Çatalca Palace Gardens (MEGT)Edirne, Türkiye
In his account of Edirne, Evliya Çelebi mentions the palaces of the Ottoman sultans at Çatalca and their gardens:
The cultivated land at the foot of Çatal Dağ is called Çatalca. This is an area of two thousand paces running from north to south at the foot of the eastern side of the high twin-peaked mountain with its hills and valleys. It is unrivaled for its vineyards, gardens, and pure, life-giving water. The Ottoman palace is situated in a place like paradise on the east side of the city overlooking a green plain in a place where there is pure spring water and cypress, plane trees, poplars, willows and fruit trees provide shelter and shade. It is impossible to describe the sweetness of the birdsong here. In particular, the sweet voices of blackbirds and marsh owls bring people to life in the morning. The beautiful voice of the nightingale is not heard in any vineyards as this area is mountainous. There is a wall like a fortress-wall on all four sides of the palace. In it live the head gardener and 300 gardeners. There are many rooms, havernak pavilions and small palaces and the water from Çatal Dağ flows into the water-towers and from there into the fountains, pools and ablution fountains. . . . If I tried to describe everything I have seen in this paradise of a place, it would run to volumes. In brief, our nights were like Kadir, our days like the feast of Kurban Bayram. (Seyahatnâmesi, 3:171a)
The text for this entry is adapted from Nurhan Atasoy, Garden for the Sultan, 235–36.
Source: Travel Account, 17th century
-Nurhan Atasoy, Seyit Ali Kahraman
Resources:
Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi: Topkapı Sarayı Bağdat 304 Yazmasının transkripsiyonu (Open in Zotero)
A Garden for the Sultan: Gardens and Flowers in the Ottoman Culture (Open in Zotero)
Originally published at: Atasoy, Nurhan, and Seyit Ali Kahraman “Çatalca Palace Gardens.” 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.
In his account of Edirne, Evliya Çelebi mentions the palaces of the Ottoman sultans at Çatalca and their gardens:
The cultivated land at the foot of Çatal Dağ is called Çatalca. This is an area of two thousand paces running from north to south at the foot of the eastern side of the high twin-peaked mountain with its hills and valleys. It is unrivaled for its vineyards, gardens, and pure, life-giving water. The Ottoman palace is situated in a place like paradise on the east side of the city overlooking a green plain in a place where there is pure spring water and cypress, plane trees, poplars, willows and fruit trees provide shelter and shade. It is impossible to describe the sweetness of the birdsong here. In particular, the sweet voices of blackbirds and marsh owls bring people to life in the morning. The beautiful voice of the nightingale is not heard in any vineyards as this area is mountainous. There is a wall like a fortress-wall on all four sides of the palace. In it live the head gardener and 300 gardeners. There are many rooms, havernak pavilions and small palaces and the water from Çatal Dağ flows into the water-towers and from there into the fountains, pools and ablution fountains. . . . If I tried to describe everything I have seen in this paradise of a place, it would run to volumes. In brief, our nights were like Kadir, our days like the feast of Kurban Bayram. (Seyahatnâmesi, 3:171a)
The text for this entry is adapted from Nurhan Atasoy, Garden for the Sultan, 235–36.
Source: Travel Account, 17th century
-Nurhan Atasoy, Seyit Ali Kahraman
Resources:
Evliya Çelebi Seyahatnâmesi: Topkapı Sarayı Bağdat 304 Yazmasının transkripsiyonu (Open in Zotero)
A Garden for the Sultan: Gardens and Flowers in the Ottoman Culture (Open in Zotero)
Originally published at: Atasoy, Nurhan, and Seyit Ali Kahraman “Çatalca Palace Gardens.” 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.