From Yarımburgaz to Yalıköy, Walls, the Population Exchange and the Black Sea in Çatalca

We begin the day just north of the Altınşehir quarter of Başakşehir, on a rocky hill near the road that runs from Halkalı to Altınşehir. The cave opens on a slope facing the Sazlıdere valley, about one and a half kilometres inland from the northern shore of Lake Küçükçekmece. Leave the car in a suitable spot, walk to the foot of the hill and first take in the overall setting of the cave. The rock is limestone from the Eocene period, and the cave was carved out by groundwater flowing through it. In front of you are two separate mouths at different heights. The upper mouth belongs to the Upper Cave, which opens into a wide hall about ten metres high. The lower mouth is the entrance to the Lower Cave, a long tunnel that winds deep into the rock. According to the record of the Archaeological Settlements of Turkey project, the lower tunnel forks about two hundred and forty metres from the mouth and one of its branches narrows to an end. Do not try to enter the cave at this stop, because the site was declared a first degree archaeological and natural protected area in 2001. The real value of the visit lies in standing in front of the entrance and considering why this place matters so much. The cave was introduced to the scientific world in the middle of the nineteenth century, and the first excavations were carried out in 1963 under the leadership of Şevket Aziz Kansu and the direction of Kılıç Kökten. In 1986 Istanbul University conducted a rescue excavation, and between 1988 and 1990 the same university ran a joint project with the University of California, Berkeley. These excavations showed that the earliest occupation of the cave reaches back to the Lower Palaeolithic. Stone tools knapped from flint were found in the lower cave together with thousands of bones of cave bears. The upper cave holds layers from the Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages. Beam holes in the walls show that the upper hall was reworked and used as a building in the Byzantine period. Some of the finds from here are now on display at the Istanbul Archaeology Museums. Soft morning light is best for photographs, because the mouths face south towards the valley. From the entrance, turn towards the Sazlıdere valley and the lake below; you will notice that the landscape prehistoric people once saw is now surrounded by housing. There is little shade around the cave, so bring water with you. Bats are known to live in places like this, so keep quiet near the mouths and do not move any stone or soil. The stop is short, but it gives the rest of the day a sense of depth in time. From here we drive north towards Kayabaşı and on to Şamlar Nature Park.

Source: Başakşehir Belediyesi, TAY Projesi.

Şamlar Nature Park is reached along the route that passes through Kayabaşı and Şamlar village and connects the Old Edirne Road to Arnavutköy. According to the directions of Başakşehir Municipality, as you approach Arnavutköy via the Gaziosmanpaşa road, the asphalt road that turns down to the left at the Nokta locality leads to the park. The park has six entrance gates; although its address appears as Başakşehir in municipal and district governorship records, some of the gates lie close to the Arnavutköy boundary. The area appears on the list of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks as a nature park dated 11 July 2011. Once inside, the first thing you will notice is the wide clearings that open beneath the stone pines. These clearings have been laid out with signposts, wooden picnic tables, a children's playground, toilets and washbasins. Rather than having a picnic at this stop, we suggest a short forest walk. Follow the walking paths down through the pines towards the valley and let the sound of water guide you. The historic structure of the park is the Şamlar Dam on the Şamlar Stream, one of the largest tributaries of the Sazlıdere. According to the record of the Başakşehir District Governorship, the dam was built in the reign of Mahmud II, between 1826 and 1828. It is a little over ten metres high, more than twelve metres wide at the crest and more than fifteen metres wide at the base. Stand in front of the dam and see how the body widens towards its base; the wall that holds back the water grows thicker lower down. A large part of Istanbul's water in the Ottoman period was stored by dams like this one and carried to the city. That is why Şamlar represents the route's second layer of time after the cave, the relationship the city built with water. The municipal page notes that wild animals such as foxes and hawks live in the forest, so keep an eye on the treetops as you walk. For photographs, try shooting the body of the dam from the stream side together with its reflection in the water. At weekends the area fills with families and groups, so the morning hours are calmer. Rules on fires and barbecues depend on the park's management; follow the signs and take your rubbish back with you. Take a short break in the shade and refill your water, because the next stop requires a long drive. The municipal page notes that alongside the stone pines the forest holds a wide variety of other tree species. On the ministry's list Şamlar was declared on the same day as many other Istanbul nature parks; Çilingoz, the fifth stop of the route, carries the same date. As you walk back to the gate at the end, listen to the sound of the ground covered in pine needles and notice how quickly the noise of the city fades here. From here we head west into the wooded north of Çatalca, to the surviving section of the Anastasian Wall.

Source: Başakşehir Kaymakamlığı, Başakşehir Belediyesi, DKMP.

