Bagdat Avenue
Encyclopedia
Bağdat Avenue is a notable high street
located on the Anatolia
n side of Istanbul
, Turkey
. The street runs approximately 14 km (8.7 mi) from east to west in the Maltepe
and Kadıköy
districts, almost parallel to the coastline of the Sea of Marmara
. The most important part of the street is the one-way traffic, avenue-like section, which is 6 km (3.7 mi) long from Bostancı
to Kızıltoprak, within the district of Kadıköy. It can be seen as the counterpart of Istiklal Avenue
on the Europe
an side in terms of importance and glamour.
It is a main street in an upper-scale residential area. The one-way avenue with old plane trees
is flanked with shopping mall
s, department stores, fashion garment stores, elegant shops offering world famous brands, restaurants of international and local cuisine, pub
s and cafés, luxury car dealers and bank agencies. Bağdat Avenue can also be considered as a large open-air shopping mall. Most of the retail stores are open on all days of the week, including Sunday afternoon.
In summer time and on weekends, the sidewalks of the avenue are crowded with people window-shopping and youngsters lingering around. Traffic congestion is almost a standard situation on the three-lane Bağdat Avenue.
Since the 1960s street racing
has been a sub-culture of the avenue, where young wealthy men tag-raced their imported muscle cars. Most of these young men are now middle-agers reliving their years of excitement as famous professional rally
or track racers. With the heightened GTI
and hot hatch
culture starting in the 1990s, street-racing was revived in full. Towards the end of the 1990s, mid-night street racing
caused many fatal accidents, which came to a minimum level thanks to intense police patrol.
The neighbourhoods on the route westwards are: Cevizli, Maltepe, İdealtepe, Küçükyalı, Altıntepe, Bostancı
, Çatalçeşme, Suadiye, Şaşkınbakkal, Erenköy, Caddebostan, Göztepe, Çiftehavuzlar, Selamiçeşme, Feneryolu and Kızıltoprak. The busiest and most crowded districts of Bağdat Avenue are located between Suadiye and Caddebostan (both inclusive), where most shopping malls and fashion stores are located.
The area around Bağdat Avenue has a variety of transportation alternatives in addition to the bus and taxi options. There are seabus (high-speed catamaran ferry) terminals in Kadıköy and Bostancı, and a regional rail
running just north of the avenue, which serves the district. Bostancı also has a quay for the traditional commuter ferries, which provide connection with the European part of the city as well as the nearby Princes' Islands
.
with Anatolia during the Byzantine
and later the Ottoman
periods, which was used for trade and military purposes. The road was named after Baghdad
following the recapture of this city by Sultan Murad IV
in 1638. However, the original road started from Üsküdar
and passed through Haydarpaşa Meadows, joining the recent route in Kızıltoprak. The Ottomans built fountains with praying places along the road for travellers arriving to or departing from the city. Some of the neighbourhoods on Bağdat Avenue are still named after these fountains , such as Söğütlüçeşme (Willowed fountain), Selamiçeşme, and Çatalçeşme (Forked fountain).
During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II
(1876–1909), some Pasha
s, high officials and wealthy traders, who wanted to be as close as possible to the palace, purchased land plots around Bağdat Avenue and erected luxurious wooden chalet mansions, some of which still exist today.
Before World War I
, the avenue was paved with cobblestone
, and carriage
s were used for transportation. In the early years of the Republican era, the original cobblestone avenue was covered with asphalt, and a tram
line was constructed between Kadıköy and Bostancı.
Until the 1960s, the area around Bağdat Avenue was used as a summer resort primarily for the city's wealthy and upper middle class, who lived actually on the European part of İstanbul because of their business. Following the opening of the Bosphorus Bridge
in 1973, the lowrise summer houses were pulled down in order to build highrise condominium
s and the district developed into one of the most desirable residential areas of the city.
Bagdat Avenue can be considered as the celebration center of the Asian side. Just as Taksim
is where people gather for huge national events on the European side, people on the Asian side gather on Bağdat Avenue to celebrate events such as a sport victory or a national holiday.
Another grand celebration takes place on Bağdat Avenue whenever the home football team Fenerbahçe SK
wins the championship title in the Turkish Super League. Fenerbahçe fans gather in the avenue and celebrate carnival
on it, while singing, dancing, driving and sounding their car horns all night.
