Macka Demokrasi Park Istanbul
Istanbul is a great city for walking. Distances exist but clean air helps one to walk without much distress. This makes a walk through Maçka Demokrasi Park Istanbul even more pleasurable.
Maçka Park (Maçka Parkı) is a large park in Istanbul, Turkey. It runs down a hill from the Nişantaşı and Maçka neighbourhoods to Dolmabahçe.
Maçka Demokrasi Park Istanbul has been mentioned in Istanbul’s history since the 19th century.
Maçka Park was a densely wooded valley in the middle of the 19th century. It was popular with the Ottomans for picnics, horseback riding, and walking.
It is stated that the people coming to Nilüfer Hatun Konak and its surroundings, located in the area where the Teşvikiye Mosque and the Nilüfer Hatun Primary School are located, pass through this valley, take a break here and drink water from the stream.
In the early 1990s, this region, which stands out as a forest area with a sewage stream flowing beside it and where lovers meet, was restored in 1993 and the word “Democracy” was added to its name.
You can run or walk in Maçka Democracy Park, offering a unique environment where you can get fresh air in the heart of the European side with various trees such as linden, chestnut, hornbeam, poplar, plane tree, boxwood, acacia, oak, walnut and alder.
The park is forever buzzing with activities, kids playing, people jogging, or just lazing around if they are not sitting in one of the garden cafes. Maçka Park has two play areas for children & two cafes.
Amid all that greenery, there are artificial islands and an artificial nesting pool.
Starting at the northern entrance of the park and working our way downhill is a small section called Maçka Art Park (Maçka Sanat Parkı).
It consists of a plaza lined with busts of important figures from the Turkic world, such as Attila, Timur, and Osman I. The statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk is the most prominent monument.
The inscription for each bust includes the beginning and end date of each empire these leaders created.
The stairs and path leading down through Maçka Art Park run past a tea garden, playground, and benches. It’s a pleasant place to sit especially on a hot day.
Beşiktaş is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait.
We walked through the park on our way through the Beşiktaş district to the Bosphorus seaside.
At the exit, we came across the under-construction Beşiktaş JK stadium (Vodafone Arena) towards our left and then walked past the famous Dolmabahçe Palace.
Dolmabahçe Palace served as the main administrative centre of the Ottoman Empire from 1856 to 1922. Dolmabahçe is the largest palace in Turkey and is now a museum.
The walk eventually took us through Beşiktaş to the Bosphorus which seemed like the most happening place in Istanbul. The seaside was not very vast and was packed with people.
There was regular ferry traffic to and fro the Asian side.
Revellers were indulging themselves with street food, game stalls and stalls selling trinkets as well as counterfeit watches. People were seen fishing, drinking beer by the sea and making merry.
All the restaurants around the walkway were packed tight with no space to breathe. Beşiktaş was quite a happening neighbourhood.
On the way back from Bosphorus, we walked through the local market in Beşiktaş. The market was thronged by people with vegetable and fish stalls located right in the heart.
We did a Döner brunch at Define Büfe – A Döner & Hamburger Restaurant.
The döner were just about fine and we downed them with Ayran. Ayran is a local cold yoghurt beverage mixed with salt just like our namkeen lassi.
It is considered to be Turkey’s national drink. I found the meats in Istanbul to be quite dry and bland (they call it well done). It seemed the concept of rare or medium-rare was non-existent and so was spicy food.
Enjoy the photos from the Beşiktaş walkabout
