Yedikule
{{Other uses|Yedi Kule (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox Turkey place
| type = neighbourhood
| province = Istanbul
| district = Fatih
| name = Yedikule
| population_total = 15789
| population_as_of = 2022
| coordinates = {{coord|40.9934|28.9231|display=inline,title}}
| image_skyline = Istanbul asv2021-11 img60 Yedikule.jpg
| image_caption = Yedikule Fortress (lower half of the image) and Fatih
| area_code = 0212
}}
Yedikule (Seven Towers) is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Fatih, Istanbul Province, Turkey.[https://www.e-icisleri.gov.tr/Anasayfa/MulkiIdariBolumleri.aspx Mahalle], Turkey Civil Administration Departments Inventory. Retrieved 12 July 2023. Its population is 15,789 (2022).{{Cite web |title=Address-based population registration system (ADNKS) results dated 31 December 2022, Favorite Reports|url=https://biruni.tuik.gov.tr/medas/?kn=95&locale=en |access-date=12 July 2023|publisher=TÜİK|language=en|format=XLS}} It is named after the seven-towered Yedikule Fortress, which surrounds the neighborhood. Urbanized in the 16th century, the neighborhood became a hub for industrial and agricultural activities. Yedikule has a local football team {{ill|Yedikule GSK|tr}} that played in the TFF Second League for a season.{{Cite news |title=Mahallî Ligin umumi bilançosu |newspaper=Cumhuriyet |date=16 June 1961 |pages=6}}
Marmaray passes through the neighbourhood, however Yedikule railway station is closed and the trains do not serve the neighbourhood.
History
Urbanization of Yedikule started in the 16th century, and it became a major hub for industrial and agricultural activities. Yedikule Walls (also known as Theodosius Walls) are also a notable historical artifact. Its tower, Yedikule Fortress, constructed between 408-450 AD, and repaired after 740 Istanbul earthquake.{{cite journal |last1=Acun Özgünler |first1=Seden |last2=Ersen |first2=Ahmet |last3=Güleç |first3=Ahmet |title=Yedikule Kara Surları'nda Kullanılan Erken Bizans Dönemi Harçlarının Karakterizasyonu Üzerine Bir Araştırma |journal=Restorasyon ve Konservasyon Çalışmaları Dergisi |date=1 December 2010 |issue=5 |pages=31–39 |url=https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/restorasyon/issue/48683/619340 |access-date=9 January 2021 |language=tr |issn=1309-7016}}
= Ottoman period =
Yedikule was known with its gardens, Yedikule Urban Gardens, which was also famous with its cabbages and lettuces and used more than 1500 years.{{cite journal |last1=Kanbak |first1=Ayşegül |title=İstanbul Yedikule bostanları: Bir yerinden üretim pratiği |date=2016 |url=http://earsiv.batman.edu.tr/xmlui/handle/20.500.12402/1564 |access-date=9 January 2021 |issn=2147-4877}} According to the guarantor books of year 1735, there were 344 gardens (including nine gardens which is established between "Surdibi" area, which stretch between Yedikule Gate and Silivri Gate); according to a map from 1835, there were 102 gardens.
Yedikule (with Edirnekapı) also became host for some establishments like slaughterhouses, soap and candle makers, and workshops.{{cite journal |last1=Akyazıcı Özkoçak |first1=Selma |title=Two urban districts in early modern Istanbul: Edirnekapı and Yedikule |journal=Urban History |date=2003 |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=26–43 |doi=10.1017/S0963926803001020 |jstor=44598521 |s2cid=145545146 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/44598521 |access-date=9 January 2021 |issn=0963-9268|url-access=subscription }}
= Modern times =
Yedikule became highly populated after the population boom in Istanbul between 1940s-1980s; and as a result of that, the Urban Gardens and industrial areas became residential areas and some parts of Urban Gardens used for build Otoyol 1 and create waste-filling areas in the 1970s. The municipality of İstanbul started a rehabilitation project for remaining parts of Urban Gardens.{{cite journal |last1=Durusoy |first1=Elifnaz |title=Historic Landscape vs. Urban Commodity?: The Case of Yedikule Urban Gardens, Istanbul |journal=MEGARON / Yıldız Technical University, Faculty of Architecture e-Journal |date=2016 |doi=10.5505/MEGARON.2016.48343 |access-date=9 January 2021 |url=https://megaronjournal.com/jvi.aspx?pdir=megaron&plng=eng&un=MEGARON-48343|doi-access=free |hdl=11511/36656 |hdl-access=free }} Ekrem İmamoğlu, as the Mayor of Istanbul, stated that: "I'm ashamed from that the walls (Yedikule Walls) hasn't been toured since years."{{huh|date=September 2024}}{{cite web |title=BAŞKAN İMAMOĞLU'NDAN "TARİHİ SURLAR" YORUMU: "SURLARIN YILLARDIR GEZİLMEMESİNDEN UTANIYORUM" |url=https://www.ibb.istanbul/News/Detail/36869 |website=www.ibb.istanbul |access-date=10 January 2021}}
Soil and seismology
A major seismically active fault zone, the North Anatolian Fault, passes offshore from Yedikule in the Sea of Marmara.{{cite journal |last1=Keskinsezer |first1=Ayhan |last2=Beyhan |first2=Günay |last3=Gallajov |first3=Javid |title=Investigation of the soil structure of the area between Yedikule to Sirkeci (İstanbul) using PS logging and earthquake data |journal=Russian Journal of Earth Sciences |date=8 August 2019 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=1–12 |doi=10.2205/2019ES000668 |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/investigation-of-the-soil-structure-of-the-area-between-yedikule-to-sirkeci-istanbul-using-ps-logging-and-earthquake-data |access-date=9 January 2021|doi-access=free }}
Demographics
Yedikule was including a notable non-Muslim population and schools until the recent times. There is also Greek and Armenian churches and an Armenian hospital, Yedikule Surp Pıgiç Hospital.{{cite book|last1=Kalkan |first1=Ersin |title=168 yıllık sağlık abidesi: Yedikule Surp Pıgiç Hastanesi'nin tarihi yazıldı.|year=2002}} As of 2022, its population is 15,789.
In popular culture
Kazım Koyuncu gave a concert in Yedikule Fortress in 2004.{{cite journal |last1=Solomon |first1=Thomas |title=Who Are the Laz? Cultural Identity and the Musical Public Sphere on the Turkish Black Sea Coast |journal=The World of Music |date=2017 |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=83–113 |jstor=44841947 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44841947 |access-date=10 January 2021 |issn=0043-8774}} Yedikule also hosted thematic festivals such as Lettuce Feast ({{langx|tr|Marul Bayramı}}) in the past.
Gallery
File:Scarella - Yedikule.png|The Yedikule Fortress ("Fortress of the Seven Towers") and the Golden Gate in Istanbul by Fr. Scarella c. 1685
File:General view of Yedikule (Seven Towers) from the sea side between 1880 and 1893.jpg|Yedikule from the Marmara Sea, late 19th century
File:Istanbul - Castell de Yedikule.JPG|The Fortress in 2008