Notre Dame De Sıon French Girls’ High School: Monsignor Hillereau, who was in Istanbul as the papal representative, built the St. Esprit Church between 1844 and 1846 and had buildings constructed in front of the church to open a seminary. The Lazaristes invited the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion, who had made education their profession, from France to open a girls’ school, and on November 27, 1856, the Sisters of Notre Dame de Sion began teaching at the school. The school develops in a short period of time, adding Muslim students to its Catholic Armenian, Orthodox Bulgarian, Orthodox Bulgarian, Orthodox Greek, Gregorian Armenian and Jewish students at the beginning of the 20th century, and becomes an educational institution that is also popular among Istanbul’s well-established and wealthy minority families of all languages and sects. Over time, the educational staff and the atmosphere of a convent school completely changed and today it has taken its place among other high schools as an elite girls’ high school in Istanbul.
Divan Hotel: Construction began in 1955 at the corner of Cumhuriyet Caddesi and Askerocağı Caddesi and opened in September 1958. The 140-bed Divan Hotel’s patisserie is more famous than the hotel. The patisserie, which has made a name for itself since its foundation with its regular customers, is one of the most admired patisseries in Istanbul and attracts attention as a ‘cafe’ due to its location and atmosphere. The monument in front of the hotel was created by sculptor İlhan Koman.
Water Scale: The water balance, whose function was to ensure that the water coming from distant places in funnels could reach places at the same height away from lower places and to prevent the pipes from bursting by reducing the pressure of the water with high pressure, was mostly built in the form of a tower with a square cross-section, tapering upwards. Old waterway maps show that many cauterizers were built on the transmission line and network. Ottoman water scales were a much more advanced form of Roman water scales. Most of the water scales in Istanbul have been destroyed or disappeared. Two scales remain in the most intact condition. One of them, which is half broken, is next to the Divan Hotel.
Church of St. Esprit: Built by Monsignor Hillereau, who was in Istanbul as the representative of the Pope, to the famous architect Gaspard Fossati, the construction of the church began in 1845 and it was opened for worship in 1846. The church, which could not be built sturdily due to impossibilities and was damaged by frequent earthquakes, was renovated on June 13, 1865 and opened for worship on December 31, 1865. The facade of the cathedral is blocked by the Notre Dame de Sion Girls’ High School. While the church of Saint Esprit was being built by Monsignor Hillereau, an underground cemetery was also prepared for the burial of nuns and Saint Esprit faithful. The catacombs of Giuseppe Donizetti, the famous musician of the palace, Monsignor Hillereau, the founder of the church, and other families are buried in the catacombs, which continued until 1927.
Radio House On May 6, 1927, Istanbul Radio began its first programmed radio broadcasts. In order to meet the need for a suitable studio, a project competition was held in 1945 to select the joint project of Dogan Erginbas, Omer Guney and Ismail Utkular. The 4-storey building in Harbiye, which is still used as Istanbul Radio House today, was inaugurated on November 19, 1949 with the inauguration speech of Ismet Inonu, the President of the time, and Istanbul Radio began to serve with suitable studio conditions.
Hilton Hotel: Located between Elmadag and Harbiye, it is the first 5-star hotel in Turkey and Istanbul, opened in 1955. The Hilton Hotel was designed in 1952 by renowned American architects, Skidmore, Owings and Merill. The local consultant of these architects, known as the SOM Group, was Sedat Hakkı Eldem. Sedat Hakkı Eldem contributed to the project of the Hilton Hotel, which is among the buildings that exemplify the closing of the National Architecture Period II in the architecture of the Republican period. Sedat Hakki Eldem, who was the partner of SOM Group in Turkey, continued to work on the Hilton Hotel years later. The Hilton Hotel, shaped as a 21x100m rectangular prism, was perceived as a characteristic of the International Style in Turkey with its construction quality, simple geometry, simplicity of its surfaces, understated decoration and functional priorities in the years it was built, and became the introducer of the management rules of international hotel chains.
Military Museum Located on Cumhuriyet Street, the Mekteb-i Harbiye building, which today is a complex of buildings with its 18,600 m² building on an area of 54,000 m², was established in 1862 to train officers for the Ottoman Empire. Built by Abdülhamid II, the school building was used as a school until 1936 and as Corps Headquarters until 1964. The southern part of the building served as an army house until the Harbiye Orduevi was built. In 1964, it was decided to use the original building as a military museum and its restoration was started in 1966 by architect Prof. Dr. Nezih Eldem and completed in 1991. From the beginning until today, the building has undergone functional and spatial changes and has undergone many changes both in terms of its interior and exterior appearance until it was converted from a school to a museum.
