“Start of the vineyards”
Bağlarbaşı is a suburb due east of Üsküdar that rarely sees a foreign visitor despite having a couple of sights that justify the detour. The first is a rare example of a modern mosque in İstanbul that is of genuine architectural interest and that is the İhlayiyat Cami attached to the theology faculty of Marmara University. The second is the beautiful Abdülmecid Efendi Köşkü, a splendid late 19th-century mansion in parkland that is occasionally open to the public for art exhibitions.
If you walk down Gazi Caddesi towards Üsküdar you will pass some particularly fine pieces of 19th-century architecture as well as a series of fountains that attest to the importance of the road in the 18th century.
Abdülmecid Efendi Köskü
The köşk in which the last caliph, Abdülmecid Efendi (1868-1944), spent almost two decades of his life was originally built for the Khedive İsmail Paşa as a hunting lodge, probably between 1880 and 1885. However, only the selamlık, or public part of the huge building survives. Designed in a style described as neo-Turkish it has panelled external walls and sweeping overhanging eaves. There are claims that it was a work of Alexandre Vallaury but no certainty. Abdülmecid Efendi was an accomplished artist so it’s fitting that his home now sometimes hosts art exhibitions. In the extensive grounds the caliph once staged plays and held elaborate parties attended by all of Constantinople’s cultural class. Extensively restored in the 1980s, it now belongs to the Koç family.
İhlayiyat Cami
It may look a bit like Darth Vader from the outside but inside the İhlayiyat Cami, opened in 2015 after a previous mosque was demolished for fear that it couldn’t withstand and earthquake, is gorgeous. It was designed by architect Hilmi Şenalp.
Eating
Bağlarbaşı was home to the first (2016) of the small Nev Mekan chain of cafe-libraries that opened in what was originally a grand İETT garage and tram hangar built in 1911. It’s a great place to hang out whether indoors or out although there’s no alcohol. Gazi Caddesi No 12, Tel: 0216-553 7475
Transport info
The easiest way to get to Bağlarbaşı is on the Metro from Üsküdar although there are buses too.
Nearby areas
