The Empire Beneath Your Feet: Bakırköy

1. 01
   Culture

   Find the Building That Passed Through Three Education Systems

   Track down this stone building in Cevizlik, opened in 1884 as a Greek community school: first a nuns' school, then a Greek middle school. From 1928 to 1968 it was the district's only public middle school. In 1991, actor Tarık Akan bought and restored the building, turning it back into a school.

   Taş Mektep, Bakırköy, Istanbul, Turkey
2. 02
   History

   See the Church Founded by the School's Community

   Visit the church of the same community that opened the school you just saw. Its foundation still manages two churches in the district and remains active today. Even Bakırköy's name comes from that community's language: the Greek Makrohori, meaning 'long village.' As the name was Turkified, the meaning was lost along the way — it has nothing to do with copper.

   Aya Yorgi Rum Ortodoks Kilisesi, Bakırköy, Istanbul, Turkey
3. 03
   History

   Search for the Cistern Where Elephants Once Stayed

   Look for this vast open-air Byzantine cistern, measuring 127 by 76 meters and counted among the empire's four great water reservoirs. After the conquest, it was emptied and turned into a stable for the sultan's elephants, which is how it kept the name Fildamı. It is the only major surviving Byzantine structure in Bakırköy.

   Fildamı Sarnıcı, Bakırköy, Istanbul, Turkey
4. 04
   History

   Enter the Factory Buried Beneath Ataköy

   Step into the former imperial gunpowder works where the Ottoman army's powder was produced for two and a half centuries. The complex was founded around 1700, rebuilt after two major fires, and eventually made entirely of masonry. In 1955 the land was sold to a bank, and all of Ataköy was later built over this factory site.

   Baruthane-i Âmire ve Baruthane Müze, Ataköy, Istanbul, Turkey
5. 05
   Local

   Stand Where the Lost Beach Used to Be

   End at the Ataköy waterfront, where nobody swims today. Yet in 1958 this was the site of a public beach with 3,000 changing cabins, plus motel blocks, a camping area, and a gazino. Istanbul residents used to spend their summers here. The beach stood on a natural sandy shore before land reclamation — and now both are gone.

   Ataköy Marina, Ataköy, Istanbul, Turkey

Check opening hours before you go. Hours, access conditions and weather can change.