The Golden Horn and Its Gateway to History: Balat

The Golden Horn, also known as Altın Boynuz, is an important urban waterway in Istanbul and the main entrance point to the Strait. This distinctive water body, a horn-shaped inlet where the Strait meets the Sea of Marmara, has its terminus marking the boundary of "Old Istanbul." The Golden Horn separates Istanbul's historic center from the rest of the city and has formed a natural and protected harbor for thousands of years, sheltering Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and other maritime merchant vessels. While the "horn" reference is understood in relation to the general shape of the geography, the significance of the "golden" designation is less clear; historians believe it refers to the wealth brought to the city from its bustling historic harbor. Along its shores, or with the way the sun settles over the city, the waterway transforms into romantic artistic interpretations of the rich yellow light burning the Golden Horn's waters. The Golden Horn derives from the Arabic word khaleej, meaning "bay." Throughout history, the Golden Horn witnessed many turbulent historical events and dramatic landscapes were depicted in countless works of art. The construction of the Yenikapı metro station and Marmaray tunnel project caused important historical artifacts such as previously undiscovered ancient harbors, storage facilities and merchant ships to come to light. Archaeological findings demonstrate

significant urban settlement in the Golden Horn and its surroundings extending back to the 7th century BC. Additionally, when smaller settlements are taken into account,

it is understood that the history of settlement in the Golden Horn extends back to 6700 BC. The deep natural harbor provided by the Golden Horn has always been an important economic attraction and strategic military advantage for the region's inhabitants. Before the 19th century, harbor areas were colorful districts where commerce and urban life took place. However, with the 19th century, the harbors transformed into industrial zones and numerous large and small manufacturing facilities formed the fabric of the harbor and its surroundings. Of course, the pollution created by these industrial areas and the departure of jobless people from the region meant, in a sense, the severing of the area's connection to urban life. This situation was fully observed in Fener and Balat. Industrialization in the Golden Horn, which began in the late 19th century and continued after the declaration of the Republic, led to the relocation of existing communities away from the region to different areas of Istanbul. This brought impoverishment with it, initiating a process of decline in the area. The decentralization process—the relocation of industrial zones and sometimes port activities within the city to outside the city—began to become the dominant trend in the 20th century. As a result, areas used for shipyards and storage purposes transformed into empty and abandoned spaces, and a stock of disused, abandoned areas emerged in the city center. With the relocation of industrial enterprises in the region to Organized Industrial Zones over time, existing workshops and manufacturing facilities lost their function and most were abandoned, leaving the area desolate.

The area, which contained important examples of 19th-century and earlier civil architecture, underwent severe cultural erosion, and this condition continued to worsen until the 1980s. Until the 1980s, the Golden Horn was completely polluted with industrial waste from factories, warehouses and shipyards along its shores.

However, from the 1980s onward, thanks to significant efforts by municipalities, the stock of derelict buildings was gradually cleaned up over time and the waterfront was largely restored and rehabilitated. By the 2000s, the Fener-Balat rehabilitation project began to seriously change the trajectory of the region. The demolitions carried out on the Golden Horn shoreline increased the visibility of Fener and Balat in the Golden Horn, drawing attention to these two intertwined historic neighborhoods. The rehabilitation process, which began with an application to UNESCO for these two neighborhoods to be added to the world architectural heritage list, commenced in early 2003 under a tripartite administration consisting of Fatih Municipality, UNESCO and the European Union. The fundamental objectives of the process were the restoration of buildings with historic and architectural original character, improvement of the social profile of people living in these areas, creation of a solid waste management strategy and development of Balat Bazaar. Today, both sides of the Golden Horn have been settled and parks are located along each shore. Museums, congress and cultural centers, Turkish Navy facilities and campuses of various universities are located on the shores of the Golden Horn. The rich history and natural beauty of the Golden Horn attract millions of domestic and foreign tourists to Istanbul each year. The region has become an extremely popular tourist destination and residential area. In subsequent sections of our series, we will continue to examine the neighborhoods around the Golden Horn.