Gardens Under Attack

In July 2013, developers destroyed the garden of Ismailpasa in Yedikule without warning. Gardeners scrambled to harvest their crops in front of approaching bulldozers. 

Closer examination of the disturbed soil along the Theodosian walls reveals undocumented remains, including animal remains and Byzantine and Ottoman ceramic sherds.

This map shows the historical boundaries of the city. We can see how the city has from 1807 (mostly within the Theodosian Walls) to 1960 (almost the size of modern day Istanbul).

The gardens once a productive and integrated part of Constantinople is now under attack from rapid urbanization. Until the middle of the 20^th century, the gardens known as bostan were highly productive, yielding enough vegetables and fruit to feed hundreds of thousands of people [1]. The tradition, which can be described as the precursor to urban farming, is “perilously close to extinction” according to a journalist based in Istanbul [1]. The population of Istanbul has exploded form 1 million in 1950 to more than 15 million today. The gardens are being taken down to make room for planned restaurants, coffee shops, parking lots, and artificial rivers and gardens [2]. Not only are the gardens under attack, but individuals’ livelihoods are being threatened. Ahmet Ozturk, whose family for three generations have working the land, is being thrown out on the street [2]. Despite the gardens being considered an UNESCO World Heritage Site, conservation plans have been largely ignored and development has even occurring without proper permitting and supervision [1].

This trend is unfortunate and shows how the perception of a site can change dramatically with the times and reality. The gardens, once an important part of society, after its use disappeared and the city’s other needs (rapid population growth and rapid urbanization) appeared, the gardens are vanishing in importance and in reality. Despite their time value as this tradition has lasted for centuries, they do appear to have time value like the physical walls. The gardens are part of nature and seem to be in a way a modern entity that can be brought back – unlike, the Theodosian Walls, which once destroyed seem to be irreversible. The gardens, like the walls, as a “lieu de memoire” have symbolic values that change with the reality and time – from useful part of the city to a more monumental part the city and from a evidence of pride of the city to a sign of decline. 

[1] Hattam, Jennifer. “In Istanbul’s Ancient Gardens, A Battle for Future Harvests.” Yale Environment 360.

[2] White, Chantel, Shopov, Aleksandar, Casson, Aksel. “Heritage Under Threat: Saving the Ancient Gardens of Istanbul, Turkey.” In “The SAA Archaelogical Record.”  Jan 2015. Volume 14. Number 1.