The best preserved sections of the Anastasian Wall stand in the wooded north of Çatalca, around Karacaköy. The English Wikipedia article lists the places where remains can be seen as the Gümüşpınar junction in Karacaköy, Hisartepe in Yalıköy, Pınarca in İhsaniye and the village of Kurfallı. At this stop head for the forest section near Karacaköy, because the wall is best preserved in these northern woods. Leave the car in a safe spot on the village road and approach the wall on a short walk. First look at the cross section of the wall; Turkish sources explain that the outer faces were clad in cut stone while the core was built of rubble fill set in lime mortar. The different materials and techniques visible in places are considered traces of repairs carried out in later centuries. Sources give a thickness of a little over three metres, and in one preserved section the height was measured at more than five metres. The wall bears the name of the Byzantine emperor Anastasius I and is accepted to have been built or renewed by him between 507 and 512. The English source notes that there is evidence the fortification already existed earlier, in the reigns of Leo I and Zeno. The wall began at Evcik İskelesi on the Black Sea coast and descended to the Marmara shore west of Silivri. Sources give its length as between fifty two and fifty six kilometres. A rectangular camp measuring two hundred and fifty by three hundred metres is known to have stood near Karacaköy in the central section of the line. A common note in the sources is that the wall's length made it hard to guard with a small garrison, and raids from the west crossed it many times. Evliya Çelebi, in his Book of Travels, also describes the towers, foundations and ditches of this line from Silivri to Terkos as still visible. Walk a few hundred metres along the wall and remember that cut stones were reused in the buildings of surrounding villages; more than half of its length is reported to have been dismantled this way. The remains are protected monuments, so do not climb on the wall and take care not to touch the stones. In the shade of the forest, wait for the light that strikes the face of the wall from the side for photographs. Forest roads can be muddy after rain, and boots will make things easier. When you pass through areas where animals graze by the roadside, leave the gates closed behind you. Sources report that rectangular gate fortifications stood at the crossing points along the wall and that local people called them bedesten. Turkish Wikipedia writes that these gate defences, still in good condition in 1898, were later destroyed. Çatalca Municipality, for its part, presents the wall as the largest defensive wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. From here we drive south to the centre of Çatalca and on to the Population Exchange Museum in Kaleiçi.

Source: Kültür Envanteri, Wikipedia.

The Population Exchange Museum stands in the centre of Çatalca, in the Kaleiçi quarter close to the district square. According to the page of the Lausanne Treaty Emigrants Foundation, the museum consists of three parts: the main building, the Population Exchange Square and a culture house. Begin your visit in the small square and look at the facade of the main building. The foundation relates that between 1913 and 1923 the building is said to have been used as a business run by a local Greek. After the exchange it passed to the treasury, became a branch of Ziraat Bank, was sold in 1961 and for a time housed a sewing and tailoring course. In 1967 the Ölçer family bought the building, and years later they allocated it to the foundation for use as a museum. The restoration project was prepared by architect members of the foundation, and the museum was set up within the Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture programme together with Çatalca Municipality. The museum opened on 20 December 2010 and is known as Turkey's first museum devoted to migration. Inside, go round the display cases in order and start with the textiles. Hand woven sheets from dowry chests, cross stitched curtain fabrics, pillowcases and tablecloths make up a large part of the collection. In the music section an oud, a mandolin and a music notebook belonging to the Thessaloniki born composer Faiz Kapancı are on display. Among the kitchen and household objects are copper pans, trays, earthenware jars, iron irons and oil lamps. In the photographs and documents section, the camera used by Hamza Rüstem Bey, one of the first photographers of Crete, and the glass plates used for negative prints stand out. The same section also holds property liquidation claims filed by exchangees and maps from the Ottoman period. The Kültür Envanteri record notes that ethnographic items left by the Greeks who departed from Çatalca are displayed together with objects brought by the exchangees who arrived from Greece and settled here. This two sided narrative turns the museum less into a story of war than into the story of families forced to change their homes. Take time to read the small labels beside the objects; many of them carry the name of a family and the place it came from. The museum is closed on Mondays; check visiting hours for the other days on the foundation's website before you go. On the way out take a short walk in the narrow streets of Kaleiçi; according to Wikipedia this was the only quarter spared by fire during the Balkan War. Kültür Portalı notes that the museum displays clothing of the older generation, written documents and keepsakes. Among the documents are copies of the newspaper Sabah published at the end of the nineteenth century. According to Wikipedia, the Greeks who left Çatalca in the exchange founded a settlement called Nea Çatalca in Greece. After the museum a long drive north to the Black Sea coast begins, so stock up on anything you need in the centre before setting off.

