland is in fact privately owned and let to the state on condition that it is preserved as a park. The owners are the estate of Turkish industrialist Nuri Demirağ. There is a café in the park, a stone waterfall which children climb on and a small stage area where on Friday evenings in summer a band of amateur musicians give open-air concerts at sunset. At weekends the young lovers of Üsküdar gather here to stroll and cuddle in the shade.

Mosques

right|thumb|[[Şakirin Mosque]]

Üsküdar is home to over 180 mosques, many of them historic Ottoman buildings, many built for women of the imperial harem, and many built by the architect Mimar Sinan. Among the first things one sees on arriving by ferry are two mosques near the ferry terminal, both of them designed by Sinan. The larger one is the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque, sometimes called the İskele (Dock) Mosque, built by a daughter of Suleiman the Magnificent; the smaller one is the Şemsi Pasha Mosque, built by a vizier of Suleiman's. Şemsi Pasha has a small library building in the courtyard. Opposite the Mihrimah Sultan Mosque is the large Yeni Valide Mosque, commissioned by Ahmet III's mother. Uphill from the dock in the Valideiatik neighborhood is the Atik Valide Mosque, built by Murat III's mother and also designed by Sinan.

Further uphill from there is the smaller Çinili (Tiled) Mosque. In Karacaahmet Cemetery is the large Şakirin Mosque, built in 2009. The Namazgâh Mosque (built in 1860) in the eastern part of Üsküdar, close to the border with Ümraniye, is one of the few historical wooden mosques in Istanbul. The new Çamlıca Mosque is a landmark with its grand size overlooking Istanbul on Chamlija Hill.

Other important mosques of Üsküdar include Ahmediye, Ahmet Ağa, Ahmet Çelebi, Altunizade, Ayazma, Aziz Mahmud Hudayi, Baki Efendi, Beylerbeyi, Bodrumi Ömer Lütfi Efendi, Bostancı, Bulgurlu, Çakırcıbaşı, Fatih, Gülfem Hatun, Hacı Ömer, İmrahor, İranlılar, İstavroz, Kandilli, Kara Davut Pasha, Kaymak Mustafa Pasha, Kısıklı, Küleli Bahçe, Malatyalı İsmail Ağa, Mirzazade, Paşalimanı, Rum Mehmet Pasha, Selimiye, Solak Sinan, Tahır Efendi, Üryanizade, and Vanikoy.

Churches

thumb|right|The Surp Krikor Lusavoriç (St Gregory the Illuminator) Armenian Church

Churches of Üsküdar include  the İlya Profiti (Prophet Elijah) Greek Orthodox Church in Muratreis (present building built in 1831), the Kandilli Khristos Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi (built in 1810), the Surp Garabet (Saint John the Baptist) Armenian Church in Murat Reis (first church on the site, 1590; present building built 1888), the Surp Haç (Holy Cross) Armenian Church in Selami Ali (built 1676, rebuilt 1880), the Surp Krikor Lusavoriç (Saint Gregory the Illuminator) Armenian Church in Kuzguncuk (first built 1835, rebuilt 1861), and the Surp Yergodasan Arakelots (Twelve Apostoles) Armenian Church in Kandilli (built 1846).

Synagogues

Synagogues of Üsküdar include  Bet Nissim (built in the 1840s) and Bet Yaakov (built in 1878), both in the coastal Kuzguncuk neighborhood.

Other religious buildings

thumb|THe Üsküdar Mevlevi Lodge

Important tekkes (dervish lodges) include the Aziz Mahmud Hudayi (1541–1628), who is buried in the neighbourhood named after him and is the founder of the Jelveti Sufi order; the Nasuhi Efendi at Doğancılar, who is the founder of the Nasuhiyye Khalwati Sufi order and the grandfather of the Turkish-American music producer Ahmet Ertegun; and the famous Özbekler Tekkesi at Sultantepe, where the Ertegun family members are buried. The Üsküdar Mevlevi dergah is the second of its kind following the one in Galata. Built in 1790 by Sheikh Numan Dede of the Galata lodge, it underwent many restorations and functions as the Classic Turkish Arts Foundation today.

Important tombs of saints (awliya) in Üsküdar include those of Aziz Mahmud Hudayi, Shaykh Mustafa Devati, and Shaykh Mehmet Nasuhi. Tombs of historical figures include Hacı Ahmet Pasha, Halil Pasha, İbrahim Edhem Pasha, Karaca Ahmet, and Rum Mehmet Pasha.

