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Princes' Islands
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Princes' Islands
The Princes' Islands (Turkish: Prens Adaları; the word "princes" is plural, because the name means "Islands of the Princes", Greek: Πριγκηπονήσια, Pringiponisia), officially just Adalar (English: Islands); alternatively the Princes' Archipelago; is an archipelago of nine islands off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, in the Sea of Marmara. These constitute the municipality and district of Adalar within Istanbul Province. With a total land area of 11 km2 (4.2 sq mi), it is the fifth smallest district in Istanbul, and with a permanent population of 16,690 (2022), it is by far the least populous district in Istanbul.
Adalar District is made up of the main four islands (Büyükada, Kınalıada, Burgazada, and Heybeliada) and the other smaller islands.
There are several references to the islands in the ancient Greek period, when they went by the name Δημόνησοι (Dēmónēsoi), often transliterated as Demonesi or Demonisi. During the Middle Byzantine period the archipelago has been recorded by the 6th century lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria as Δημόνησοι (Dēmónēsoi), meaning "demon's islands" in Medieval Greek. In 1795 German cartographer Franz Ludwig Güssefeld recorded the islands under the name Papadónisi, meaning "priest's islands".
According to Sevan Nişanyan there has not been a historical proper name for the islands in the Turkish language.
During the period of the Byzantine Empire, out-of-favor princes and other royalty were exiled on the islands. After 1453, members of the Ottoman sultans' family were exiled there too, hence the island's present name. The Ottoman fleet captured the islands during the siege of Constantinople in 1453.
During the nineteenth century, the islands became a popular resort for Istanbul's wealthy, and Victorian-era cottages and houses are still preserved on the largest of the Princes' Islands. According to the Ottoman General Census of 1881/82-1893, the kaza of the Princes' Islands (Adalar) had a total population of 7,937, consisting of 5,501 Greeks, 533 Armenians, 254 Muslims, 133 Catholics, 65 Jews, 27 Latins, 7 Protestants, 3 Bulgarians and 1.404 foreign citizens.
The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki (Greek: Θεολογική Σχολή Χάλκης and Turkish: Ortodoks Ruhban Okulu), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki (Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until the Turkish parliament enacted a law banning private higher-education institutions in 1971.[citation needed] The theological school is located at the top of the island's Hill of Hope, on the site of the Byzantine-era Monastery of the Holy Trinity. The premises of the school continue to be maintained by the monastery and are used to host conferences. It is possible to visit the island where it is located via boat in approximately one hour from the shore of Istanbul.[citation needed]
In 1912 the islands had a population of 10,250 Greeks and 670 Turks. The islands have become more and more ethnically Turkish in character due to the influx of wealthy Turkish jetsetters, a process which began in the 1920s in the first days of the Turkish Republic when the British Yacht Club on Büyükada was appropriated as Anadolu Kulübü for Turkish parliamentarians to enjoy Istanbul in the summer. The islands are an interesting anomaly because they allow for a very rare, albeit incomplete, insight into a multicultural society in modern Turkey, possibly[original research?] akin to the multicultural society that once existed during the Ottoman Empire in places such as nearby Istanbul/Constantinople. Prior to the 1950s, each of the inhabited islands had significant communities of ethnic minorities of Turkey, which is now the case to a much smaller extent. Since the vast majority of the residents and visitors are Turkish, today the minority legacy is of cultural rather than demographic importance.
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Princes' Islands
The Princes' Islands (Turkish: Prens Adaları; the word "princes" is plural, because the name means "Islands of the Princes", Greek: Πριγκηπονήσια, Pringiponisia), officially just Adalar (English: Islands); alternatively the Princes' Archipelago; is an archipelago of nine islands off the coast of Istanbul, Turkey, in the Sea of Marmara. These constitute the municipality and district of Adalar within Istanbul Province. With a total land area of 11 km2 (4.2 sq mi), it is the fifth smallest district in Istanbul, and with a permanent population of 16,690 (2022), it is by far the least populous district in Istanbul.
Adalar District is made up of the main four islands (Büyükada, Kınalıada, Burgazada, and Heybeliada) and the other smaller islands.
There are several references to the islands in the ancient Greek period, when they went by the name Δημόνησοι (Dēmónēsoi), often transliterated as Demonesi or Demonisi. During the Middle Byzantine period the archipelago has been recorded by the 6th century lexicographer Hesychius of Alexandria as Δημόνησοι (Dēmónēsoi), meaning "demon's islands" in Medieval Greek. In 1795 German cartographer Franz Ludwig Güssefeld recorded the islands under the name Papadónisi, meaning "priest's islands".
According to Sevan Nişanyan there has not been a historical proper name for the islands in the Turkish language.
During the period of the Byzantine Empire, out-of-favor princes and other royalty were exiled on the islands. After 1453, members of the Ottoman sultans' family were exiled there too, hence the island's present name. The Ottoman fleet captured the islands during the siege of Constantinople in 1453.
During the nineteenth century, the islands became a popular resort for Istanbul's wealthy, and Victorian-era cottages and houses are still preserved on the largest of the Princes' Islands. According to the Ottoman General Census of 1881/82-1893, the kaza of the Princes' Islands (Adalar) had a total population of 7,937, consisting of 5,501 Greeks, 533 Armenians, 254 Muslims, 133 Catholics, 65 Jews, 27 Latins, 7 Protestants, 3 Bulgarians and 1.404 foreign citizens.
The Halki seminary, formally the Theological School of Halki (Greek: Θεολογική Σχολή Χάλκης and Turkish: Ortodoks Ruhban Okulu), was founded on 1 October 1844 on the island of Halki (Turkish: Heybeliada), the second-largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara. It was the main school of theology of the Eastern Orthodox Church's Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople until the Turkish parliament enacted a law banning private higher-education institutions in 1971.[citation needed] The theological school is located at the top of the island's Hill of Hope, on the site of the Byzantine-era Monastery of the Holy Trinity. The premises of the school continue to be maintained by the monastery and are used to host conferences. It is possible to visit the island where it is located via boat in approximately one hour from the shore of Istanbul.[citation needed]
In 1912 the islands had a population of 10,250 Greeks and 670 Turks. The islands have become more and more ethnically Turkish in character due to the influx of wealthy Turkish jetsetters, a process which began in the 1920s in the first days of the Turkish Republic when the British Yacht Club on Büyükada was appropriated as Anadolu Kulübü for Turkish parliamentarians to enjoy Istanbul in the summer. The islands are an interesting anomaly because they allow for a very rare, albeit incomplete, insight into a multicultural society in modern Turkey, possibly[original research?] akin to the multicultural society that once existed during the Ottoman Empire in places such as nearby Istanbul/Constantinople. Prior to the 1950s, each of the inhabited islands had significant communities of ethnic minorities of Turkey, which is now the case to a much smaller extent. Since the vast majority of the residents and visitors are Turkish, today the minority legacy is of cultural rather than demographic importance.
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