Kucukcekmece is on the European side of Istanbul. It is located in the vicinity of the smaller of the two lakes of Istanbul, which are separated from the Marmara by a narrow piece of land and hence called ‘drawer. To the west are Hunters and Fork, to the north is Gaziosmanpasa area, and to the east is the districts of Esenler, Bagcilar and Bahcelievleri. Bakirkoy is the southern neighbor of Kucukcekmece. The name Kucukcekmece, which was mentioned as “Rhagion” until the Ottoman period, changed with the transition of the region to the Ottoman Empire and changed to “Tensile Sagir” and later to “Tensile-i-Small. Although the source of the name Kucukcekmece is quite controversial, it is generally considered to be related to the lake where it is installed at the edges. “Their names do not match the dimensions of the two lakes, referred to as “drawers.
The generally accepted explanation of a name debate, even though it is larger than Lake Buyukcekmece, is the smallness of the bridge over the passage that provides the sea connection of the lake. In many western sources written in the Ottoman Period, this bridge is called “Ponte Piccolo” in the sense of “Little Bridge. The name Drawer, which is given to both lakes, is considered to come from curved sets that are installed and pulled up in the seaworthy passages to fish. Kucukcemece district consists of 21 neighborhoods. These are Altinsehir, Besyol, Paradise, Republic, Fatih, Fevzi Lighter, Gulepe, Halkali Center, Halkali Station, Ikiteli Ataturk, Ikiteli Ziya Gokalp, Inonu, Kanarya, Kartaltepe, Kemalpasa, Mehmet Akif, Yoglue, Sultan Murat, Tevfik Bey, New and Greenova neighborhoods.
The Halfburgaz cave, one of the oldest known settlements in Turkey, is within the boundaries of this district. Ship paintings on cave walls lead to the idea that the people living here are engaged in maritime activities. One of the oldest settlements in the district is the Region, which forms the core of today’s district center. There was a Byzantine palace. For the Ottomans, the real settlement of the region took place during this period, as it formed the most important expedition and caravan route of the last century. First the bridge was repaired and a caravanserai was built into the village. At the same time, the Turks, who settled on the edge of the lake, made their cemeteries on the upper part of the slope. We understand from the findings of the researchers who made the greatest contribution in the zoning and development of the so-called Rhegion and the chief guidance of the Kanuni Sultan Suleiman who lived here.
The Ottomans built bridges, mansions, caravanserais, mosques and madrassas here. Kucukcekmece was due to the Forkca accident until 1908. It was connected to the Makri Village (Bakirkoy) accident in 1987.In 1992, the Hunters became the district and left the Kucukcekmece district. Kucukcekmece Lake: Kucukcekmece Lake, located 15 km west of Istanbul and covering an area of 14 km; with the melting of the glaciation in the last geological period, as a result of the rise of the sea levels, the Dardanelles Strait of the Marmara, filling,with this sea invasion, the old valley mouths were drowned and the ‘ria”s emerged as a result of the first cove, which was covered with shore cord and became a lagoon.
The Kucukcekmece Lake still has a hidden bird sanctuary over the 3700-long coastline that lies within the territory of the Drawer Nuclear Research and Training Center. It is observed that foreign bird species also come from time to time during migrations to this protected area, where various bird species, especially cormorants and moor ducks. Halfburgaz Caves: The oldest and most valuable one found in the Kucukcekmece district is the Halfburgaz Cave. 22 Km northwest of Istanbul, 1.5 km north of Kucukcekmece, It is located around the Altinsehir neighborhood and on the Kayabashi-Shamsha village road. The height of the sea is an average of 15 meters. As a result of the examinations carried out by many geologists and anthropologists from 1838 to the present day, it was revealed that prehistoric people lived in the Hemispheregaz Caves, which are located within the boundaries of the Municipality of Kucukcekmece.