One of the most popular places of
Istanbul is the
Islands.
The islands, also known as
Princess Islands, comprise 9 islands namely
Büyükada,
Heybeliada,
Burgazadası,
Kınalıada,
Sedefadası,
Yassıada,
Kaşıkadası,
Sivriada and
Tavşanadası.
The islands the total population of which exceeds 20 thousand as of today have been used as summer resorts of the court members in the
Byzantine and
Ottoman periods and some of them have been used for banishment. It is known that the the
Empress Eirene, mother of the
Byzantine Empreror Constantinos , was sent there for banishment.Coming to the 19th century we see that many authors and poets who contributed a lot to the present day
Turkish literature had many works relating to the islands. The biggest
island from among the
islands is
Büyükada. One of the most important landmarks found in
Büyükada which has a surface of 420 ha is
Hagia Yorgi monastery.
Heybeliada has a surface of 240 ha and is famous for being the island where the moonlight can be viewed best.
The Naval War Academy on this
island has become the most important symbol of this island. The first
mosque built on the
islands is here as well.
Burgazada is famous for its woodden houses and buildings.
Hristos Monastery,
Ayios Yeoris Monastery, and the holy spring of
Aya Yani are important places worth to see.
Kınalıada is an island where modern structuring is widespread.
Still Hristos monastery,
Aşağı Monastery, the
Armenian Church and the cisterns are places worth to be seen. On the other hand, there are water sports clubs on the mentioned four islands and there are regular daily ship and sea bus cruises to/from the islands from/to
Istanbul.
