“Atatürk’s Village”
Beyond the old walled city lies Ataköy which became in 1957 one of the city’s first planned suburbs, named predictably after the country’s founding father, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. While that fact has a certain historical interest, you won’t be surprised to learn that the planned buildings all turned out to be ugly concrete high-rises. The artist Handan Börüteçene created a public sculpture named Mesa to form the centrepiece of the ninth district in 1987-88. In designing it she drew on cuneiform characters from old tablets but chopped them out and blew them up big. Unfortunately it has not been looked after as it should have been.
Ataköy was also home to İstanbul’s first official shopping mall, the Galleria that was opened in 1988 after Prime Minister Turgut Özel took a shine to the Galleria in Houston on an overseas visit. Refurbished to keep up with its competitors, the Galleria has a pleasant waterside location and is easy to get to by bus from Cankurtaran.
The marina that stretches along the Sea of Marmara beside the Sheraton Ataköy might appear to be in Bakırköy but is officially in Ataköy.
Sleeping
Ataköy Marina Hotel. Tel: 0212-560 4110
Hyatt Regency İstanbul Ataköy. Tel: 0212-463 1234
Sheraton Ataköy. Tel: 0212-560 8100
Transport info
Buses plough up and down Kennedy Caddesi (Sahil Yolu), passing close to Cankurtaran.
Nearby areas
