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Maçka is an upscale neighborhood in the Şişli district of Istanbul. It’s located next to Nişantaşı and Teşvikiye, and uphill from Dolmabahçe.
Getting to Maçka
There are two easy ways to get to the neighborhood. First, you can walk down Vali Konağı Street from the Harbiye Military Museum, then turn right and walk through Nişantaşı down Abdi İpekçi Street. This passes through an upscale shopping district featuring several luxury brands. The nearest metro station is at Osmanbey.
The other way is to take the cable car from Taşkışla, which is a short walk from Taksim Square. It soars over Maçka Park and leaves you in front of a campus of Istanbul Technical University.
Maçka Street
There are a few important buildings on Maçka Street. It runs south from Teşvikiye and down along Maçka Park.
Italian Consulate
First is the Maçka Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School (Maçka Mesleki ve Teknik Anadolu Lisesi). Construction started in 1900 as the Italian Consulate but the building was left unfinished because of World War I. In 1920, Constantinople-born Italian architect Giulio Mongeri (1875-1953) began the process to complete the project. It was supposed to become the new Italian Embassy but that never happened because the capital moved to Ankara. It was used as a tobacco warehouse for many years until the 1970s, when it was restored and converted to a school,
Maçka Palace
Across the street is Maçka Palace (Maçka Palas). It was built as an apartment in 1922 by Italian railroad baron Vincenzo Caivano. He hired Giulio Mongeri to design it. Caivano hoped to attract workers from the Italian Embassy across the street.
The building attracted many famous Turkish residents over the years, including novelist Kerime Nadir (1917-1984); poet Abdülhak Hâmid Tarhan (1852-1937); former president and prime minister Celal Bayar (1883-1986); composer of the Turkish National Anthem, Zeki Üngör (1880-1958); and footballer Turgay Şeren (1932-2016).
When Caivano died in 1967, the building passed down to his son, Achille Caivano. Achille wasn’t interested in managing it, and building soon lost its former glory. It was purchased by Doğuş Holding in 1994 and converted into the Park Hyatt, a luxury hotel, in 2008.
Izmir Palace
The beautiful Izmir Palace (İzmir Palas) is on the next block south. It was built by architect J. d’Armi in 1925 for Izmir businessman Şerifzade Ahmed Süreyya Bey. The building is a good example of First National architecture.
Maçka Arsenal
Across from the gondola station is the Maçka Arsenal (Maçka Silahhanesi). It was built under Sultan Abdülaziz in 1873 by Ottoman Armenian architects Simon (1848-1894) and Sarkis Balyan (1835-1899). It replaced an older arsenal building completed in 1834.
During the Late Ottoman period, the arsenal served as the gendarmerie command. The building continued its military purpose until 1955, when it was allocated to the Ministry of National Education. It’s now one of five campuses of Istanbul Technical University (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi), and this campus serves the Faculty of Mines (İTÜ Maden Fakültesi). The building has an imposing entrance, topped by the coat of arms of the Ottoman Empire.
Maçka Police Station
Finally, next door is the Maçka Police Station (Maçka Karakolu). It was built between 1861 and 1862 as an additional building to the old arsenal. The architects were Simon and Sarkis Balyan. It was used as a gendarmerie station until the end of the 1930s, and allocated to the Ministry of National Education in 1956.
Maçka Park
The most interesting part of the neighborhood is Maçka Park (Maçka Parkı). It runs down a hill on the west side of the neighborhood down to Dolmabahçe.
The 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. There was also a stream flowing through it. The valley is 42 meters (138 feet) deep.
From then until 1940, the valley contained the Dolmabahçe Gashouse (Dolmabahçe Gazhanesi) as well as a small casino and vegetable garden. The gashouse was built in the middle of the 19th century and was used for the lighting and heating of Dolmabahçe Palace as well as some surrounding districts. The park was listed as Park No. 2 on plans drafted by French architect Henri Prost (1874-1959).
Development of the park was delayed until 1966, when Istanbul mayor Haşim İşcan (1898-1968) started preliminary works. In the 1970s, it was a dangerous area frequented by criminals and the homeless. It was also very polluted.
The park was restored and cleaned up in 1993, and the official name was changed to Maçka Democracy Park (Maçka Demokrasi Parkı). Today, it’s a popular place to get away from the crowds or to beat the heat on a summer day. It contains walking and biking trails, two playgrounds, cafés, and artificial ponds. There are four main entrances.
On a somber note, there were twin bomb attacks in the park and in front of Beşiktaş Stadium on December 10, 2016. 48 people were killed. The Kurdistan Freedom Hawks, a Kurdish nationalist militant group, took responsibility.
Maçka Art Park
Starting on 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. Of course, a statue of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) 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.
At the bottom of the stairs is a small plaza. It contains a bust of Zübeyde Hanım (1856-1923), the mother of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938). There’s also a monument to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Finally, at the southern end of Maçka Art Park is a collection of four busts. They depict Romanian prince and Age of Enlightenment figure Dimitrie Cantemir (1673-1723), erected in 2003; German Chancellor and 1971 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Willy Brandt (1913-1992), erected in 2007; General Bernardo O’Higgins (1778-1842), the liberator of Chile, erected in 2010; and Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata (1879-1919), erected in 2010.
Arch
Next, crossing a busy roundabout is the entrance to the main part of Maçka Park. Visitors are greeted with an arched entryway opening to a small plaza. From there until the southern end of the park are wide paved paths, grassy areas along the slopes, and benches along the paths. This is the most peaceful part of the ark.
Maçka Gondola
On April 11, 1993, the Maçka Gondola opened to the public. It’s a cable car line that connects two campuses of Istanbul Technical University (İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi). The Maçka station is near the midpoint of the park while the Taşkışla station is a short walk from Taksim Square.
Cars run every five minutes and take about 3 ½ minutes to cross the valley. The line is 333.5 meters (1,094 feet) long. It’s mostly used by university students.
Abdülhamid II Fountain
Next to the gondola station is the Abdülhamid II Fountain (Sultan II.Abdülhamit Çeşmesi). It was built in 1901 by Italian architect Raimondo D’Aronco (1857-1932) for Sultan Abdülhamid II. The fountain originally sat in front of the Nusretiye Mosque in Tophane.
