Heybeliada is the second largest of Istanbul’s Prince’s Islands, and the third or second-last stop on the Adalar ferry route. Bigger and greener than Burgazada or Kınalıada, and more chill than Büyükada, many Istanbul residents, including the Turkish Republic’s second president Ismet İnönü, count Heybeliada as their favorite.
‘Heybe’ means ‘saddle bag’, and the name comes from the island’s distinctive two hills and valley between them, which make it look just a bit like a saddle. Heybeliada features beaches, forests, monasteries, museums, and good restaurants, all of which can be managed as a day trip from Istanbul, without the extra travel and crowds on Büyükada.
HISTORY OF HEYBELIADA
You wouldn’t have guessed it, but Heybeliada was once a prolific mining town. The Ancient Greek name for the island was Halki, which means ‘copper’. Under the Byzantines, this was changed to Demonesos, from ‘Demone’, the Greek name for the whole archipelago.
One of the most important of all Orthodox patriarchs was Photios I, who is famous for helping convert the Slavs to Christianity, becoming patriarch on two separate occasions (858 and 877), and also for being exiled to the islands twice, where he founded the
Monastery of the Holy Trinity at the top of the hill at the north of Heybeliada, and where he is also buried. The monastery would later become the Halki Seminary, the most important and prestigious center of Orthodox Christian study in the Ottoman Empire.
The Church of St Mary of the Mongols is famous for being the last church that the Byzantines built before the Ottoman conquest.
In 1453, Heybeliada was one of the last parts of Constantinople to be conquered by the Ottomans, who demolished the monastery of the Holy Trinity but then considerately rebuilt it in 1550.
However much you like the Prince’s Islands, you will never be as hardcore as Edward Barton, the second-ever English ambassador of the Ottoman Empire, who straight-up bought Yassıada, but died of plague on Heybeliada in 1598 and was buried next to the church.
In 1773, the Ottomans founded the still-functioning Naval High School, which is one of the oldest educational institutions in the country. One of its graduates was Nâzım Hikmet, controversial and internationally renowned poet, writer, and communist, who joined the school in 1913.
In 1821, the Halki Seminary burned down and was rebuilt just in time to be destroyed again in an earthquake in 1894, and once again rebuilt. In 1971 the institution fell afoul of Turkish law that required all higher education institutions to be part of state universities. Halki’s board of trustees refused to let it become part of Istanbul University so the seminary was closed and has been a sore subject ever since.
SIGHTS OF HEYBELIADA
The first thing you will see is the Naval High School. It is not open to visitors, and unfortunately encompasses several interesting buildings to the south, including the Church of St Mary of the Mongols, the last church the Byzantines built in Constantinople, and the the still functioning Monastery of St George on the Cliff, which was often used as a haven for the local Greek population when plague hit the mainland.
In the town center is the Greek Orthodox Church of St Nicholas, the Bet Yaakov Synagogue, and the Heybeliada Cami, all built a few blocks from each other, showcasing the island’s multicultural past.
A former resident of the Mavromatakis Köşkü was İsmet İnönü, the second President of Turkey who was a regular visitor to the island. It has since been turned into a museum dedicated to the man himself.
At the top of the hill at the north of the island is the grand current incarnation of the Halki Seminary, for hundreds of years the most important center of Greek Orthodox learning in the Ottoman Empire, and originally the Hagia Triada Monastery, founded by Patriarch Photios I in the 800s. It’s free to get in but closes at 15:30.
Heybeliada has several pleasant beaches and swimming spots, the nicest of which is Değirmenburnu Plajı.
TRANSPORTATION TO/FROM HEYBELIADA
To keep Heybeliada green and clean, the only transportation on the island is rickshaws, electric minibusses, and bicycles, which can be rented from the center of town. It will take you about 6 hours of walking to see the whole island on foot.
Ferries run between around 7 am and 11 pm. The journey will cost you about $2 each way and will take between 45 and 90 minutes, depending on where you’re traveling from. Kabataş ferry terminal on the European side and Kadıköy on the Asian side have the most regular and late-running services to all the islands. To learn about Heybeliada’s neighboring islands, check out the rest of our series.
EATING AND DRINKING IN HEYBELIADA
For bougie burgers and more head to Munis, round the corner from the ferry. For a sit-down mezze dinner with booze and seafood, head for Zehra on the waterfront.
ACCOMMODATION HEYBELIADA
Your best bet is the central Selanikli Pansiyon, which has several clean, pleasant rooms, some with balconies and excellent views, and all at reasonable prices.
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