Karacaahmet Cemetery, the largest cemetery in Istanbul and one of the oldest, has many notable burials. Some of these include Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan (1888-1959), an Islamic scholar; Shaykh Jamaluddin Kumuki (1788-1869), the father-in-law of Imam Shamil; Sheikh Hamdullah (d. 1526), a master calligrapher. The cemetery runs between Üsküdar and Kadıköy.

s and s

right|thumb|Sultan [[Ahmet III Fountain in Üsküdar square]]

Other notable Ottoman features to be seen in Üsküdar are the many 's (drinking water sources) and 's (kiosks for distribution of drinks). One of the largest and most visible s is the fountain of Ahmet III (1728–29), an impressive marble structure in the center of Üsküdar near the ferry docks.

Other important s of Üsküdar include Gülnuş Emetullah Valide Sultan (1709, next to the Yeni Valide Mosque), Hüseyin Avni Pasha (1874, Paşalimanı), Mustafa III (1760, next to the Ayazma Mosque), and Selim III (1802, in Çiçekçi, Harem İskelesi Street).

Important s of Üsküdar include those of Hacı Hüseyin Pasha (1865, near the Karacaahmet Cemetery), Halil Pasha (1617, attached to Halil Pasha's tomb), Hudayi (first built in the 1590s but later much remodeled, near Aziz Mahmud Hudayi's tomb), Sadettin Efendi (1741, near the tomb of Karacaahmet Cemetery), Şeyhülislam Arif Hikmet Bey (1858, near the Kartal Baba Mosque), Valide Çinili (1640, next to the Çinili Mosque), Valide-i Cedid (1709, next to the Yeni Valide Mosque), and Ziya Bey (1866, near the tomb of Karacaahmet).

Museums and palaces

thumb|right|View of [[Beylerbeyi Palace from the Bosporus]]

The Florence Nightingale Museum inside the Selimiye Barracks in Selimiye displays items associated with Nightingale and her medical work in Istanbul during the Crimean War. Beylerbeyi Palace in Beylerbeyi was built for Sultan Abdulaziz in the 1860s, and used as the last place Sultan Abdul Hamid II was held under house arrest by the Revolutionaries.

Education

Marmara University
Üsküdar University
Tarabya British Schools, Çengelköy campus
Üsküdar American Academy (formerly American Academy for Girls)

Twin municipalities

Saraj, Skopje
Brooklyn, New York
Shibuya, Tokyo

Notable residents

Richard Guyon (1813–1856), British-born Hungarian soldier, general in the Hungarian revolutionary army
Maximus the Confessor, Byzantine monk, theologian and scholar. He entered a monastery in Chrysopolis in the early 7th century.
Philippicus, Byzantine general, a monk in Chrysopolis between 602–610, buried in Chrysopolis
Sergius I of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Patriarch Pyrrhus of Constantinople, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Alexios Mosele, Byzantine aristocrat and general
Michael III, Byzantine emperor
Florence Nightingale, English nurse, writer and statistician
Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet of the Turkish national anthem
Halide Edib Adıvar, Turkish novelist and feminist political leader
Xenophon Sideridis, Greek historian, writer and researcher
Şeker Ahmed Pasha, Turkish painter
Mehmed Orhan, Turkish aristocrat, a pretender to the throne of the Ottoman Dynasty
Münir Ertegün, Turkish legal counsel in international law to the Ottoman Empire and diplomat of Turkey
Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-American musician and businessman. Founder and president of Atlantic Records and New York Cosmos soccer team.
Nesuhi Ertegun, Turkish-American record producer and executive of Atlantic Records and WEA International
Barış Manço, Turkish rock singer, composer and television producer
Bülent Ersoy, transgender Turkish celebrity and singer of Ottoman classical music
Özgü Namal, Turkish actress
Billur Kalkavan, Turkish actress, socialite and television presenter
Zara, popular Turkish folk singer
Semahat Özdenses (1913–2008), Turkish singer and composer of Ottoman classical music
Hasan Çelebi, world-renown master Islamic calligrapher
Kadir Mısıroğlu (1933–2019), Islamist writer and conspiracy theorist
Zabel Sibil Asadour, Armenian poet and writer
Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist, once the richest man in the world
Garabet Yazmaciyan, Armenian painter
Gabriel Noradunkyan, Ottoman Armenian politician
Yeghishe Tourian, Armenian Patriarch of Jerusalem and Constantinople
Bedros Tourian, Armenian poet
Hovhannes Hintliyan, Armenian pedagogue and educator
Hrand Nazariantz, Armenian poet and writer
Levon Shant, Armenian poet, writer and playwright
Sirvart Kalpakyan Karamanuk, Armenian composer, pianist and teacher
Schahan Berberian, Armenian philosopher, composer and pedagogue
Srpuhi Kalfayan, Armenian nun and philanthropist
Zabel Yesayan, Armenian poet, writer and teacher
Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet, leader of National Albanian Awakening
Yeranuhi Karakashian, Armenian actress

References

Bibliography

(First published 1938)