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
located on the Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
n side of Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. The street runs approximately 14 km (8.7 mi) from east to west in the Maltepe
Maltepe
Maltepe is a district in the suburbs of Istanbul, Turkey between Kadıköy and Kartal on the Marmara sea. Its neighbours are Kadıköy to the west and Kartal to the east. The mayor of Maltepe is Mustafa Zengin . Maltepe used to border Ümraniye from the northwest between 1992 and 2004...
and Kadıköy
Kadiköy
Kadıköy is a large, populous, and cosmopolitan district of İstanbul, Turkey on the Asian side of the Sea of Marmara, facing the historic city centre on the European side of the Bosporus...
districts, almost parallel to the coastline of the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
. The most important part of the street is the one-way traffic, avenue-like section, which is 6 km (3.7 mi) long from Bostancı
Bostanci
Bostancı is a neighbourhood of Kadıköy, located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, Turkey. The neighbourhood fronts the Sea of Marmara and is not far from the Princes' Islands. From the Bostancı shore, five islands; Kınalıada, Burgazada, Heybeliada, Büyükada, and Sivriada can be seen...
to Kızıltoprak, within the district of Kadıköy. It can be seen as the counterpart of Istiklal Avenue
Istiklal Avenue
İstiklal Avenue or Istiklal Street is one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul, Turkey, visited by nearly 3 million people in a single day over the course of weekends...
on the Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an side in terms of importance and glamour.
It is a main street in an upper-scale residential area. The one-way avenue with old plane trees
Platanus
Platanus is a small genus of trees native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae....
is flanked with shopping mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
s, department stores, fashion garment stores, elegant shops offering world famous brands, restaurants of international and local cuisine, pub
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s and cafés, luxury car dealers and bank agencies. Bağdat Avenue can also be considered as a large open-air shopping mall. Most of the retail stores are open on all days of the week, including Sunday afternoon.
In summer time and on weekends, the sidewalks of the avenue are crowded with people window-shopping and youngsters lingering around. Traffic congestion is almost a standard situation on the three-lane Bağdat Avenue.
Since the 1960s street racing
Street racing
Street racing is a form of unsanctioned and illegal motor racing which takes place on public roads. Street racing can either be spontaneous or well-planned and coordinated. Well coordinated races are planned in advance and often have people communicating via 2-way radio/citizens' band radio and...
has been a sub-culture of the avenue, where young wealthy men tag-raced their imported muscle cars. Most of these young men are now middle-agers reliving their years of excitement as famous professional rally
Rallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
or track racers. With the heightened GTI
GTI
GTI may refer to:* Volkswagen Golf GTI, a car* GTi Engineering, an auto racing team* Galway Technical Institute* Grand Tourer Injection, a car model variant* GT Interactive, a video game publisher and distributor...
and hot hatch
Hot hatch
Hot hatch was originally an informal automotive industry term, shortened from hot hatchback, initially coined by the British motoring press in 1984, for a high-performance derivative of a car body style consisting of a three- or five-door hatchback automobile.Vehicles of this class are based on...
culture starting in the 1990s, street-racing was revived in full. Towards the end of the 1990s, mid-night street racing
Street racing
Street racing is a form of unsanctioned and illegal motor racing which takes place on public roads. Street racing can either be spontaneous or well-planned and coordinated. Well coordinated races are planned in advance and often have people communicating via 2-way radio/citizens' band radio and...
caused many fatal accidents, which came to a minimum level thanks to intense police patrol.
The neighbourhoods on the route westwards are: Cevizli, Maltepe, İdealtepe, Küçükyalı, Altıntepe, Bostancı
Bostanci
Bostancı is a neighbourhood of Kadıköy, located on the Anatolian side of Istanbul, Turkey. The neighbourhood fronts the Sea of Marmara and is not far from the Princes' Islands. From the Bostancı shore, five islands; Kınalıada, Burgazada, Heybeliada, Büyükada, and Sivriada can be seen...
, Çatalçeşme, Suadiye, Şaşkınbakkal, Erenköy, Caddebostan, Göztepe, Çiftehavuzlar, Selamiçeşme, Feneryolu and Kızıltoprak. The busiest and most crowded districts of Bağdat Avenue are located between Suadiye and Caddebostan (both inclusive), where most shopping malls and fashion stores are located.
The area around Bağdat Avenue has a variety of transportation alternatives in addition to the bus and taxi options. There are seabus (high-speed catamaran ferry) terminals in Kadıköy and Bostancı, and a regional rail
Regional rail
Commuter rail, also called suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates between a city center, and the middle to outer suburbs beyond 15km and commuter towns or other locations that draw large numbers of commuters—people who travel on a daily basis...
running just north of the avenue, which serves the district. Bostancı also has a quay for the traditional commuter ferries, which provide connection with the European part of the city as well as the nearby Princes' Islands
Princes' Islands
The Princes' Islands , are a chain of nine islands off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, in the Sea of Marmara. The islands also constitute the Adalar district of Istanbul Province...
.
