Utilities in Istanbul covers the topic of public utility services in the city of Istanbul, Turkey.
Utilities in Istanbul covers the topic of public utility services in the city of Istanbul, Turkey.
The first water supply systems which were built in Istanbul date back to the foundation of the city. Two of the greatest aqueducts built in the Roman period are the Mazulkemer Aqueduct and the Valens Aqueduct. These aqueducts were built in order to channel water from the Halkalı area in the western edge of the city to the Beyazıt district in the city center, which was known as the Forum Tauri in the Roman period. [1] After reaching the city center, the water was later collected in the city's numerous cisterns, such as the famous Philoxenos (Binbirdirek) Cistern and the Basilica (Yerebatan) Cistern.
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent commissioned Mimar Sinan, his engineer and architect-in-chief, to improve the water needs of the city. Sinan constructed the Kırkçeşme Water Supply System in 1555. [1] In later years, with the aim of responding to the ever-increasing public demand, water from various springs was channeled to the public fountains by means of small supply lines; see German Fountain.
Today, Istanbul has a chlorinated and filtered water supply and a sewage disposal system managed by the government agency İSKİ. [2] There are also several private sector organizations distributing clean water.
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Electricity distribution services are covered by the state-owned TEK. The first electricity production plant in the city, Silahtarağa Termik Santrali, was established in 1914 and continued to supply electricity until 1983. [3]
The Ottoman Ministry of Post and Telegraph was established in the city on October 23, 1840. [4] The first post office was the Postahane-i Amire near the courtyard of the New Mosque. [4] In 1876 the first international mailing network between Istanbul and the lands beyond the vast Ottoman Empire—which, in that year, stretched from the borders with Austria-Hungary and Russia at north to the Ottoman provinces of Yemen and Sudan at south and Tunisia at west—was established. [4] In 1901 the first money transfers were made through the post offices and the first cargo services became operational. [4]
Samuel Morse received his first ever patent for the telegraph in 1847, at the old Beylerbeyi Palace (the present Beylerbeyi Palace was built in 1861–1865 on the same location) in Istanbul, which was issued by Sultan Abdülmecid I who personally tested the new invention. [5] Following this successful test, installation works of the first telegraph line between Istanbul and Edirne began on August 9, 1847. [6] In 1855 the Telegraph Administration was established. [4]
In July 1881 the first telephone circuit in Istanbul was established between the Ministry of Post and Telegraph in Soğukçeşme and the Postahane-i Amire in Yenicami. [6] On May 23, 1909, the first manual telephone exchange with a 50 line capacity was established in the Büyük Postane (Grand Post Office) in Sirkeci. [6]
The first automatic telex exchange was established in November 1973. [6] Electronic Mail was put into service between Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir and Adana on June 28, 1984. [6] In November 1985 the first radio link system was put into service between Istanbul and Ankara. [6] On October 23, 1986, mobile telephone and paging systems were put into service in Istanbul, Ankara and İzmir. On March 4, 1987, the first ever video conference in Europe was realized in Istanbul. [6] On February 23, 1994, GSM technology was established in the city. [6] A nationwide Internet network and connection with the World Wide Web was established in 1996. [6]
Üsküdar is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 35 km2, and its population is 524,452 (2022). It is a large and densely populated district on the Anatolian (Asian) shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered to the north by Beykoz, to the east by Ümraniye, to the southeast by Ataşehir and to the south by Kadıköy; with Karaköy, Kabataş, Beşiktaş, and the historic city center of Fatih facing it on the opposite shore to the west. Üsküdar has been a conservative cultural center of the Anatolian side of Istanbul since Ottoman times with its numerous historic landmark and little mosques and dergahs.
Mimar Sinan also known as Koca Mi'mâr Sinân Âğâ, was the chief Ottoman architect, engineer, mathematician for sultans Suleiman the Magnificent, Selim II and Murad III. He was responsible for the construction of more than 300 major structures such as the Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, the Kanuni Sultan Suleiman Bridge in Büyükçekmece, the Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad, and other more modest projects such as madrasa's, külliye's, bridges, etc. His apprentices would later design the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in Istanbul and Stari Most in Mostar.
The Basilica Cistern, or Cisterna Basilica, is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The cistern, located 150 metres (490 ft) southwest of the Hagia Sophia on the historical peninsula of Sarayburnu, was built in the 6th century during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. Today it is kept with little water, for public access inside the space.
