Büyükada (, rendered Prinkipos or Prinkipo), meaning "Big Island" in Turkish, is the largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, with an area of about . It is made up of the Maden and Nizam neighbourhoods in the Adalar (Islands) district of Istanbul Province, Turkey.

During the first half of the 20th century, the island was popular with prosperous Greeks and Armenians as a refuge from the summer heat of Istanbul. This was expanded by Empress Eirene and soon began to serve as a place of exile for the Byzantine empresses Irene, Euphrosyne, Theophano, Zoe and Anna Dalassena.

Later history

Prinkipo was one of the last places that the Ottomans managed to seize from the Byzantine. It then settled down as a sleepy backwater until 1846 when the first ferry service made it easily accessible from mainland Constantinople/Istanbul whereupon it became an increasingly popular summer retreat for wealthier city residents. Most of its Greek residents left in the population exchange of 1923 or after the pogrom of 1955 and the expulsion order of 1966. Many of the Armenians were driven out in 1924. Just a few Jews still live on the island.

At one time iron mining took place on the island in the area now called Maden (Mine). International tourism to the Princes' Islands was relatively slow to take off but by 2015 was becoming the dominant economic factor.

Transport on the island

thumb|left|Splendid Palace Hotel (1908) near the Büyükada ferry terminal.

Until 2020 the only transportation on Büyükada (as on the other inhabited Princes' islands) had been horse-drawn phaetons (fayton). However, the explosion of tourism on the island had made this increasingly unsustainable and, under pressure from animal-rights activists, the decision was made to replace the horses with electric vehicles, bringing to an end a tradition that had made the islands unique in Turkey.

The introduction of electric buses on the island prompted protests from local residents who see them as a threat to the island's pedestrianized areas.

Places of interest

By far the most important attraction for tourists on Büyükada is the Greek Orthodox monastery of Hagios Georgios Koudonas (St George of the Bells) on Yüceptepe, which was probably founded in the 10th century although what remains on the site now dates from the mid-18th to 19th centuries. The monastery's name recalls an early 17th-century legend according to which a shepherd boy watching his flocks heard the sound of bells coming from underground, dug down into the earth and uncovered an icon of St George that had been buried to protect it from the Fourth Crusaders in 1204. A copy of the icon can be seen in the monastery church although the original is now in the Ptriarchate church in Fener. The monastery now consists of half a dozen buildings spread across three levels and is he focus of an annual pilgrimage every April. Traditionally standard phaeton tours used to bring visitors to the foot of the rocky path leading up to the monastery but these ceased to operate in 2020. The panoramic view back to mainland Istanbul from the monastery is reason enough for a visit.

A second, less frequently visited Greek Orthodox monastery dedicated to Sotiros Christos (Christ the Saviour) stands on the top of İsa Tepesi. Although it, too, dates back to Byzantine times, most of what a modern visitor sees is work of the mid-19th century.

thumb|Villa in Büyükada

Also on İsa Tepesi is what should be the pride and joy of the island but is instead on its very last legs, the huge Greek Orthodox Orphanage (Turkish: Rum Yetimhanesi) believed to be the largest wooden construction in Europe and the second largest in the world. Originally intended to be a casino, it was built for a French company in 1898 and was designed by the Levantine architect Alexander Vallaury. After Sultan Abdülhamid II refused to allow its use as a casino, it was bought by a woman who donated it to the Patriarchate to serve as an orphanage which it did until 1964 except during the First World War when it was used by the Kuleli Military School. The building was given back to the Patriarchate by the state in 2010 but nothing was done to protect it from decay. In 2021 plans to restore the building were finally announced. In the meantime it is off-limits to visitors.

There are several churches on the island although they are not always accessible to visitors. These are the Greek Orthodox Churches of the Panagia (Virgin Mary) and Hagios Demetrios (St Dimitri), the Franciscan Church of San Pacifico and the Armenian Church of Surp Astvadzadzin Verapolium.

One synagogue, Hesed Le Avram, still survives on the island although it is only open in the summer. The Hamidiye Mosque was built for Abdul Hamid II in 1893.

The island is still home to many beautiful 19th-century mansions especially along Çankaya Caddesi, which has been described as "one of the most beautiful streets in the world". Among the best known mansions are the Con Pasa Köşkü, the Yelkencizade Köşkü, the Hacopolo Köşkü, the Fabiato Köşkü and the Mizzi Köşkü.

Opened in 2010, the Museum of the Princes' Islands (Turkish: Adalar Muzesi) tells the story of the islands' people as much as of its buildings.

In the 19th century the island had several well known hotels. The most conspicuous survivor is the Splendid Palace Hotel (1911) which still lords it over the waterfront with its two domes which once covered water cisterns.

The pretty ferry terminal was designed by Armenian architect Mihran Azaryan in First National Architectural style in 1899 and started service in 1915. It once housed the island's cinema. Not far inland is a clock tower erected in 1923, the year of the founding of the Turkish Republic. Beside it is Fayton Meydanı which was, until 2020, filled with phaetons and their horses waiting to take visitors on a tour of the island.

St George's Day Pilgrimage

Every year on St George's Day (23 April) visitors flock to the island to take part in a pilgrimage to the monastery of Hagios Georgios Koudanas on Yücetepe. Both Christians and Muslims take part in arcane rituals such as winding thread all the way along the path leading to the monastery. Since the date coincides with Turkey's Children and National Sovereignty Day public holiday (and sometimes with the Easter tourism period) the crowds attending can be enormous.

Notable people

  • Lefter Küçükandonyadis, Turkish football player.
  • The artist Fahrelnissa Zeid was born on the island in 1901. Her brother Cevat Şakir Kabaağaçlı ('the Fisherman of Halikarnassos') also spent much of his youth on the island.
  • After his deportation from the Soviet Union, Leon Trotsky settled on what was then Prinkipo in April 1929 and lived there until July 1933. While there, Trotsky lived in a house called the Yanaros mansion which is now in ruins.
  • Pope John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncali), the "Turkish Pope", lived here as papal nuncio in 1933-34
  • Con Paşa AKA Trasivolos Yannaros who established the first ferry services to the island
  • Aliye Berger, Turkish artist
  • Füreyya, Turkish ceramicist
  • Reşat Nuri Güntekin, Turkish writer
  • Mîna Urgan, Turkish writer

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File:Büyükada.JPG|Aerial view of the island

File:Adalar 5581.jpg|A typical Ottoman era mansion in Büyükada

File:Buyukada 1199.jpg|A typical Ottoman era mansion in Büyükada

File:Büyükada_Köşk_(2).jpg|Ottoman era house in the streets of Büyükada

File:Büyükada Köşk.jpg|Ottoman era house in the streets of Büyükada

File:Adalar_5582.jpg|Ottoman era houses in the streets of Büyükada

File:Adalar_5583.jpg|Ottoman era houses in the streets of Büyükada

File:Büyükada_Splendid_Palace.jpg|Splendid Palace Hotel

File:Rıza_Derviş_House_(14689747653).jpg|Rıza Derviş House

File:The isles of the Princes; or, The pleasures of Prinkipo (IA islesofprincesor00coxsrich).pdf|The isles of the Princes; or, The pleasures of Prinkipo by Samuel S. Cox

</gallery>

References

  • Büyükada at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality website
  • Büyük Ada Travel Notes