Istanbul Travel Guides, Prince's Islands

The Prince’s Islands

Istanbul city guides, travel and cultural information from www.istanbul-pedia.com

Adalar are the islands facing Küçükyalı and Mal-tepe in the south east part of Istanbul. The islands also known as Prens Adaları (Prince’s Islands) are as follows: • Büyükada, 5.400 km² • Heybeliada 2.350 km² • Burgazada 1.500 km² • Kınalıada 1.356 km² • Tavşanadası 1.010 km² • Sedefadası 0.157 km² • Yassıada 0.052 km² • Sivriada 0.045 km² • Kaşıkadası 0.008 km² Büyükada is considered as the metropol of all the islands due to population, architecture and lifestyle. Because automobiles are forbidden on all the islands, people and goods move by horse-drawn wagons and by bicycles. As well as ferries from İstanbul, there are also motorboats from Bos-tancı going to the Islands. The Islands are a place where İstanbullu go to escape from the noise and stress of the city. On the Islands you can go to the seaside, have picnic and spend a nice time relaxing in a peaceful atmosphere out of the city. There are quite a few churches and monasteries because the Islands had a greater proportion of non-Muslim inhabitants

during the Roman and Ottoman period. Going for a picnic on the Islands would be a very nice pastime out of İstanbul. The most popular picnic areas are on Büyükada and Heybeliada. To reach the picnic areas on both of these islands, you need to turn right and follow the shoreline when you get off the ferry. You can either bring your food and drinks with you, or you can shop at the çarşı near the ferry station. At the picnic areas you can buy a small mangal and charcoal for a very reasonable price. After your picnic, you can stroll around, rent a bike, or take a tour on a phaeton. İyi eğlenceler! Did you know ? The islands of İstanbul had many different names throughout history: Saint’s Islands, Monk’s Islands, Spirits’ Islands, Genie’s Islands, Red Islands, and finally Prince’s Islands. The name Prince’s Islands originated with the Byzantine custom of exiling nobles and even queens to these islands. There on these beautiful islands where today people come to relax and escape from the bustle of İstanbul, the exiled nobles lived lonely, isolated lives, and some were even tortured. ADA VAPURU, ISLAND FERRY

Ada vapuru is the island ferry leaving from Bostanci and Kadikoy on the Asian side, from

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Kabatas and Sirkeci on the European side. The first island stop is Kinaliada, next Burgazada, Heybeliada and finally Büyükada. The island ferry is everything for Adali. Especially when the lodos (south wind) blows from the southwest and the ferries are cancelled, the Islands cut off from the city. On weekends the trip to the Islands starts with the release of the ropes at Istanbul iskele (ferry stations), goes on with hundreds of other Istanbullu drinking glasses of tea, ends in one of the island piers with the twittering seagulls flock around the ferry all the way from Istanbul after a piece of simit. The island ferries from Istanbul are one of the places in the world where everyone is equal, just like Noah’s Ark. On the ferry’s decks you can meet all kinds of people – from the Islands, the mainland, all over Turkey and the world, Muslims, non-Muslims, educated, uneducated, rich, poor, young, old… who get together to go to the Islands off the Bosphorus which doesn’t belong to any continent, neither Europe nor Asia. One of the most pleasant sides of a trip to the Islands is the return trip on the night ferry when you get to enjoy Istanbul’s city lights over the water. Remember to buy a few simit before you take a ferry to the islands to feed the seagulls on the way. BÜYÜKADA, PRINKIPO Büyükada is the largest island of the Prince’s Islands in the South of İstanbul, famous for the architecture of the houses. Literally it means big island. Büyükada used to be called Prinkipo, “big” in Greek. The population of the island is over 7,000 but it is more crowded during the spring and summer time as most of the houses on the island are summer houses. 207 golden coins found in 1930 proves that the history of the island dates back to Macedonia King Filip II, father of Alexandre the Great. This treasure, called Büyüka-da Treasure is exhibited in the İstanbul Archelogy Museum.

You can go on a fayton tour, rent a bike and go for a ride around the island to see the architecture of the island, have a picnic in Dilburnu, swim at Yörükali Plajı, Prenses Plajı, Nakibey Plajı, walk

up to Aya Yorgi and have lunch at Aya Yorgi Restaurant with a very nice view of the islands, sea and İstanbul. Did you know? • Lev Trocki who was expelled by Stalin lived on

Büyükada in 1920-1933. • Every 23rd of May and 24th of September,

people from different religions walk up the Aya Yorgi Church and leave offerings of olive oil and pray.

HEYBELİADA, HALKI

Heybeliada or Halki as it was called before, is the greenest of all the islands. It is the third island after Burgazada and before Büyükada. On getting off at the iskele, ferry station there is the Navy School on the left side and carşı, shopping street, restaurants and cafes on the right side. If you keep walking or take a fayton to the right you will get to the beach and the picnic area in Degirmen Burnu



where there is an old windmill. There are two fay-

ton routes on Heybeliada: Büyük tur (big tour) and kücük tur (small tour) or asiklar turu (tour for lovers). Did you know? Edward Barton, the ambassador of the Queen Elizabeth I, lived on Heybeliada. Barton lived in a house in Tophane for a while, but he had noisy parties and the people around his house complained about the noise and eventually he was sent to Halki. BURGAZADA, ANTIGONI

Burgazada is the second island of Adalar, the Prince’s Islands in İstanbul. The earliest name of the Burgazada was Antigone, one of the generals of Alexandre the Great. When the Ottomans conquered the island, it was called Burgaz (Pyrgoz), fortress, bastion in Greek. Burgazada is known as the home of Sait Faik, a famous short story writer of Turkish literature. He lived his last years on this island until he died in 1954. His house then was made Sait Faik Museum. It is possible to see the traces of Sait Fa-ik all over the island. One of the nicest places on the island is Kalpazankaya (rocks on the other side of the island). Kalpazankaya means “counterfeiters’ rock” in Turkish as it was thought that counterfeiters printed money there. Around Kalpazankaya is the Kalpazankaya open air restaurant, which is one of the symbols of Burgazada. You can have a nice meal at the restaurant underneath the acacia, olive, plum and chestnut trees with a nice view of the Marmara Sea and İstanbul. You can walk to Kalpazankaya

or take a fayton to get there. Burgazada is the only island that the fayton goes along the sea with a spectacular sea view. You can have a sakızlı ice-cream after getting off the ferry, walk to Kalpazankaya (follow the fay-ton) have a delicious lunch at Burgazada Kır Lo-kantası with a nice sea view. KINALIADA, PROTI

Kınalıada is the closest island to İstanbul. It was called Kınalıada (kına=hanna) because of the colour of the land from the iron and copper mines. As it is the closest island to the city, most expellees were brought to Kınalıada in the Roman period. LOST IN ISTANBUL, VORDONISI There are 9 islands on the southern coast of Istanbul: Büyükada, Heybeliada, Burgazada, Kınalıada, Sedef Adasi, Kasikadasi, Yassiada, Sivriada and Tavsanadasi. Actually there is another one that we can’t see on the surface today: Vordonas, Vordonisi or Horeke Rocks as the fishermen call it. Vordonisi, located near Dragos, Maltepe coast on the Asian side, is one of the Istanbul islands sank about 1000 years ago during an Istanbul earthquake with the monastry and the monks in it as it is believed. Today there is a light on the rocks, the highest part close to the surface.

“Have a nice day on the Prince’s islands!”

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Istanbul Travel Guides, Prince's Islands