Besiktas
Encyclopedia
Beşiktaş is a municipality (belediye) of Istanbul
, Turkey
, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer
and Şişli
, on the west by Kağıthane
and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu
, and on the east by the Bosphorus. Directly across the Bosphorus is the municipality of Üsküdar
.
The Beşiktaş municipality includes a number of important sites along the European side of the Bosphorus, from Dolmabahçe Palace
in the south to Bebek
in the north. The municipality also includes many inland neighborhoods such as Levent
and Etiler
. Some of its other well-known neighborhoods are Yıldız
, Kuruçeşme, Ortaköy
, and Arnavutköy
.
stone
" in Turkish
.
According to one story, there was a Byzantine church where Beşiktaş now is with the name Kounopetra, Greek
for "stone cradle." The church was built to honor a relic
, a stone reportedly taken from the stable
in Bethlehem
where Jesus
was born. This stone was later removed to Hagia Sophia
and disappeared during the Fourth Crusade
, possibly to be sold in Europe's relics market.
According to another story, a cleric from an Aya Menas (Saint Menas
) Church where Beşiktaş now is returned from a pilgrimage
to Jerusalem with a cradle-shaped stone used in the baptism
of Jesus and placed it in the church.
According to yet another story, the name is a corruption of beş taş, Turkish for "five stones," referring to stone pillars used for mooring ships in the time of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha.
The Bosphorus has been settled for a long time, and there are many places of historical interest in Beşiktaş. This stretch of the Bosphorus shore is somewhat sheltered from the strong northeasterly winds that bring storms to Istanbul, and thus it forms a good mooring place for ships.
In Byzantine times, the area was called Diplokionion, meaning "double pillar" in Greek.
In ancient times the villages on the Bosphorus shore were isolated communities in the forest that lined the water-side. The Bosphorus, however, was prominent in the history and mythology of the ancient Greeks, and villages like Beşiktaş would have had their place in traditional tales such as Jason
and the Argonauts
. In the Byzantine
era churches and a monastery were built and the tradition of having a summer palace on the Bosphorus was begun by the Byzantines with their Ayios Mamas palace complex.
The Bosphorus settlements however, being outside the city walls, were vulnerable to raiders from the Black Sea
coasts and little of this architecture or the statuary that would have decorated it so gloriously has survived.
In the Ottoman
period, once the emperors had established control of the Black Sea coasts the Ottoman navy was docked in the Bosphorus and the Bosphorus villages became safe and attractive again. One man in particular, the legendary sailor Barbarossa, built his palace and mosque in Beşiktaş, making it his home. By now Beşiktaş was an established Bosphorus crossing for caravans trading across Anatolia
and along the Silk Road
, and of course for the great Ottoman armies.
This coast was of course very attractive to the Ottoman rulers, who built hunting lodges and then great palaces in the area, and the Beşiktaş district contains some of the most important and attractive Ottoman buildings. The area was thus the scene of great intrigues of the late Ottoman period such as the dethronement of Sultan
Abdülaziz
at Dolmabahçe Palace
in a coup in 1876, the announcement of the founding of the Ottoman parliament in 1908, and the deposing of Sultan Abdul Hamid II
at Yıldız Palace
in 1909.
Following the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the Ottoman ruling family was deported and the palaces and mansions along the coast were emptied out. Some were given to new government ministries, some used as schools and other public buildings, other were pulled down.
Today, it is widely accepted by the residents of the municipality that the most significant resident of Beşiktaş was Zübeyde Hanım
, the mother of the Turkish
national hero
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
, who lived in the old quarter at the core of Beşiktaş municipality, literally right next to the then headquarters of the Beşiktaş J.K.
.
The neighborhood gives its name to Turkey's oldest sports club, Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü
(Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club), founded in 1903. The club's football team is one of the top three in Turkey and has won 13 Turkish Super League titles and participated five times (1997-98, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2007-08, 2008-09) in the UEFA Champions League
. The club's 33,000-seat BJK İnönü Stadium
is on the Bosphorus seafront southwest of the center of Beşiktaş, and on match days the area is very crowded with football fans.
The football team wears black and white shirts and is nicknamed the Black Eagles. The club has earned notoriety for its faithful fans, who have broken volume records with 132 decibel cheers.
Beşiktaş J.K. also has basketball, volleyball, and other sports teams.
BJK Akatlar Arena
is the home of the basketball team.
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...
, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer
Sariyer
Sarıyer is the northernmost district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European side of the city. With a long shore along the water, the district boasts both a beautiful coastline and a lush forest. The Sarıyer district is a huge area consisting of the villages on the European side of the Bosphorus from...
and Şişli
Sisli
Şişli is one of 39 districts of Istanbul, Turkey. Located on the European side of the city, it is bordered by Beşiktaş to the east, Sarıyer to the north, Eyüp and Kağıthane to the west, and Beyoğlu to the south...
, on the west by Kağıthane
Kagithane
Kağıthane is a working class district of the city of Istanbul, Turkey, in a valley inland from the upmarket Etiler. Built along a stream that runs into the Golden Horn. The mayor is Fazlı Kılıç .-History:...
and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu
Beyoglu
Beyoğlu is a district located on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn...
, and on the east by the Bosphorus. Directly across the Bosphorus is the municipality of 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,...
.
The Beşiktaş municipality includes a number of important sites along the European side of the Bosphorus, from Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922, apart from a 22-year interval in which Yıldız Palace was used.- History :Dolmabahçe Palace...
in the south to Bebek
Bebek, Istanbul
Bebek is a historic Istanbul neighbourhood that falls within the boundaries and administration of the Beşiktaş district. It is located on the European shores of the Bosphorus and is surrounded by similarly affluent neighbourhoods such as Arnavutköy, Etiler and Rumeli Hisarı.The direct translation...
in the north. The municipality also includes many inland neighborhoods such as Levent
Levent
Levent is a neighbourhood and one of the main business districts of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European side of the city. It is a part of the municipality of Beşiktaş which is situated to the north of the Golden Horn, at the western shore of the Bosporus strait.Levent is in direct...
and Etiler
Etiler
Etiler is a neighbourhood on the European side of Istanbul, Turkey, located in the district of Beşiktaş, close to the business quarters of Levent and Maslak....
. Some of its other well-known neighborhoods are Yıldız
Yildiz
-Given name:* Yildiz Akdogan, Turkish-born Danish politician* Yıldız İbrahimova, Turkish singer.* Yıldız Kaplan, Turkish actress, fashion model and pop singer* Yıldız Kenter, Turkish actress and lecturer* Yıldız Tilbe, Turkish singer-Surname:...
, Kuruçeşme, Ortaköy
Ortaköy
Ortaköy is a neighbourhood, formerly a small village, within the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, located in the middle of the European bank of the Bosphorus....
, and Arnavutköy
Arnavutköy
Arnavutköy is a historic neighborhood in Istanbul, Turkey, famous for its wooden Ottoman mansions and fish restaurants as well as the prestigious Robert College campus with its centennial buildings...
.
Name
The words beşik taş means "cradleCradle
Cradle may refer to:Mechanical devices:*Bassinet, a small bed, often on rockers, in which babies and small children sleep* Ship cradle, supports a ship that is dry docked...
stone
Rock (geology)
In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...
" in Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
.
According to one story, there was a Byzantine church where Beşiktaş now is with the name Kounopetra, Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
for "stone cradle." The church was built to honor a relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
, a stone reportedly taken from the stable
Stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals...
in Bethlehem
Bethlehem
Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...
where Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
was born. This stone was later removed to Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is a former Orthodox patriarchal basilica, later a mosque, and now a museum in Istanbul, Turkey...
and disappeared during the Fourth Crusade
Fourth Crusade
The Fourth Crusade was originally intended to conquer Muslim-controlled Jerusalem by means of an invasion through Egypt. Instead, in April 1204, the Crusaders of Western Europe invaded and conquered the Christian city of Constantinople, capital of the Eastern Roman Empire...
, possibly to be sold in Europe's relics market.
According to another story, a cleric from an Aya Menas (Saint Menas
Saint Menas
Saint Menas , the Martyr and Wonder-worker, is one of the most well-known Egyptian saints in the East and the West, due to the many miracles that are attributed to his intercession and prayers...
) Church where Beşiktaş now is returned from a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to Jerusalem with a cradle-shaped stone used in the baptism
Baptism
In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...
of Jesus and placed it in the church.
According to yet another story, the name is a corruption of beş taş, Turkish for "five stones," referring to stone pillars used for mooring ships in the time of Barbaros Hayreddin Pasha.
History
In Byzantine times, the area was called Diplokionion, meaning "double pillar" in Greek.
In ancient times the villages on the Bosphorus shore were isolated communities in the forest that lined the water-side. The Bosphorus, however, was prominent in the history and mythology of the ancient Greeks, and villages like Beşiktaş would have had their place in traditional tales such as Jason
Jason
Jason was a late ancient Greek mythological hero from the late 10th Century BC, famous as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus...
and the Argonauts
Argonauts
The Argonauts ) were a band of heroes in Greek mythology who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after its builder, Argus. "Argonauts", therefore, literally means...