Source: Lozan Mübadilleri Vakfı, Kültür Portalı, Kültür Envanteri.

Çilingoz Nature Park lies in a bay on the Black Sea coast of Çatalca, north of Binkılıç. According to the English Wikipedia article, the park can be reached from two directions: from the south via Binkılıç on a forest road, or from the east following the line of Lake Terkos, Ormanlı, Karacaköy and Yalıköy. The road from Yalıköy to the park is about ten kilometres long. The park is registered on the list of the General Directorate of Nature Conservation and National Parks as a nature park dated 11 July 2011. The area was declared a wildlife protection area in 2005 because of its rich plant and animal life, so hunting is permanently forbidden here. Leave the car at the entrance and first walk to the beach to understand the layout of the bay. On the northern side of the bay a fine sand beach stretches for one thousand two hundred metres. The Çilingoz Stream flows north and meets the sea through a narrow sandy mouth, and behind the mouth it forms a broad lake surrounded by reeds. The finest thing about this stop is that forest, stream, lake and sea sit side by side within a few hundred metres. Walk from the beach towards the river mouth and look at the line where fresh water meets salt water. Then wait quietly on the shore of the reedy lake; birds such as cormorants, storks, hawks and woodpeckers are recorded as living in the park. When you move to the edge of the forest you will see oriental beech, alder, hornbeam and oak, and beneath them rhododendron, bay laurel, myrtle and strawberry tree. The plants growing in the sandy areas form a community of their own, so take care not to tread on the dunes. The cliffs and rocks on both sides of the bay make a good frame for photographs; in the afternoon the light comes in over the sea. The park is used for camping, angling, walking and picnics; since entry and camping conditions change with the season, find out the current details from official sources before you go. If you want to swim, do so only in calm weather and close to the shore. On the Black Sea, when the northeasterly wind rises, waves can build quickly and currents can become dangerous. We have allowed two hours for this stop, because the beach walk, the river mouth and the forest edge fill that time when explored without hurry. Take your rubbish back with you and do not disturb the birds nesting along the reeds. According to Wikipedia, red mullet, horse mackerel, grey mullet and bonito live in the coastal waters, while carp and eel live in the fresh water of the stream and lake. The park's mammals include roe deer, fox, pine marten, squirrel and hedgehog. The same source notes that the nearest accommodation to the park is in Yalıköy. From here we follow the forest road east to the last stop of the route, Yalıköy.

Source: DKMP, Wikipedia.

The last stop of the route, Yalıköy, is one of Istanbul's outermost coastal settlements in Thrace, and its old name was Podima. The village sits on a shore surrounded on three sides by forests that continue from the Strandzha Mountains. According to English Wikipedia, this was historically a town inhabited by Greeks, and during the 1923 population exchange about sixty Turkish families from Greece were settled in the houses left empty here. So the story you read in the museum earlier in the day appears here in the real streets of a village. Leave the car in the village, walk down to the beach and first take in the length of the shore. According to a news source, the village beach stretches for about twelve kilometres. On the beach, colourful pebbles shaped by the waves and known as Podima stones catch the eye. The same source relates that these pebbles were once sorted by colour and size, carried to Istanbul and used to pave the gardens of houses and palaces. The local sand also has economic value; according to Wikipedia, the State Hydraulic Works uses Yalıköy sand in water purification. The village lives mainly from forestry and fishing. Our suggestion at this stop is a long walk along the shore rather than a swim. Walk along the beach, watch the waves strike the indentations of the coast and feel the wind change. The beginning and end of summer are the calmest periods on the shore, and towards sunset the light casts long shadows over the sand. If you want to swim, stay close to the shore and only when there is no northeasterly wind and the sea is calm; in some places the water deepens suddenly. Remains of the Anastasian Wall are also recorded at Hisartepe in Yalıköy; if you have time left, picture the end of the wall line near the sea. That way you realise how close to the Black Sea the wall you saw in the forest at midday actually ended. Wikipedia gives the neighbourhood's population in 2022 as one thousand four hundred and eighty four people. The news source relates that villagers take pride in their fine sand, which runs out into the sea in layers. A nearby facility is also recorded as extracting silica as a raw material for the glass industry. Do not collect pebbles from the beach, because the texture of the shore is protected by these stones. The road back is wooded and needs care in the dark, so set off without lingering too long after watching the sunset. There are also bus connections from Yalıköy to the centre of Çatalca and to Yenibosna; if you are returning by public transport, check the time of the last service with İETT in advance. The day ends here, with a journey that has stretched from the city's oldest trace to the shore of the Black Sea.

Source: CNN Türk, Wikipedia.