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Rich
vineyards and forests covered
the south-facing slopes of the Golden
Horn in Byzantine times.
The Ottoman sultans
came to what they called Hasköy to
hunt and to enjoy its natural beauty.
In the 1700s, they built an imperial
pleasure villa, Aynalikavak
Kasri.
Residential
areas grew up later, including a
lively Jewish one. Today Hasköy
has the Jewish
Home for the Aged, the Kamondo
mansion, and a large Jewish cemetery
which includes the Kamondo mausoleum.
GETTING
THERE
Take
a taxi and tell the driver "Haskoy
Polis Karakolu" (police station)
or the "Sükrü Urcan
Spor Tesisleri" (athletic facilities),
which are well known. From these
sites you can continue by taxi, or
walk for ten minutes.
WHAT
TO SEE IN HASKÖY
The Jewish
Home for the Aged (Ihtiyarlar
Yurdu), Hasköy Mektep
Sokak no. 10, is a handsome classical
stone building originally constructed
in 1874 by the Alliance Israélite
Universelle as a modern European-style
school. The Home is located on
a quiet street in a residential
district with vibrant street life.
As you walk to the school, picture
these narrow streets as they were
a century ago, alive with the sounds
of Judeo-Spanish, and dotted with
small synagogues.
From
the police station, go northwest
up the steep hill, keeping the athletic
facilities on your right. Look for
a sign reading Ihtiyarlar Yurduna
gider ("This way to the
Old-Age Home.") Turn right onto
Okmeydani Caddesi, go one block,
then turn left onto Keçeci
Piri Cami Sokak. Walk along this
street to a little park; turn right
at the far side of the park onto
Hasköy Mektep Sokak ("Hasköy
School Street;" another sign
marks this turn), and the Old-Age
Home is one short block up on the
right.
Founded
in May, 1860 in Paris, the Alliance
Israélite Universelle was
a mutual aid and protection society.
Its mission was to promote closer
cooperation among Jews throughout
the world; to protect Jewish communities
which were under pressure; and to
promote Jewish community life through
culture and education.
In
the Ottoman
Empire, the Alliance established schools first
in Baghdad and Damascus, then in
Volos, Edirne and
Salonica. Istanbul and Izmir,
with their large Jewish communities,
had several schools each.
The
Hasköy school was opened in
1874 for Jewish girls. The curriculum
included sewing, knitting, cooking
and other aspects of home economics.
Many other Ottoman towns received
schools as well. An agricultural
school--the first one in the system--was
opened in Jaffa, in Ottoman Palesine,
in 1870. Though meant primarily for
the Jewish community, the schools
accepted non-Jewish students as well.
A
minute's walk southeast of the Hasköy
police station along the Kasimpasa-Hasköy
Yolu is Aynalikavak
Kasri, an imperial Ottoman
pleasure pavilion.
From
Aynalikavak Kasri, take a taxi to
the foot of Bahriye Caddesi, right
on the shore of the Golden
Horn in the neighboring district
of Kasimpasa; tell the driver to
take you to the Deniz Kuvvetleri
Güney Bölgesi Komutanligi.
The
imposing stone building on the right-hand
(northwest) side at the Golden
Horn end of Bahriye Caddesi is
the former Kamondo Mansion,
now used as the headquarters of the
Turkish Navy's northern region. The
house--actually a small palace--was
built by the wealthy and influential
Kamondo family. When the last of
the Kamondos died without heirs,
the mansion was willed to the Turkish
government. As a military installation,
it is not open to visitors, but even
from the outside, in its beautiful
situation on the Golden
Horn, it is impressive.
To
view the Kamondo Mausoleum you
must take a ride on the Birinci Çevreyolu,
the expressway which skirts the central
area of the city to the north of
Hasköy. Tragically, the path
of the expressway passes directly
through the midst of the large Hasköy
Jewish Cemetery.
The Kamondo
mausoleum is set prominently
on a hill just to the north of
the roadway, a short distance northeast
of the Golden Horn, especially
when travelling westbound.
Other
Jewish Sites in Istanbul
Walking Tour of Jewish Sites
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