Kağıthane

Kağıthane is a working class district of the city of İstanbul, Turkey in a valley inland from the upmarket Etiler. Built along a stream that runs into the Golden Horn and although very central, it is one of the most miserable residential districts of Istanbul.

History

In the time of Suleyman the Magnificent the valley was known as 'Sadabat' and used by the Ottoman court for hunting, riding and equestrian sports. The valley was full of wonderful tulip fields and in spring people would come along the stream for picnics and days out of the city. There are records of gatherings such as wedding parties being held here. By the late Ottoman period the valley floor ahd been drained, weekend homes had been built in the valley with lovely gardens, and the area led into the richly forested parks of Kağıthane and Alibeyköy ideal for parties and picnics.

The Ottoman gunpowder factory was the first industrial activity in the valley and dated back to the early Ottoman emperor 2. Beyazıt. Kağıthane then became home to numerous factories including flour mills and the paper factories that give the area its name. The area was stıll far from the cıty and not heavily populated until the late 20th Century. Until then there were gypsy camps in the valley (and there is still a large gypsy community in Gültepe today).

Real growth came to Kağıthane from the 1950s onwards, as the area was settled by migrants from Anatolia, who came to work in the factories, workshops or building sites. They built small cottages on the valley sides, then brought family, friends and neighbours from the village to live in one of the rooms while they built their own cottages nearby. As many Turkish rural areas have been impoverished for decades there has been no shortage of people prepared to opt for this lifestyle in Istanbul. None of this building was regulated or controlled in any meaningful way and whenever there is a big rain people in Kağıthane are flooded out of their homes. And the houses were scattered all over the sides of the valley with no thought for where they could put roads, drains or any other infrastructure. And Istanbul is vulnerable to earthquakes.

This working class district was a centre of left-wing support during the years of political violence in the 1970s.

From the 1970s onwards as the second generatıon grew up the cottages have been pulled down and replaced wıth grubby, bare-walled six-storey apartment buildings to house the offspring of these families.

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