Çamlıca

A HILL THAT HAS EVOLVED INTO A SYMBOL OF USKUDAR: ÇAMLICA

Çamlıca is the name of two hills, located close to each other, on the Anatolian Side of the İstanbul Bosphorus, between Üsküdar and Ümraniye. From these, the Big Çamlıca is 262 m tall, and the Small Çamlıca is 226 m tall, and in the neck separating these two hills, the Kısıklı neighborhood is located. And the position of Çamlıca as virtually being a geography laboratory or a geography museum, also emerges in the name of

the Kısıklı neighborhood. “Kısık”, which is purely a Turkish word, expresses a narrow pass or a crossover between two tall sections (an area trapped between two elevations). And the neighborhood which has exactly been established in such an area has been named “Kısıklı” due to this geographical feature.

Today Çamlıca  has a priority as a “summer resort area” or a “picnic area”. In this sense, its use dates back to the 17th century, as far as we know. The building of certain manors in the aforesaid century, during Ahmed I (1603-1617) and Murad IV (1623-1640) periods, plus the construction of a wooden palace during the Mehmed IV (Mehmed the Hunter, 1648-1687) period and the fountains for the Big and Small Çamlıca waters, had rendered the Çamlıca hills more attractive. In this sense, its use dates back to the 17
th century, as far as we know. The building of certain manors in the aforesaid century, during Ahmed I (1603-1617) and Murad IV (1623-1640) periods, plus the construction of a wooden palace during the Mehmed IV (Mehmed the Hunter, 1648-1687) period and the fountains for the Big and Small Çamlıca waters, had rendered the Çamlıca hills more attractive.

Near the end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century, as the Janissary terror rendered transportation to distant resort areas such as Çamlıca unsafe, the significance of the Çamlıcas that was observed in the first half of the 17th century has started to decrease. In the 19th century, the Janissaries have been disengaged and security has been restored, and with the operation of the Şirketi Hayriye (local transportation) boats (Mülayim, 2005) , transportation from Çamlıca to the other neighborhoods of the city has been facilitated. As a consequence of these developments, the Big Çamlıca was actually included in the city life (at the time, Small Çamlıca retained the feature of being private property). This transportation convenience rendered not only Çamlıca, but also neighborhoods such as Acıbadem, Koşuyolu, Tophanelioğlu, Bağlarbaşı at its feet, as areas demanded for a “change of atmosphere”, “change of place” (i.e. a sort of tourism activity). The elite, other than the palace members, have started to have manors built on Çamlıca and its feet during the Mahmoud II (1808-1831) period. The aforesaid sultan also used to go out to Çamlıca for excursions and hunting. As a matter of fact, upon the progress of his disease, his doctors have advised him to rest at the resort in Çamlıca for a “change of atmosphere” and the sultan has spent his last days in Çamlıca (Beydilli, 2003: 356) . This demonstrates that the significance of Çamlıca with respect to health tourism, which is a sub-branch of tourism, had already been comprehended two centuries before our day. The primary feature of Çamlıca in tourism, especially Big Çamlıca, is that it is the spot that best overlooks both the Marmara Sea and the Bosphorus, and in the meantime a substantial part of the Golden Horn and the historical peninsula (İstanbul peninsula) between the Golden Horn and the Marmara Sea. Meanwhile we, as two academic members teaching tourism geography, recommend guides to take the tourists who have come to İstanbul for the first time, up to Çamlıca first, and show and tell them about İstanbul and the natural beauties and historical monuments of İstanbul from there, and then take them on a tour of the city.

Yet, there also are other spots to have a good view of İstanbul: the Pierre Loti coffee house on the Eyüp slopes is one of the best view spots overlooking the Golden Horn and the İstanbul peninsula. However, it cannot overlook the İstanbul peninsula as completely and in full glory as Çamlıca. An eye looking from Çamlıca is able to distinguish how well the historical monuments on this peninsula fits the geographical structure of the peninsula (Tuncel, 2001: 239) , how the historical monuments have been positioned on the famous seven hills of İstanbul (4 of these hills may be easily seen from Çamlıca: the first hill of 45 m
on which the Topkapı Palace is located, the second hill almost of the same height on which the Nuruosmaniye Mosque has settled, the 60 m high third hill where the Beyazid Mosque is located and the Fatih Hill, also 60 m tall, separated from these with the pass at Saraçhane), and the renowned “Istanbul silhouette” admired so much by Western travelers, has been formed.

Another significance of Çamlıca with respect to tourism geography is that the route of the large bodied birds migrating to Africa passes from Çamlıca, and that the fall migration of eagles, falcons, buzzards, storks and various hawk species among such birds may be watched from here by ornithologists and tourists interested in birds.

As a scientific requirement, we sadly would like to announce that we have to show the base stations observed on Çamlıca, beauties of which we have emphasized so far, and the hideous and unfit urbanization views on its skirts, as an example of disfigurement unfit for Çamlıca.

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