Bulgarian Exarchate Located in a large garden between Halaskargazi and Abide-i Hurriyet Avenues, the building dates to the late 19th century. It was built by Exarch Jozif I. The building was constructed in a four-storey, eclectic style and wooden frame. The building was repaired and renovated in 1989. Eksarh means the leader or head of the congregation in the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.
Atatürk Museum: Upon the end of World War I, Mustafa Kemal arrived in Istanbul on November 13, 1918 and rented Osep Kasabyan’s 1908-built 3-story house on Halaskârgazi Street in Sisli, where he lived with his family until May 16, 1919, when he left for Samsun. This house, where he often gathered with his friends during the days when Istanbul was under enemy occupation, was purchased in 1924 by Tahsin Uzer, a former governor of Erzurum, after Mustafa Kemal moved to Ankara. At that time, a signboard was placed showing that Atatürk had lived in this building in 1919. Istanbul Municipality bought the building from Tahsin Uzer in 1928 and started to collect Ataturk’s belongings, historical documents and memorabilia in this building. The building was converted into a museum in 1942 during the reign of Governor and Mayor Lutfi Kırdar and opened to visitors on June 15, 1942 as the Ataturk Revolution Museum. During the 1960 military rule, the building was repaired on the initiative of Mayor Refik Tulga. On January 9, 1962, the museum suffered a partial fire and underwent a major renovation as the 100th anniversary of Ataturk’s birth approached. The building was restored in the style of the 1910s, from the door knockers to the windows. On May 19, 1981, it was reopened as the Ataturk Museum. The museum includes photographs of Ataturk’s life from his birth to his death, his clothes and the objects he used, documents about Ataturk and the reforms, the National Struggle and Ataturk paintings.
Sisli Mosque The mosque is located on the island between Halaskargazi and Abide-i Hurriyet Avenues, in the middle of a courtyard surrounded by walls and entered through three doors, one in the direction of the mihrab and the others on either side. The construction of the mosque began in June 1945 and it was opened for worship in 1949. The architect of the Sisli Mosque, which was built entirely in the style of classical Ottoman architecture, was Architect Vasfi Egeli, who was the chief architect of the Foundations at the time.
Ugur Mumcu Monument: It was built in 1996 by the Republican People’s Party, Sisli District Presidency and then Besiktas Mayor Ayfer Atay. On the three-sided pedestal, there is a bronze bust of Ugur Mumcu facing in three directions, with a characteristic hat on one side and different portrait busts of Ugur Mumcu on the other side. The design was made by Architect Erhan Isozen and the busts by Sculptor Prof. Dr. Tankut Oktem. On three sides of the pedestal is Ugur Mumcu’s famous address.
Orduevi: The largest of the eight army houses for officers and non-commissioned officers in Istanbul is the Harbiye Army House in Harbiye. Completed in 1981, the army house previously served in a part of the old Mekteb-i Harbiye building. With its hotel and social activities, it is the largest army house in Turkey.
Pangalti Armenian High School: Located in Harbiye, between Zafer and Suleyman Nazif Streets, between Zafer and Suleyman Nazif Streets, the school was founded by the monks of the Mihitarist Monastery and is known as the ‘Mıhitarist High School’ among the Armenians. First opened as a summer school in Kandilli, the school moved to Beyoglu in 1825. In the 1839 Beyoglu fire, the school was completely burned down and moved to Yenimahalle in 1847. In 1866, the school found a solution to the building problem it was constantly experiencing by purchasing the large land belonging to the Kalpakciyanlar in Upper Pangalti with the building on it. In addition to the school, convent and chapel, shops were built along the street in 1890 to generate rent, and the old school building was renovated and improved.
Etfal Hospital Etfal Hospital, located in Kucukbahce and Dr. Sevket Bey Streets opening to Halaskargazi Avenue, is the first children’s hospital built by Abdülhamid II in memory of his daughter Hatice Sultan, who died when she was only 8 months old. Built in 1898, the hospital’s architect was Franz Niebermann. The hospital, which started accepting patients under the name ‘Hamidiye Etfal Hastane-i Alisi’ in 1899, lived its heyday until the Second Constitutional Monarchy, but after 1908, it was abandoned to its fate as a result of the reactions against Abdulhamid II, and was first transferred to the Ministry of Finance, which in turn gave it to the Sehremaneti. In 1909, it was affiliated to the Muessese-i Hayriye-i Sihhiye Mudiriyeti along with other municipal health institutions. With the establishment of the Republic, the hospital was affiliated to the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. New buildings were added to the hospital, which grew with repairs and additions from time to time, in 1976. The institution, which was named Sisli Children’s Hospital and Istanbul Children’s Hospital, is now a full-fledged hospital with 1050 beds and is named Sisli Etfal Hospital.
Etfal Hospital Clock Tower and Masjid: The clock tower and masjid in the garden of Hamidiye Etfal Hospital, built by Abdulhamid II in 1899, was built in 1907 according to the project of Italian architect R. d’Aronco. It can be said that R.d’Aronco’s project was used in the implementation of the building, but the implementation was most likely done with the contributions of Italian architect Felix Pelinli and Mahmud Sukru Bey, one of the teachers of the Engineering School. The building has a rectangular plan measuring 10x13m on the ground. It has a 0.70×0.70m flat weft cover carried by four pairs of legs and a roof covered with tiles. The building has two entrances, one belonging to the clock tower and the other to the masjid section. The clock tower is approximately 20 meters high and has a square plan. The body of the tower, which has a facade arrangement using red brick and white marble, is finished with a balcony-crest surrounding its four sides. A clock is placed inside the arch of the tower. It is described in the publications of the period that the clock was made of ‘porcelaine diaphane’ which shows both alaturka and alafranga time, that the numbers were painted in black on porcelain and that it was illuminated at night. Today, the masjid part of the building has been changed and organized as a nurses’ dining hall.
Vatican Embassy Building: The Vatican Embassy Building, located on Olcek Street (Papa Roncalli sk.), which opens onto Halaskargazi Avenue, was built in 1849 in this district, which is a recreational area with its green hills and far from the center, when Monsignor Hillereau decided to establish the Pope’s unofficial representation in the same neighborhood during the construction of Saint Esprit Church. From 1870 onwards, the stone building became the headquarters of the unofficial papal delegation and remained so until 1960, when the Vatican and Turkey decided to establish official diplomatic missions. The building was restored and enlarged with the addition of a new wing through the efforts of Monsignor Roncalli (Pope John XXIII), who represented the papacy in Turkey in 1935-44.
Teşvikiye Mosque: Since the mosque built by Selim III in 1794-1795 was dilapidated, the Tesvikiye Mosque was built in the same place by Sultan Abdulmecid in 1854. The mosque consists of a 13x12m harim section and a 24x25m hunkar mahfil, part of the ground floor of which is reserved as the last congregation place. The entrance axis is organized as a portico formed by high columns. The parapet raised above the eaves cornice in the portico section, the inscription panels placed on it and the coat of arms with a monogram and flag in the arch between these panels evoke the lines of the rmi style of the second half of the 19th century. The harim section is covered with an eight-slice dome on a substructure about 7m high. Although the lower structure of the mosque is completely masonry, the dome is made of wood.
Nisantaslari: The majority of the engagement stones, very few of which have been preserved to date in various regions of Istanbul, are within the borders of our district. The places where the engagement stones that have survived to the present day are in Niasatasi, Tesvikiye and Okmeydani. After the Tesvikiye Mosque was renovated by Abdulmecid in 1270/1853-54, settlement began in the region. One of the two stones in which Abdulmecid expressed his intention to create a settlement here is located on Tesvikiye Street in the space next to the old Nisantasi Police Station, which is today the Harbiye Police Station, and the other is located at the intersection of Tesvikiye Street, Rumeli Street and Valikonagi Street. Both stones are in the same style and bear the inscription ‘Eser-i Avatif-i Mecidiye Mahelle-i Cedide-i Tesvikiye’ (The new Tesvikiye neighborhood, the work of Abdulmecid’s unrequited benevolence). In the courtyard of Tesvikiye Mosque, there are 2 Nisantasi, one dated 1205 and belonging to Selim III, the other dated 1226-1811 and belonging to Mahmut II. Another Nisantasi dated 1226-1811 still exists in the front garden of an apartment building on the Nisantasi Ihlamur road in Topagaci.
