Mecidiyeköy is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Şişli, Istanbul Province, Turkey.[1][2] Its population is 20,006 (2022).[3] It is a heavily built-up residential and business neighbourhood, squeezed in between the Fulya, Kuştepe, Gültepe, Esentepe, and Gülbahar neighbourhoods.

Mecidiyeköy
Metrobus Mecidiyeköy station and Mecidiyeköy panorama
Metrobus Mecidiyeköy station and Mecidiyeköy panorama
Mecidiyeköy is located in Turkey
Mecidiyeköy
Mecidiyeköy
Location in Turkey
Mecidiyeköy is located in Istanbul
Mecidiyeköy
Mecidiyeköy
Mecidiyeköy (Istanbul)
Coordinates: 41°04′N 29°00′E / 41.067°N 29.000°E / 41.067; 29.000
CountryTurkey
ProvinceIstanbul
DistrictŞişli
Population
 (2022)
20,006
Time zoneUTC+3 (TRT)

Mecidiyeköy means "Mecid's Village" in Turkish, a name it acquired because it was during the reign of the Ottoman sultan Abdülmecid I that it started to be settled.[4]

Busy Halaskargazi Street runs through Şişli to Mecidiyeköy where it intersects with the D100 motorway. The Şişli-Mecidiyeköy Metro stop on the M2 line stops near this chaotic intersection, connecting the area with Taksim and Yenikapı. It also connects with the newer Mecidiyeköy station on the M7 Metro line to Mahmutbey.

One exit from the Şişli-Mecidiyeköy Metro leads straight to the huge Cevahir shopping mall, which was, when it opened, the largest such mall in Europe.

Attractions edit

 
Abide-i Hürriyet monument in Mecidiyeköy

Mecidiyeöy barely features on the sightseeing radar although there are a couple of things to attract the curious, most obviously the Abide-i Hürriyet (Liberty Monument) isolated amid the traffic chaos where Halaskargazi Street meets the D100 flyover. The monument commemorates the so-called 31 March incident when counter-revolutionaries attempted to overturn the new Young Turk government and return Sultan Abdülhamid II to the throne. Their effort failed and shortly afterwards the sultan was removed from office. Work on the monument was completed in 1911 and it went on to become a site for memorials to some Young Turks leaders, Enver Paşa and Talat Paşa. There is also a monument to Mithad Paşa, a reformist grand vizier who died in exile in what is now Saudi Arabia. The assassinated grand vizier Mahmud Sevked Paşa was actually buried here.

Just to the south of the D100 flyway are three large cemeteries, one belonging to the Rum (Greek) Orthodox community, one to the Italian Jewish community and the third to the Armenian community. The Jewish cemetery is rarely open to outsiders. Buried in the Rum (Greek) Cemetery are the founders of the tiny and controversial Turkish Orthodox Church, Papas Eftim I, II and III.

 
View of Levent from Mecidiyeköy

Access edit

Mecidiyeköy is an important passenger transport hub on the European part of Istanbul.

  • Metrobus lines:
    • 34 (Zincirlikuyu-Avcılar),
    • 34A (Söğütlüçeşme-Cevizlibağ),
    • 34AS (Avcılar-Söğütlüçeşme),
    • 34BZ (Beylikdüzü Sondurak-Zincirlikuyu),
    • 34G (Söğütlüçeşme-TUYAP),
  • Metro line: M2 (Yenikapı-Hacıosman), M7 (Mecidiyeköy-Mahmutbey)
  •  
    The platform level of the M7 Station under Mecidiyeköy Square on opening day
    Bus lines: with terminus Mecidiyeköy only[5]

The motorway Otoyol 1 that forms the inner half ring road of Istanbul connecting European and Asian parts via the Bosphorus Bridge, runs through Mecidiyeköy on a viaduct.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Mahalle, Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  2. ^ "Neighbourhoods of the Şişli district" (in Turkish). Governorship of Şişli, Istanbul. 2009. Archived from the original on July 23, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  3. ^ "Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports" (XLS). TÜİK. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Brief History of Mecidiyeköy" (in Turkish). Municipality of Şişli, Istanbul. 2009. Archived from the original on 2010-03-02. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  5. ^ "Tüm Otobüs Seferleri ve Otobüs Kodları" (in Turkish). Otobüste Gördüm. Retrieved 2012-02-04.

External links edit