Sarraf Hovannesyan, an eighteenth-century writer, gives the description of Kalender Garden: Along the shore from Yeniköy, one comes to a narrow, rocky area which is Kalender Garden. Here there is a pleasant valley among high hills. The name of Kalender comes from a dervish who gave it this name. According to the story, in the reign of Mustafa III, Ali Ağa of Moldovia, who later became a paşa and reached the rank of grand vizier, settled a squad of gardeners here when he was chief gardener in 1769 to deter brigands, and so this area became a place for rest and relaxation. At the side of Kalender Garden on the shore is a holy spring called by the name of St. John the Baptist and the ruins of three churches (XVIII. asırda İstanbul, n. 165).
Selim III had Kalender Pavilion built in 1794 and often came here to listen to music and to view the moon. It kept its fame under Mahmud II. Sultan Abdülaziz, however, had the building pulled down and rebuilt as a two-story stone mansion. The trees have kept their splendor to this day.
The text for this entry is adapted from Nurhan Atasoy, Garden for the Sultan, 305.
Source: Travel Account, 18th century
-Nurhan Atasoy, Seyit Ali Kahraman
Resources:
A Garden for the Sultan: Gardens and Flowers in the Ottoman Culture (Open in Zotero)
XVIII. asırda İstanbul (Open in Zotero)
Originally published at: Atasoy, Nurhan, and Seyit Ali Kahraman “Kalender Garden.” Middle East Gardens Traditions. Dumbarton Oaks, December 1, 2014. https://www.doaks.org/resources/middle-east-garden-traditions/catalogue/C98. Archived at: https://perma.cc/5UDZ-R9BM.