Ottoman architecture is an architectural style or tradition that developed under the Ottoman Empire over a long period, undergoing some significant changes during its history. It first emerged in northwestern Anatolia in the late 13th century and developed from earlier Seljuk Turkish architecture, with influences from Byzantine and Iranian architecture along with other architectural traditions in the Middle East. Early Ottoman architecture experimented with multiple building types over the course of the 13th to 15th centuries, progressively evolving into the classical Ottoman style of the 16th and 17th centuries. This style was a mixture of native Turkish tradition and influences from the Hagia Sophia, resulting in monumental mosque buildings focused around a high central dome with a varying number of semi-domes. The most important architect of the classical period is Mimar Sinan, whose major works include the Şehzade Mosque, Süleymaniye Mosque, and Selimiye Mosque. The second half of the 16th century also saw the apogee of certain decorative arts, most notably in the use of Iznik tiles.
Following the proclamation of the Republic, Turkish museums developed considerably, mainly due to the importance Atatürk had attached to the research and exhibition of artifacts of Anatolia. When the Republic of Turkey was proclaimed, there were only the İstanbul Archaeology Museum called the "Asar-ı Atika Müzesi", the Istanbul Military Museum housed in the St. Irene Church, the Islamic Museum in the Suleymaniye Complex in Istanbul and the smaller museums of the Ottoman Empire Museum in a few large cities of Anatolia.
Istanbul, formerly known as Constantinople, is the largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, cultural and historic hub. The city straddles the Bosporus strait, lying in both Europe and Asia, and has a population of over 15 million residents, comprising 19% of the population of Turkey. Istanbul is the most populous European city and the world's 15th-largest city.
The Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University is a Turkish public university dedicated to higher education in the fine arts. It is located in the Fındıklı neighbourhood of Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey.
Veysel Eroğlu is a Member of Parliament for Afyonkarahisar of the ruling Justice and Development Party and a former Minister of Forestry and Water of Turkey.
The Silahtarağa Power Station was a coal-fired generating station located in Istanbul Turkey. The Ottoman Empire's first urban-scaled power plant, it was in use from 1914 to 1983. The site has since been converted into a university campus for the Istanbul Bilgi University and houses two museums and several facilities. It was refurbished and renamed SantralIstanbul in 2007.
The AqueductofValens was a Roman aqueduct system built in the late 4th century AD, to supply Constantinople – the capital of the eastern Roman empire. Construction of the aqueduct began during the reign of the Roman emperor Constantius II and was completed in 373 by the emperor Valens. The aqueduct remained in use for many centuries. It was extended and maintained by the Byzantines and the Ottomans.
The Theodosius Cistern is one of many ancient cisterns of Constantinople that lie beneath the city of Istanbul, Turkey. The modern entrance is in Piyer Loti Caddesi, Fatih.
Water supply and sanitation in Turkey is characterized by achievements and challenges. Over the past decades access to drinking water has become almost universal and access to adequate sanitation has also increased substantially. Autonomous utilities have been created in the 16 metropolitan cities of Turkey and cost recovery has been increased, thus providing the basis for the sustainability of service provision. Intermittent supply, which was common in many cities, has become less frequent. In 2004, 61% of the wastewater collected through sewers was being treated. In 2020 77% of water was used by agriculture, 10% by households and the rest by industry.
Water supply and sanitation in Istanbul is the responsibility of the public utility ISKI created in 1981.
PTT, an abbreviation for Posta ve Telgraf Teşkilatı, is the national post and telegraph directorate of Turkey. Formerly, the organization was named Posta Telgraf Telefon. After the privatization of the telephone telecommunications service business, the directorate was renamed, keeping its acronym. It is headquartered in Ankara, and is known as TURKISH POST internationally.
The following is a timeline of the history of the town of Istanbul, Turkey.
The Cistern of Aetius was an important Byzantine water reservoir in the city of Constantinople. Once one of the largest Byzantine cisterns, it is now a football stadium in Istanbul. Since 1928 it has been known as Karagümrük stadyumu, 'Karagümrük stadium' or Vefa stadyumu, 'Vefa stadium', while in the Ottoman period it was known as the Turkish: Çukurbostan, lit. 'sunken garden'.
The Cistern of the Hebdomon, known in Turkish as Fildamı Sarnıcı, is a Byzantine open sky water reservoir built in the quarter of the Hebdomon, an outskirt of Constantinople.
Edirne Palace, or formerly New Imperial Palace is a former palace of the Ottoman sultans in Edirne, built during the era when the city was the capital of the empire. Few of the palace buildings have survived until now, however reconstruction works are underway.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Istanbul: