Kağıthane Promenade (MEGT)

Istanbul (Golden Horn), Turkey

Evliya Çelebi describes this place as follows:

The notables of the society attend the tekke at the Kâğıthane promenade. The Kağıthane River has such good quality water that those who wash their clothes (shirts, turbans, baggy trousers) with this water do not need to use soap. After washing twice, the clothes become white like a rose petal. . . . Two sides of this river form a green valley adorned with thousands of plane trees, poplars, and weeping willows. Different kinds of grass grow in its meadows. Kağıthane is a green promenade adorned with flowers, Kağıthane tulips, and trees providing shadow. On holy days, young and old lovers travel to this resting place and enjoy themselves in various ways. Some of the lovers swim in the river and hold their beloved ones without any restrain, thus, it is such a river of love. However, the roots of those river by the two sides of the river has become like a fish net catching the feet of swimmers, people mistake it for a sea monster that hounds swimmers. The guilds of jewelers feast for twenty nights and twenty days at the meadows of Kâğıthane once every forty years under the order of Sultan Süleyman. During these festivities, there are five to six thousand tents in the Kağıthane valley. For twenty days, many people enjoy themselves at festivities day and night. Once every twenty years, the guild of saraçlar also gather at Kağıthane. Every year, the citizens of Istanbul meet here and stay in tents for one month before the month of Ramadan in order to celebrate the arrival of the holy month.To the west of the Kağıthane promenade, there is the Kağıthane village promenade with 200 irem vineyards. One bathhouse and twenty shops are at the site. Formerly, a paper atelier and watermills were there. However, today the atelier is in a derelict condition. Along the Kağıthane River, there are tall plane trees, each reaching toward the sky. The branches of each tree accommodate nests for birds.

Source: Travel Account, 17th century

-Nurhan Atasoy, Seyit Ali Kahraman

Source:

Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi: Topkapı Sarayı Bağdat 304 Yazmasının transkripsiyonu (Open in Zotero)

Originally published at: Atasoy, Nurhan, and Seyit Ali Kahraman “Kağıthane Promenade.” Middle East Gardens Traditions. Dumbarton Oaks, December 1, 2014. https://www.doaks.org/resources/middle-east-garden-traditions/catalogue/C98. Archived at: https://perma.cc/5UDZ-R9BM.