Nişantaşı

Nişantaşı
Nişantaşı
Quarter
	Nişantaşı
	Location of Şişli in Istanbul
Country	Turkey
Province	Istanbul
District	Şişli
Time zone	GMT+2
Area code	(+90) 212

Nişantaşıis a residential quarter in theŞişlidistrict on the European side ofIstanbul,Turkey.Nişantaşı quarter has four neighbourhoods:Teşvikiye,Maçka,OsmanbeyandPangaltı.The centre of the Nişantaşı quarter is at the neighbourhood of Teşvikiye, which is separated from the neighbourhood of Osmanbey to the west by the Vali Konağı Avenue and Rumeli Avenue. Osmanbey is separated from the Pangaltı neighbourhood further to the west by the busy Halaskargazi Avenue in Şişli. The neighbourhood of Maçka is immediately to the south of Teşvikiye. Nişantaşı is a popular shopping quarter, full of boutiques,department stores,cafés,pubs,restaurantsandnight clubs.^[1]Many of the streets are still full of fine 19th and early 20th-century apartment blocks. Directly to the south lies the large and woodedMaçka Park,and to the east theBeşiktaşdistrict.

Nişantaşı provides the backdrop for several novels byNobel laureateTurkish novelistOrhan Pamuk,a local resident for many years. JournalistEce Temelkurancompared the neighbourhood toGreenwich Village, Manhattan.^[2]

The nearestmetrostop to the central part of the Nişantaşı quarter is theOsmanbey metro stationon theM2 line.Many bus and dolmuş services plough up and down Halaskargazi Avenue, linking Nişantaşı toTaksimandMecidiyeköy.It's also quite easy to reach theferriesby foot inBeşiktaşshore.

History

In the middle of the 19th century, Nişantaşı was established byOttomanSultanAbdülmecid Iwho erected a pair of small obelisks to define the extents of the new quarter. It was Abdülmecid I who ordered the construction of theNeo-ClassicalTeşvikiye Police Station and theNeo-Baroque Teşvikiye Mosqueto create a proper quarter, encouragingConstantinopolitansto settle in the area (hence the nameTeşvikiyewhich means "Encouragement" inOttoman Turkish).

The wordNişantaşı(nişan taşı) means "target stone" or more precisely "aiming stone"inTurkish.Target (aiming) stones were erected in the Ottoman period to mark the records of Ottomanarchers,including sultans. Shaped either as smallobelisksorcolumnswith Ottoman Turkish inscriptions on them, some of these target stones still serve as monuments to Nişantaşı's past, their inscriptions recording when a particular arrow was shot and by whom, as well as recording the distance it flew.^[3]

Following theBalkan Warsof 1912–1913, manyTurksfromMacedonia,especiallyThessaloniki(Selânik,which was an Ottoman metropolis until 1912) settled in the Nişantaşı quarter of Istanbul, including the family of the famous Turkish poetNâzım Hikmet.Apart from theTurks,the quarter also had sizeableGreek,Jewish,Armenian,andLevantinecommunities.

In 1923 manyDönmemoved to the area fromThessalonikiafter theGreek-Turkish population exchange.Arriving in Nişantaşı, they started to live in the abandoned Greek houses and apartment flats. A few of their descendants still live in Nişantaşı, where they are a tightly knit community.^{[citation needed]}

Attractions

On Vali Konağı Avenue stands the house of Turkish architectVedat Tek,designed and built by himself in 1913–14. Its facade displays many of the features of theFirst National Architecturestyle, with which he was associated, including thick lancet windows, tiled panels and protrudingSeljuk stylestone roundels.

Built in 1853 on the site of an older mosque, the elegantTesvikye Mosquewas once associated with theDönmeswho had arrived fromSalonica(now Thessaloniki) during the1923 population exchangebetween Greece and Turkey. The founder ofAtlantic Records,Ahmet Ertegun's funeral was held here in 2006. Two target (aiming) stones (nişan taşı) for archery, dating back to the late 18th and early 19th centuries, stand inside the mosque's courtyard. There are numerous other aiming stones within the quarter; one of the most renowned examples, namedAnıt Taşand shaped as a small obelisk, is located at the corner between Teşvikiye Avenue and Vali Konağı Avenue.

In 1979,Abdi İpekçi,theeditor-in-chiefof the daily newspaperMilliyet(which was back then owned by theKaracanfamily and reflectedKemalist,secularistandcentre-leftviews), was shot and killed near Teşvikiye Mosque byMehmet Ali Ağca,the man who went on to shoot atPope John Paul IIin 1981. Amemorial statuemarks the spot where Abdi İpekçi was killed. He was the cousin of bothİsmail Cem İpekçi(who served as theMinister of Culture and Tourismin 1995 andMinister of Foreign Affairsbetween 1997 and 2002) andCemil İpekçi(a renowned Turkishfashion designer).

The Park Hyatt Hotel is housed in theMaçka Palasbuilding which started life as an apartment block designed byGiulio Mongeriin 1922. In different periods, it was inhabited by the third Turkish presidentCelâl Bayar,the poet and politicianAbdülhak Hamid TarhanandTurgay Şeren,a goalkeeper for theGalatasarayfootball team.

Educational Facilities

Maçka Technical High School (Maçka Teknik Lisesi) was originally designed byGiulio Mongeriand constructed by theItaliansto serve as their country's newembassyin Istanbul.^[4]However, whenAnkarabecame Turkey's new capital in 1923, it was donated to the Turkish Republic. Construction works were not completed until 1970, when it was turned into a technical high school.^[4]

There are three public primary schools on Nişantaşı Avenue (Nilüfer Hatun Primary School, Sait Çiftçi Primary School, and Maçka Primary School) and two public high schools (Rüştü Uzel High School, Nuri Akın High School).

The prestigious Feyziye Mektepleri Vakfı Işık Okulları (Feyziye Schools Foundation Işık Private Schools) is a private school incorporating akindergarten,primary schoolandhigh school.It was established in 1885 as the Şemsi Efendi Primary School in theOttomancity ofSelânik(Mustafa Kemal Atatürk,the founder and firstPresidentof theRepublic of Turkey,was a student of the Şemsi Efendi Primary School.)

Several faculty buildings ofIstanbul Technical University(ITU) andMarmara Universityare also located here. The ITU is housed in what was once the Maçka Barracks designed by members of theBalyan familyof architects.

Gallery

Maçka Palas(1922) designed byGiulio Mongeri^[5]houses the Park Hyatt Hotel,Emporio Armani,Armani CaféandGuccistores.
Art Nouveaustyle apartment buildings in Teşvikiye, Nişantaşı.
Art Nouveaustyle apartment buildings in Teşvikiye, Nişantaşı.
Abdi İpekçi Avenue in Nişantaşı.
St. Regis Hotel in Teşvikiye, Nişantaşı.
Buildings in Teşvikiye, Nişantaşı.
Teşvikiye Mosquein Teşvikiye, Nişantaşı.
İzmir Palace in Nişantaşı.
An "aiming stone" (nişan taşı) forarchery,one of two inside the courtyard ofTeşvikiye Mosquein Teşvikiye, Nişantaşı.
Abdi İpekçi monumentin Nişantaşı.
Park Hyatt Hotel, Maçka