Golden Horn

Coordinates: 41°01′45″N 28°57′40″E / 41.02917°N 28.96111°E / 41.02917; 28.96111
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Bosphorus
strait, as well as historically significant sites (black), and various notable neighborhoods
Bosphorus (off the picture, left) and the Sea of Marmara (behind the Historic Peninsula). Seraglio Point is located at the eastern tip of the Historic Peninsula (center, left). The Princes' Islands are along the horizon, at upper left.[1]

The Golden Horn (

Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. As a natural estuary that connects with the Bosphorus Strait at the point where the strait meets the Sea of Marmara, the waters of the Golden Horn help define the northern boundary of the peninsula constituting "Old Istanbul" (ancient Byzantium and Constantinople), the tip of which is the promontory of Sarayburnu, or Seraglio Point. This estuarial inlet geographically separates the historic center of Istanbul from the rest of the city, and forms a horn shape, sheltered harbor that in the course of history has protected Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other maritime trade ships for thousands[2]
of years.

Throughout its history, the Golden Horn has witnessed many tumultuous historical incidents, and has been depicted in numerous works of art.

An hourly Golden Horn ferry service connects Üsküdar and Karaköy with most of the suburbs along the estuary. In 2021 the T5 tramline opened on the western shore of the Golden Horn. It runs from the Alibeyköy bus station as far as Cibali, beside the Atatürk Bridge, and an extension already in the making will continue it to Eminönü where it will intersect with the T1 tramline and several ferry services.[3]

Description

The Golden Horn is the

"gulf"
. The following districts line the western shore of the Golden Horn from south to north: Cibali,
Eyüp, Silahtarağa, Sakarya and Alibeyköy. The following districts line the eastern shore of the Golden Horn from south to north: Kasımpaşa, Hasköy, and Sütlüce
.

At present, the Golden Horn is spanned by four bridges. Moving from upstream to downstream (i.e. northwest to southeast), these are as follows:

  1. Defterdar
  2. Atatürk Bridge, aka Unkapanı Bridge, completed in 1940, which connects Kasımpaşa and Unkapanı
  3. Golden Horn Metro Bridge, a pedestrianized railway crossing, completed in 2014, that extends subway line M2 of the Istanbul Metro across the Golden Horn
  4. Galata Bridge (its fifth incarnation, completed in 1994), between Karaköy and Eminönü

The Eski Galata Bridge (literally, Old Galata Bridge), now-defunct, used to connect the downstream neighborhoods of Karaköy and Eminönü, but was disassembled and relocated upstream between Ayvansaray and Keçeci Piri following extensive damage in 1992 caused by a fire originating in the kitchen of one of the restaurants located on the bridge's lower level. Originally dating back to 1912, the now-retired structure is no longer used for vehicular or pedestrian traffic, but functions as a seasonal outdoor exhibit and event space attached to Haliç Park.

History

Bosphorus (left), the entrance of the Golden Horn (center and right), and the Sea of Marmara (distance) with the Princes' Islands
on the horizon

Archaeological records show a significant urban presence on and around the Golden Horn dating back to at least the 7th century BC, with smaller settlements going as far back as 6700 BC as confirmed by recent discoveries of ancient ports, storage facilities, and fleets of trade ships unearthed during construction work for the Yenikapı subway station and the Marmaray tunnel project.[2][4][5]

Indeed, the deep natural harbor provided by the Golden Horn has always been a major economic attraction and strategic military advantage for inhabitants of the area. Emperor Constantine I established Nova Roma (later Constantinople) on top of the existing city of Byzantium to capitalize on the same benefits, as did the founders of the previous settlement and its modern successor, Istanbul.

The Eastern Roman Empire had its naval headquarters there, and walls were built along the shoreline to protect the city of Constantinople from naval attacks.

The Great Chain of the Golden Horn 

At the entrance to the Horn on the northern side, a

old Tower of Galata to prevent unwanted ships from entering. Known among the Byzantines as the Megàlos Pyrgos (meaning "Great Tower" in Greek), this tower was largely destroyed by the Latin Crusaders during the Fourth Crusade in 1204. In 1348, the Genoese built a new tower nearby which they called Christea Turris (Tower of Christ), now called Galata Tower
.

There were three notable times when the chain across the Horn was either broken or circumvented. In the 10th century the

Rus'; towing his ships across Galata over greased
logs and into the estuary.

After the

In 1502,

.

Until the 1980s, the Horn was polluted with industrial waste from the factories, warehouses, and shipyards along its shores. It has since been cleaned, and the local fish, wildlife, and flora have been largely restored.[7][8] The clean-up happened in two main phases under Mayor Bedrettin Dalan in the 1980s and under Mayor Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the 1990s.[9]

Nowadays, the Golden Horn is settled on both sides, and there are parks along each shore. The

Turkish Navy
, and campuses of various universities.

Today, the Horn's history and natural environment make it a popular tourist attraction in Istanbul, visited by 10 million international vacationers annually.[10]

Tersane Istanbul

Sometimes claimed as the oldest shipyard in the world, the Haliç Shipyard (Haliç Tersanesi in Turkish) was founded by Sultan Mehmed II in 1455. It remained in operation both for shipbuilding and repairs into the 1960s but then fell into disrepair. The site is now being redeveloped as the giant Tersane Istanbul project which will bring hotels, museums, art galleries, shops and restaurants to a very rundown area. In February 2019 President Erdoğan announced the start of the project[11] and in October 2021 it started to open when the Contemporary Istanbul art fair was staged there.[12] It is intended that the Sadberk Hanım Museum will relocate to Tersane Istanbul from Sarıyer as part of the project.

In popular culture

The Golden Horn is featured in many works of literature dealing with classical themes. For example, G. K. Chesterton's poem Lepanto contains the memorable couplet "From evening isles fantastical rings faint the Spanish gun, / And the Lord upon the Golden Horn is laughing in the sun."

Image gallery

See also

References

  1. ^ Istanbul Turkey Picturedatabase - Aerial view of Istanbul
  2. ^ a b BBC: "Istanbul's ancient past unearthed" Published on 10 January 2007. Retrieved on 3 March 2010.
  3. ^ "Istanbul opens fourth tram line at the Golden Horn". Urban Transport Magazine. 2021-01-12. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  4. ^ Hürriyet: Bu keşif tarihi değiştirir (2 October 2008)
  5. ^ Hürriyet: Photos from the Neolithic site, circa 6500 BC
  6. ^ Top 5 things to do in Istanbul Archived 2013-01-01 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Water Quality Management: Case Study of Golden Horn (Halic) – Istanbul-Turkey
  8. PMID 19781731.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  9. ^ "How Istanbul's wounded Golden Horn became Turkey's success story". How Istanbul’s wounded Golden Horn became Turkey’s success story. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  10. ^ İstanbul to surpass Paris in number of tourists Archived 2015-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ "Erdogan breaks ground for Tersane Istanbul". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  12. ^ Contemporary Istanbul presents its 16th edition at Tersane Istanbul, retrieved 2022-06-09

External links

41°01′45″N 28°57′40″E / 41.02917°N 28.96111°E / 41.02917; 28.96111