Beshiktash (also called Beşiktaş Bestas, Diplokiyonion, Beshicktash, or Beshik-tash)
As the Bosporus’
northern shore winds eastward away from the urban industrial areas of Galata
and Tophane, the land’s natural beauty grows, with green hills dotted with
cypresses, thick woods, and the well-tended gardens of Beshiktash. Industrial
docks, warehouses, and customs offices fade into private caique quays and waterside
Ottoman palaces. Since the 1600s, sultans
of the Ottoman Empire build their fantastic summer homes along the northern
shore far from the worries and noise of Stambul. Between the waterfront palaces
of Dolmabagtche and Ciragan a village of middle class tradesmen performs all
the daily labor necessary to maintain the luxury of palace life.
After
conquering Constantinople, the victorious Ottoman Navy protected the villages
far from the city’s walls from raids by the Black Sea pirates by docking their
navy in the now long-vanished bay of Beshiktash. The legendary Ottoman admiral Barbarossa set
up five sturdy columns from which he could moor his ships, giving the area
around the bay its old name “Bestas” meaning “five pillars”. As Ottoman territory
expanded, the threat of attacks to these villages lessened, and the navy moved from
these docks to the many harbors of the Golden Horn. Their sailors and officers
too moved on to new homes and barracks far from Bestas, depleting the
population of the waterfront village.
The
shore’s idyllic countryside and nearby woods full of wild game attracted the
sporting blood of the Ottoman monarchy, and soon filled with hunting lodges,
villas, and summer homes. In the 1600s Sultan Osman II ordered all of his ships
to load up with stone and fill the bay, extending the shore to the Bosporus
forming the 1, 200 foot patch of land called Dolmabagtche, meaning “filled in garden”.
This unusual alteration the coast gives the region its current name
“Beshiktash” meaning “cradle stone”. Some
ancient legends tell a different story explaining the quarter’s name. While it
was still wilderness, a monk named Yashka built a convent in Beshiktash and
placed within the stone upon which one of the Eight Voices of the Aluminat faith
was washed after his birth, giving the convent and later the whole area the
name “cradle stone”. The convent is long gone, but some say the stone is hidden
in the Hagia
Sofia mosque.
Traditionally,
each Sultan builds a new pleasure palace for himself rather than inhabit an old
one, making Beshiktash’s shore a wonder of opulent buildings from bygone days
and a maze of lush gardens. Members of the Sultan’s extended family (such as
siblings and offspring), along with viziers, and other high ranking pashas live
in most of the older palaces, but a few very old villas sit unused. Although
beggars line the streets outside the palatial estates hoping to find pity from
a wealthy pasha, an outsider cannot pass their gates without an invitation, a
firman, or the excuse of official business. Anyone may travel on the paths
winding through the flowering and wooded hills and valleys of Beshiktash, but
entrance to palace gardens is prohibited.
Carriages
and caiques travel incessantly between Pera and Beshiktash, bearing diplomats
and military commanders belonging to the allied countries. The tranquil
landscape and the security of a well-guarded country estate provide the perfect
setting for balls, state dinners, and other official functions of the highest
level of government.
Back in
the ancient days of Byzantium, Jason stopped in Beshiktash after his quest for
the Golden Fleece and unrolled the much sought fleece out on the ground. It may
only be coincidence such a powerful symbol of wealth and kingship once touched
the ground where now the Sultans build their lavish summer homes.
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