After sunrise, I boarded the passenger boat. My destination was the ‘Adalar’ or Princes’ Islands in Turkey. ‘Adalar’ is a total of nine small islands. Only four of these nine islands are inhabited.
These are the islands where in the past Byzantine kings and Ottoman sultans exiled and imprisoned rebellious and troublesome princes and other rivals. Today, however, these have become unique islands whose roads are car-free.
These islands are located an hour away from Istanbul by boat and here you can enjoy a glimpse of Istanbul’s multicultural past and get away from the hustle and bustle of Istanbul and breathe in the fresh air and calm atmosphere. can also take
Historian Bettany Hughes in her book ‘Istanbul: Tale of Three Cities’ writes about these islands, ‘Here (rebellious) princes were blinded, tortured, imprisoned and exiled. A pleasant trip to the islands today would normally have been a very painful one in past centuries.
My guide, Ozge Ajarfrom, who guided me to these islands, told me how it went from being a refuge for forcibly deported people to a place of self-imposed exile (meaning that people now go on their own to find peace)?
Leon Trotsky sought refuge here in the 1930s to escape the Soviet Union’s hired killers, while many famous writers and artists of the past have also received ‘blessings’ from the place, she says. My guide told me that during the Corona epidemic, she left city life and settled here on these islands and stayed here for several months. She said that she was living on the coast of the small island of Kanali Ada during the Corona epidemic. Canali Ada is one of the nine islands.
Passing in front of Canali Ada, my guide said, ‘Only 500 people live on the island of Canali Ada in winter. I didn’t want to stay in Istanbul, so I went into voluntary exile. There are only five to six passenger boats a day, you see the same faces, you talk to the same people and learn about their stories.
Ozge is not only a tour guide but also an expert ‘epigraphist’ and has a great knowledge of ancient languages. He pointed out four inhabited islands out of these nine islands and also gave their ancient Greek names. She points out that in ancient times, Kenali Ada was called ‘Proti’ in Greek which means ‘first’, Burg’s Ada was called ‘Antigoni’, Heybeliada (Light) and Beuk Ada (Prinkipo). ) was called
As for how the islands were able to maintain their Byzantine identity even after the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453, Ozge says, ‘Traditionally, most of the people living on these islands were from the minority groups of Istanbul. Especially Greek and Armenian. These were usually the elites of the multicultural Ottoman Empire, and many of these ancient families still have homes here today.
Multiculturalism was characteristic of the Ottoman Empire, which absorbed nationalities and ethnicities from the Balkan region to North Africa. But the First World War and the end of the Ottoman Empire split the new state, with a large Muslim and Christian population, between Turkey and neighboring Greece.
Istanbul was quite different, at first Greeks and Armenians were allowed to live in the city and on the islands. Emigration, assimilation, and sometimes discrimination and pogroms saw the city’s Greek community decline in the 20th century, but some remnants of the Ottoman era can still be found on the islands today.
Explaining how the difficult and suffering history has created a unique identity for the island, Ozge says, “There is an emotional connection with the past and the people of the island are proud of it. He feels there is continuity in his story and he is proud of it.
We arrived at Heybeliada (meaning Bag of Zen in Turkish), the second largest of the nine islands. Here restaurants lined the harbor. Many of them are in the traditional white and blue associated with Greek Orthodoxy, and Ottoman Empire-style houses line wide tree-lined boulevards.
Apart from one police car, there were no vehicles on the island. We boarded an electric golf cart and headed out to the 9th century Aya Triada Monastery.
A Turkish flag was flying in the courtyard of an Orthodox Christian monastery and we were met in the entrance hall by a black-robed priest, Meletios Stephanatos. He gave us a tour of a library filled with dusty religious texts and books of ancient fables like the Iliad.
“The majority of people in Heybeliada are Muslim, but there are also small groups of Armenian Christians and maybe 30 to 40 Greek Christians,” he said, showing us a chapel decorated with 1,000-year-old Byzantine icons.
Melitios Stephanatos is from Athens and has been living on the island for the past four years. He said that in 1844, the foundation of the current school of thought was laid in this monastery. But despite being an important place of learning and teaching, the monastery was closed in 1971 as a result of long-standing conflicts between Turkey and Greece.
“But the islanders are very nice to us,” he says, explaining that he can freely worship in the monastery but not teach. The problem is not between Muslims and Christians, nor between Turks and Greeks. We have been living together for many years, this is a purely political issue.
We walked back to the beach where the boat was supposed to take us to BuyukAda. Ten minutes later we arrived at the ‘Big Island’ where the beach was lined with Greek style hotels.
The islands feel stuck in the past and many of the restaurants, hotels and cafes here are painted in the blue and white of Greece.
Ozge explains that although few identify as Greek Orthodox Christians, the islanders like to flaunt their heritage, which attracts curious Turkish tourists.
After eating vegetable kebabs at a Greek-style restaurant, we boarded an electric bus for a tour of the island.
As we got off the bus and walked down the path to an old Armenian church perched on top of a cliff, Ozgay said, ‘Imagine how such a quiet island could be placed next to a city of (16 million) people. I respect this effort. Owners of houses worth six or seven million euros cannot bring their BMWs and flashy cars here. The island has a culture and people have to adopt it.
Because cars are not allowed here, locals use electric scooters and golf buggies, while tourists can rent bicycles, use electric buses or walk.
Electric transportation is a welcome change. When I came here in 2016, tourists used to use legs. The horses were kept in a dirty environment so in 2020 the local government banned buggies and replaced them with electric vehicles.
These days the islands are well connected to the mainland, but Adalar has nevertheless managed to remain surprisingly green.
We walked a few kilometers in BuyukAda and followed the path that leads through the forest to the beach and along the way you can see the palaces of the Ottoman princes. The greenery here is very popular among people coming from cities, they come here for fresh air and to be close to nature.
We hopped back on the bus and then waited for the next boat at the magnificent 19th century built terminal.
Before my visit to Istanbul, a local tour guide, Gulperi Parlak, told me, ‘If you are in Istanbul for a few days, I wouldn’t recommend going to Adalar, but if you have more time, you should. Summer is the best time to visit the islands. We locals go to the sandy beach and enjoy the sun.
The message from the locals is to take your time and take it easy on the islands, soak up the beautiful scenery and take advantage of the unique multicultural environment.
As the boat was leaving, Özgay warned that ‘after spending all day on the islands you will find the Marmaray Line (Istanbul’s local railway) strange.’
She was right. The boat took us straight into the hustle and bustle of Istanbul, where we boarded the train from the Asian side of the city to the European side with difficulty.
It hadn’t been long since I left the islands, but I was longing to spend another day of exile in Adalar.