Bomonti Brewery: Named after one of the oldest neighborhoods of Istanbul, the Bomonti Brewery was the first brewery in Turkey to start production with modern brewing techniques. The Swiss Bomonti brothers established a brewery in Feriköy in 1890, where they started to produce beer with top fermentation. In 1902, they moved their business to where the Istanbul Tekel Brewery, formerly known as the Bomonti Brewery, is located today. In 1912, Bomonti and its competitors, the Nektar Companies, merged to form the Bomonti-Nektar United Breweries Company. In 1938, this enterprise was transferred to the Tekel Administration. New units were added to the main building of the Bomonti Brewery over time. With the addition of these units, the brewery is today located on a 40-acre land. The Bomonti Beer Garden, one of these units, was opened to the service of Istanbulites in the 1930s and continued this service until the 1950s.
Sisli District Governorship: Built in the 1890s for official service, the building was allocated as a lodging house for the chief clerks of the period. It is one of the first representatives of an architectural trend inspired by the Seljuk architectural tradition, which was first applied during the reign of Sultan AbdUlhamid II. After the proclamation of the Republic, the building was used as a hospital and for a while as a school, and finally it was turned into Sisli District Governorship and continues the same function. The exterior of the building, which was built as 3 floors on a subbasement, is masonry, while the interior is made of wood.
Ihlamur Pavilion: In 1849-1855, two pavilions called Merasim Pavilion and Maiyet Pavilion were built by Abdulmecid to be used as a resting place in the valley between Besiktas and Nisantasi, called Nuzhetiye. Of these, the Merasim Pavilion is the original Ihlamur Pavilion. The rectangular pavilion, which consists of a single floor on a high subasman, is made of cut stone. The exaggerated façade decorations consist of girlants, oyster shells, vases, wisteria and columns. The two-armed staircase and balcony on the entrance facade are remarkable. In contrast to the exterior, the interior of the building is quite simple. In 1951, the mansion was given to the Istanbul Municipality and opened to visitors during this period, and in the following years it was transferred to the Presidency of the National Palaces of the Turkish National Assembly.
DarUlaceze Building: It is a care home built by Halil Rifat Pasha between 1892-1896 in order to care for orphans, homeless, sick and disabled elderly, young people and children, and to ensure that those who are able to work can earn a living by working. The architect of the building was Architect Yanko Bey and the executor was Vasilaki Efendi. It is a group of buildings built on a large rectangular plot of 277×120 meters in size. Eight buildings of identical shape and size, placed opposite each other along the long sides of the plot, form a series of four. The large space between these buildings functions as a communal garden and is bounded by a mosque at the western end and a church and synagogue at the eastern end. The mosque is a small but interesting building with a distinctive plan scheme. The church and synagogue are simple buildings with barrel vaults. The main entrance façade of the central building at the entrance and all the interior volumes are decorated with neoottoman style ornaments. Today, it is used as a Type C hospital belonging to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, serving orphans, cripples and the elderly.
Abide-I Hürriyet Monument: The monument is located between the first ring road and Sisli – Kagithane Street in the northwestern part of Sisli’s highest hill (130 altitude). It is believed to be one of the places where Mehmet II set up his camp during the siege of Istanbul. The monument was built in memory of those who were martyred during the suppression of the anti-Constitutional uprising known in our recent history as the March 31st Incident. Its construction began in 1909 and was completed in 1911. It belongs to Muzaffer Bey, one of the well-known architects of the I. National Architecture style. The monument is shaped like a cannon firing into the air. Martyred soldiers are buried in the lower floor of this monument made of knitted stone. The tomb of Grand Vizier and Minister of War Mahmut Sevket Pasha and the graves of Mithad Pasha and Talat Pasha are also around the monument.
Macka Fountain: The fountain was built by AbdUlhamid II in 1901 by architect Raimondo D’aranco. In 1957, during road widening works, it was removed from its original location in front of the Nusretiye Mosque in Tophane and moved to its current location, the entrance of the Maçka Democracy Park opposite the ITU Faculty of Mining. It is a small square fountain with four faces, all made of marble. One of the façades is narrow and the other two are wide. It has a masonry, two-tiered, lead-covered, wide eaves with sliced edges. At the corners rise columns with slender capitals, rising on bases with basil medallions, topped with vertically grooved bracelets and culminating in capitals with curtain motifs. The troughs at the level of the column bases show different designs on the wide and narrow facades. On the upper part of the facades, embossed plinths are placed at the level of the column capitals, and a couplet of the inscription is placed on the surfaces between the plinths. The inscription, whose verse text is by Ahmet Talat, bears the signature of the calligrapher Sami Efendi.
