Emirgan Garden (MEGT)

Istanbul, Türkiye

Since the Ottoman conquest of Istanbul, Emirgan, which is surrounded by cypresses, has belonged to the state. In the middle of the sixteenth century, it was given to Nişancı Feridun Bey and became his summer garden. Consequently, it was known as Feridun Paşa Bahçesi.

In 1635, Murad IV conquered Revan and brought the Persian Emirgüne Yusuf Han to Istanbul. He made him one of his close friends and gave him Feridun Paşa’s garden at Emirgan.

Eremya Çelebi provides a lively description of Emirgan Bahçesi during the reign of Murad: Further along were the gardens and beautiful pavilions of Emirgüne Han. You would have been amazed had you seen them. Sultan Murad had made friends with him and brought him [Emirgüne Han] back with him from Persia. He conversed with him night and day and he became his boon companion. During spring, summer, and fall, they would sail at night over the sea looking at the moon. Although custom and tradition were against it, they would sit in the stern of the boat and eat a simple meal and drink pure liquor, that is to say, wine which has been left for twelve hours without being exposed to the air in a large, new, unused, tightly covered earthenware pitcher and then poured out by breaking the spout (XVII. asırda İstanbul, 42). Tavernier also relates how Emirgüne Han introduced Murad IV to drinking wine.

By the mid-eighteenth century, Abdülhamid I had a village built on the Bosphorus at Emirgan Garden, dividing up the land among the people. He also built a large mosque, a fountain, and a hamam in the market square.

The khedive (viceroy) of Egypt, İsmail Paşa, built elegant pavilions on the northern shore at Emirgan in the second half of the nineteenth century and turned the woods within the grounds into a beautiful park. He also built elementary schools for girls and boys and a small hospital. This hospital was never opened and fell into ruin; it was pulled down by the municipality in 1912–1913.

The text for this entry is adapted from Nurhan Atasoy, Garden for the Sultan, 304–5.

Source: Travel Account, 17th century

-Nurhan Atasoy, Seyit Ali Kahraman

Resources:

İstanbul tarihi: XVII. asırda İstanbul (Open in Zotero)

Originally published at: Atasoy, Nurhan, and Seyit Ali Kahraman “Emirgan 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.