. In the Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
era churches and a monastery were built and the tradition of having a summer palace on the Bosphorus was begun by the Byzantines with their Ayios Mamas palace complex.
The Bosphorus settlements however, being outside the city walls, were vulnerable to raiders from the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
coasts and little of this architecture or the statuary that would have decorated it so gloriously has survived.
In 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...
period, once the emperors had established control of the Black Sea coasts the Ottoman navy was docked in the Bosphorus and the Bosphorus villages became safe and attractive again. One man in particular, the legendary sailor Barbarossa, built his palace and mosque in Beşiktaş, making it his home. By now Beşiktaş was an established Bosphorus crossing for caravans trading across Anatolia
Anatolia
Anatolia is a geographic and historical term denoting the westernmost protrusion of Asia, comprising the majority of the Republic of Turkey...
and along the Silk Road
Silk Road
The Silk Road or Silk Route refers to a historical network of interlinking trade routes across the Afro-Eurasian landmass that connected East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean and European world, as well as parts of North and East Africa...
, and of course for the great Ottoman armies.
This coast was of course very attractive to the Ottoman rulers, who built hunting lodges and then great palaces in the area, and the Beşiktaş district contains some of the most important and attractive Ottoman buildings. The area was thus the scene of great intrigues of the late Ottoman period such as the dethronement of Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Abdülaziz
Abdülâziz
Abdülaziz I or Abd Al-Aziz, His Imperial Majesty was the 32nd Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and reigned between 25 June 1861 and 30 May 1876...
at Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace
Dolmabahçe Palace located in the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, Turkey, on the European coastline of the Bosphorus strait, served as the main administrative center of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922, apart from a 22-year interval in which Yıldız Palace was used.- History :Dolmabahçe Palace...
in a coup in 1876, the announcement of the founding of the Ottoman parliament in 1908, and the deposing 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...
at Yıldız Palace
Yildiz Palace
Yıldız Palace is a vast complex of former imperial Ottoman pavilions and villas in Istanbul, Turkey, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. It was used as a residence by the Sultan and his court in the late 19th century.- Origin :...
in 1909.
Following the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923, the Ottoman ruling family was deported and the palaces and mansions along the coast were emptied out. Some were given to new government ministries, some used as schools and other public buildings, other were pulled down.
Today, it is widely accepted by the residents of the municipality that the most significant resident of Beşiktaş was Zübeyde Hanım
Zübeyde Hanim
Zübeyde Hanım was the mother of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. She was the only daughter of the Hacısofular family which included her two brothers...
, the mother of the Turkish
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
national hero
Folk hero
A folk hero is a type of hero, real, fictional, or mythological. The single salient characteristic which makes a character a folk hero is the imprinting of the name, personality and deeds of the character in the popular consciousness. This presence in the popular consciousness is evidenced by...
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey....
, who lived in the old quarter at the core of Beşiktaş municipality, literally right next to the then headquarters of the Beşiktaş J.K.
Besiktas J.K.
Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...
.
Besiktas J.K.
The neighborhood gives its name to Turkey's oldest sports club, Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü
Besiktas J.K.
Beşiktaş Jimnastik Kulübü , or simply Beşiktaş , is a Turkish sports club. The club's football team is one of the major teams in Turkey. The professional sports club, founded in 1903, is based in the Beşiktaş district in Istanbul, Turkey...
(Beşiktaş Gymnastics Club), founded in 1903. The club's football team is one of the top three in Turkey and has won 13 Turkish Super League titles and participated five times (1997-98, 2000-01, 2003-04, 2007-08, 2008-09) in the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
. The club's 33,000-seat BJK İnönü Stadium
BJK Inonu Stadium
Fiyapı İnönü Stadium is a football stadium in Istanbul, Turkey and is the home ground of the football club Beşiktaş J.K.. Previously the ground has aso been shared with Galatasaray S.K. and Fenerbahce S.K.. The ground is located in Dolmabahçe, close to the Dolmabahçe Palace in the district of...
is on the Bosphorus seafront southwest of the center of Beşiktaş, and on match days the area is very crowded with football fans.
The football team wears black and white shirts and is nicknamed the Black Eagles. The club has earned notoriety for its faithful fans, who have broken volume records with 132 decibel cheers.
Beşiktaş J.K. also has basketball, volleyball, and other sports teams.
BJK Akatlar Arena
BJK Akatlar Arena
Beşiktaş Milangaz Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in Akatlar, Istanbul, Turkey. The arena is the home court of Beşiktaş J.K.; it also serves the volleyball team. It is also suitable to host other events, such as concerts....
is the home of the basketball team.