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Heybeliada

Fishing communities in TurkeyIslands of Istanbul ProvinceIslands of TurkeyIslands of the Sea of MarmaraNeighbourhoods of Adalar, Istanbul
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Heybeliada, or Heybeli Ada, is the second largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, Turkey. It is officially a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Adalar, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 4,424 (2022). Its name, meaning 'with a saddlebag' in Turkish, in supposed reference to the valley between two hills. The island was known as Halki, Halkitis (Greek: Χαλκίτις) and Demonesos (Δημόνησος) in antiquity, the first two toponyms deriving from the Greek word halkos (Greek: χαλκός), meaning copper. The island was famous for its copper and copper ores in antiquity.In winter the island's population is only about 4,400, but in summer, the owners of summer houses return and the population swells to approximately 30,000.Launched in 2008, TCG Heybeliada, used by the Turkish Navy is named after the island.Until 2020, the only vehicles permitted on the island were ambulances, fire tenders, police cars etc; the only official form of transport was by horse-drawn phaeton. However, as tourism steadily increased animal-rights activists became increasingly concerned about the horses' welfare and so the phaetons were withdrawn in favour of electric vehicles.The island is served by Şehir Hatları ferries from Kabataş and Eminönü on the European side of İstanbul and Kadıköy and Bostanci on the Asian side.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Heybeliada (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

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Latitude Longitude
N 40.877777777778 ° E 29.091666666667 °
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34973 , Heybeliada (Heybeliada Mahallesi)
Turkey
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Burgazada
Burgazada

Burgazada, or Burgaz Adası (Burgaz for short), is the third largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, Turkey. It is officially a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Adalar, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its population is 1,655 (2022). In the past, it was called Antigoni (Greek: Αντιγόνη) after Antigonus I Monophthalmus, the father of Demetrius I of Macedon, one of the Diadochi (Successors) of Alexander the Great, who built a fort (Greek: Pyrgos for fort/tower) here. The name Burgas is thought to be derived from Pyrgos. The island covers an area of 1.5 mi² and is dominated by a single hill, Bayraktepe (Flag Hill, 170m/558ft), also known as Hristos Tepesi (Christ Hill). In 2003, a terrible fire decimated most of its woodland. Visible just offshore is tiny uninhabited Kaşıkadası (Spoon Island). There are great views back towards the mainland from the remote Kalpazankaya ("Counterfeiter's Rock" in Turkish).Historically, the island was mainly inhabited Greeks and in the 20th century many Jews from Istanbul settled here. However, with the dwindling of Turkey's minorities, the make-up of the local population is now virtually indistinguishable from the rest of Istanbul. Şehir Hatları ferries connect the island with the mainland from terminals at Eminönü and Kabataş on the European side of Istanbul and from Kadıköy and Bostancı on the Asian side. Most of the ferries call at Burgaz after Kınalıada and before Heybeliada and Büyükada.

Büyükada
Büyükada

Büyükada (Greek: Πρίγκηπος or Πρίγκιπος, rendered Prinkipos or Prinkipo), meaning "Big Island" in Turkish, is the largest of the Princes' Islands in the Sea of Marmara, near Istanbul, with an area of about 2 square miles (5 square kilometres). It is officially a neighbourhood in the Adalar (Islands) district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. During the first half of the 20th century, the island was popular with prosperous Greeks, Jews and Armenians as a refuge from the summer heat of Istanbul. Nowadays the island is almost as solidly Turkish as any suburb of mainland Istanbul. Historically, many residents of Büyükada were fishermen. However, by the late 2010s tourism to Büyükada swelled enormously as it became a favourite day-trip destination for visitors from greenery-starved Arab countries in particular. The surge in tourism was a major factor in bringing to an end the tradition of using phaetons as the only transport on the island in 2020. Visitors have been writing about Büyükada since the Turkish travel writer Evliya Çelebi recorded in his Seyahatname (Book of Travels) that there were 200 Greek houses on the island in 1640 and that it was ringed with dalyan fishermen. In 1884 the French historian Gustave Schlumberger published Les Iles des Princes, describing his visit to the archipelago. Ernest Mamboury recorded the sites of the island in his Les Iles des Princes, published in 1943 and Jak Deleon updated his work in 2003 in his Büyükada: A Guide to the Monuments. After leaving the island in 1933 Trotsky wrote an essay called Farewell tp Prinkipo. In 1997 Çelik Gülersoy, who had worked to restore some of the island's buildings, published Büyükada Dün (Büyükada Yesterday). In 2007 John Freely's The Princes' Islands exhaustively listed the historic mansions on the island. In 2009 the poet and translator Joachim Sartorius published an exquisite short travelogue called The Princes' Islands: Istanbul's Archipelago which mainly focused on Büyükada. The island is accessible by Şehir Hatları ferries from Eminönü and Kabataş on the European side of Istanbul and from Kadıköy and Bostancı on the Asian side of the city.