Islands welcome Istanbul’s colors
Güncelleme Tarihi:
by Vercihan ZiflioÄŸlu
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Mayıs 28, 2009 00:00
A museum of Istanbul’s Princes' Islands will be established on Büyükada (Big Island). The Adalar (Islands) Museum will highlight the islands' political and cultural past. There will be a special section in the museum for different ethnic cultures that lived on the islands
A museum dedicated to the history of Istanbul’s Adalar (Princes’ Islands) is under way and is scheduled to open on Büyükada (Big Island) in July next year. The museum will feature the history of Princes' Islands in the Marmara Sea with a political and cultural dimension.
The museum will be established in a three-story historical building on Kadıyoran Hill, which was used by an Egyptian metropolitan bishop as a summerhouse until 1870.
"The museum will be Turkey’s first Princes’ Islands history museum," said museum project manager Serhat Baysan, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. He said the museum would be the first of its type in many aspects. "But the most important feature of the museum will be that the history of all ethnic groups, including Turks, Greeks, Armenians and Jews that lived in the island, will be presented together for the first time."
Baysan said they had been collaborating with the representatives of Armenian, Greek and Jewish groups as well as the Büyükada and Heybeliada associations in Greece to establish the museum.Â
Islands in the history of the Republic
Although the Princes' Islands, which were named "KeÅŸiÅŸ (Monk) Islands" or "Ruh (Soul) Islands" during the Byzantine period, were used as a summer retreat throughout their history, they are most known for their political history.
Home to monks during the Byzantium Empire, the islands also hosted the Byzantine princes and princesses who were exiled, and prisoners - including poets, writers and artists - who were punished for their thoughts. "The islands were always a hot issue, not only in Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire, but also in the history of Republic," said Baysan. "The second president of the Turkish Republic, İsmet İnönü, settled in Heybeliada when he and Atatürk conflicted."
The islands also hosted the Yassıada hearings, some of the most important hearings of Turkey’s history. The administration of the Democratic Party, or DP, which was dethroned during the May 27, 1960, coup, was judged on the Princes’ Island Yassıada. The final ruling from the hearings resulted in the execution of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and leading figures of the party, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan.
Baysan said that after the attacks against minorities Sept. 6 and 7, 1955, there was a large wave of migration from the islands.
He said a coordination committee including historians, art historians and experts from various disciplines was formed to work for the museum and capture its political and social history. "We are jointly working with this committee. We are examining sources and archives about the history of the islands."
Baysan said the committee was not only working on the history of islands but also its cultural past, adding that the houses of many poets, writers and intellectuals who lived on the island would turn into museums. One of those houses is of Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky, who spent a few years of his life in Büyükada at the time of the Soviet Socialist Republic when he was in conflict with Josef Stalin.
Baysan said they were also working in cooperation with the Islands Municipality. "There are 980 registered historical structures on the islands. We are working on a project that will make things easier for tourists. Thanks to this project, coordination will be provided for all historical and cultural structures in the islands," he said.
The museum will be established in a three-story historical building on Kadıyoran Hill, which was used by an Egyptian metropolitan bishop as a summerhouse until 1870.
"The museum will be Turkey’s first Princes’ Islands history museum," said museum project manager Serhat Baysan, speaking to the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review. He said the museum would be the first of its type in many aspects. "But the most important feature of the museum will be that the history of all ethnic groups, including Turks, Greeks, Armenians and Jews that lived in the island, will be presented together for the first time."
Baysan said they had been collaborating with the representatives of Armenian, Greek and Jewish groups as well as the Büyükada and Heybeliada associations in Greece to establish the museum.Â
Islands in the history of the Republic
Although the Princes' Islands, which were named "KeÅŸiÅŸ (Monk) Islands" or "Ruh (Soul) Islands" during the Byzantine period, were used as a summer retreat throughout their history, they are most known for their political history.
Home to monks during the Byzantium Empire, the islands also hosted the Byzantine princes and princesses who were exiled, and prisoners - including poets, writers and artists - who were punished for their thoughts. "The islands were always a hot issue, not only in Byzantium and the Ottoman Empire, but also in the history of Republic," said Baysan. "The second president of the Turkish Republic, İsmet İnönü, settled in Heybeliada when he and Atatürk conflicted."
The islands also hosted the Yassıada hearings, some of the most important hearings of Turkey’s history. The administration of the Democratic Party, or DP, which was dethroned during the May 27, 1960, coup, was judged on the Princes’ Island Yassıada. The final ruling from the hearings resulted in the execution of Prime Minister Adnan Menderes and leading figures of the party, Fatin Rüştü Zorlu and Hasan Polatkan.
Baysan said that after the attacks against minorities Sept. 6 and 7, 1955, there was a large wave of migration from the islands.
He said a coordination committee including historians, art historians and experts from various disciplines was formed to work for the museum and capture its political and social history. "We are jointly working with this committee. We are examining sources and archives about the history of the islands."
Baysan said the committee was not only working on the history of islands but also its cultural past, adding that the houses of many poets, writers and intellectuals who lived on the island would turn into museums. One of those houses is of Bolshevik leader Leon Trotsky, who spent a few years of his life in Büyükada at the time of the Soviet Socialist Republic when he was in conflict with Josef Stalin.
Baysan said they were also working in cooperation with the Islands Municipality. "There are 980 registered historical structures on the islands. We are working on a project that will make things easier for tourists. Thanks to this project, coordination will be provided for all historical and cultural structures in the islands," he said.