History
The origin of Bağdat Avenue was a road connecting ConstantinopleConstantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
with Anatolia during the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and later the Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
periods, which was used for trade and military purposes. The road was named after Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
following the recapture of this city by Sultan Murad IV
Murad IV
Murad IV Ghazi was the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1623 to 1640, known both for restoring the authority of the state and for the brutality of his methods...
in 1638. However, the original road started from Üsküdar
Üsküdar
Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...
and passed through Haydarpaşa Meadows, joining the recent route in Kızıltoprak. The Ottomans built fountains with praying places along the road for travellers arriving to or departing from the city. Some of the neighbourhoods on Bağdat Avenue are still named after these fountains , such as Söğütlüçeşme (Willowed fountain), Selamiçeşme, and Çatalçeşme (Forked fountain).
During the reign of Sultan Abdul Hamid II
Abdul Hamid II
His Imperial Majesty, The Sultan Abdülhamid II, Emperor of the Ottomans, Caliph of the Faithful was the 34th sultan of the Ottoman Empire...
(1876–1909), some Pasha
Pasha
Pasha or pascha, formerly bashaw, was a high rank in the Ottoman Empire political system, typically granted to governors, generals and dignitaries. As an honorary title, Pasha, in one of its various ranks, is equivalent to the British title of Lord, and was also one of the highest titles in...
s, high officials and wealthy traders, who wanted to be as close as possible to the palace, purchased land plots around Bağdat Avenue and erected luxurious wooden chalet mansions, some of which still exist today.
Before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the avenue was paved with cobblestone
Cobblestone
Cobblestones are stones that were frequently used in the pavement of early streets. "Cobblestone" is derived from the very old English word "cob", which had a wide range of meanings, one of which was "rounded lump" with overtones of large size...
, and carriage
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
s were used for transportation. In the early years of the Republican era, the original cobblestone avenue was covered with asphalt, and a tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
line was constructed between Kadıköy and Bostancı.
Until the 1960s, the area around Bağdat Avenue was used as a summer resort primarily for the city's wealthy and upper middle class, who lived actually on the European part of İstanbul because of their business. Following the opening of the Bosphorus Bridge
Bosphorus Bridge
The Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge is one of the two bridges in Istanbul, Turkey, spanning the Bosphorus strait and thus connecting Europe and Asia The bridge is located between Ortaköy and Beylerbeyi The Bosphorus Bridge, also called the First Bosphorus Bridge is...
in 1973, the lowrise summer houses were pulled down in order to build highrise condominium
Condominium
A condominium, or condo, is the form of housing tenure and other real property where a specified part of a piece of real estate is individually owned while use of and access to common facilities in the piece such as hallways, heating system, elevators, exterior areas is executed under legal rights...
s and the district developed into one of the most desirable residential areas of the city.
Celebration avenue
Bağdat Avenue hosts a cultural parade on the evening of Republic Day, which is celebrated every year on October 29.Bagdat Avenue can be considered as the celebration center of the Asian side. Just as Taksim
Taksim Square
Taksim Square situated in the European part of Istanbul, Turkey, is a major shopping, tourist and leisure district famed for its restaurants, shops and hotels. It is considered the heart of modern Istanbul, with the central station of the Istanbul Metro network...
is where people gather for huge national events on the European side, people on the Asian side gather on Bağdat Avenue to celebrate events such as a sport victory or a national holiday.
Another grand celebration takes place on Bağdat Avenue whenever the home football team Fenerbahçe SK
Fenerbahçe SK
Fenerbahçe Spor Kulübü is a professional sports club based in Kadıköy, Istanbul, Turkey. The club derives its name from the Fenerbahçe neighbourhood of Istanbul. Fenerbahçe is one of the biggest and the best supported clubs in Turkey. They are nicknamed Sarı Kanaryalar )...
wins the championship title in the Turkish Super League. Fenerbahçe fans gather in the avenue and celebrate carnival
Carnival
Carnaval is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent; the main events are usually during February. Carnaval typically involves a public celebration or parade combining some elements of a circus, mask and public street party...
on it, while singing, dancing, driving and sounding their car horns all night.
Namesakes
In some other places around the world, Turkey included, there are streets of the same name:- HeliopolisHeliopolis (Cairo Suburb)Modern Heliopolis is a district in Cairo, Egypt. The city was established in 1905 by the Heliopolis Oasis Company, headed by the Belgian industrialist Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Empain, as well as Boghos Nubar, son of the Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha.-History:The Baron Empain, a well known...
, EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... - KayseriKayseriKayseri is a large and industrialized city in Central Anatolia, Turkey. It is the seat of Kayseri Province. The city of Kayseri, as defined by the boundaries of Kayseri Metropolitan Municipality, is structurally composed of five metropolitan districts, the two core districts of Kocasinan and...
, Turkey - SingaporeSingaporeSingapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
External links
- Kadıköy Journal Homepage
- Bağdat Street Net
- Bağdat Caddesi 3D Virtual Tour