Arnavutköy


Arnavutköy is a historic neighbourhood in Istanbul, Turkey renowned for its wooden Ottoman mansions and seafood restaurants, as well as the campus of the prestigious Robert College with its historic buildings. It is part of the Beşiktaş district of Istanbul, and is located between Ortaköy and Bebek on the European shoreline of the Bosphorus strait.

History

In 1468, Sultan Mehmed the Conqueror brought many Albanians warriors and traders and installed them in the districts of Istanbul where among other places, they also founded Arnavutköy, a place named after them meaning Albanian village.
In 1863, Robert College, the oldest American school outside the United States, was established in its current campus which originally stretched from Arnavutköy to the vicinity of Bebek and Rumelihisarı. In 1971, a section of this campus became part of Boğaziçi University, which was formerly the college section of the school. The high school section, formerly named Robert Academy is still an American school and is located in the Arnavutköy side of the historic Robert College campus.
According to the Salname, the total population of the district was 7,482 and ethnographically consisting of 5,973 Rûms, 493 Muslims, 342 Armenians, 32 Jews and 642 people of other nationality in 1912.
Arnavutköy was historically famous for its Ottoman strawberry, a less juicy and smaller kind than the usual strawberries found throughout Turkey. To date, some strawberry fields survive in the inland of the district and every spring local groceries are pillaged by strawberry lovers.

Culture

Arnavutköy harmoniously represents the coexistence of citizens from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, as it is one of many historic neighbourhoods of Istanbul where one can find a mosque, a church and a synagogue within close proximity.
The sidewalk by the sea is always full of individuals fishing, while small fishing boats frequently pass by Arnavutköy's coastline on the Bosphorus. The fresh fish that is caught is sometimes sold to the seafood restaurants in the area.

Education

The campus of Robert College, which originally also comprised the present-day Boğaziçi University, formerly stretched between the neighbourhoods of Arnavutköy and Bebek.
The American Academy for Girls moved to Arnavutköy in 1914, and later moved to the Bağlarbaşı neighbourhood in the Üsküdar district of Istanbul, on the Asian side of the city, in 1923.

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