Kartal

Located on the Asian side south-eastern part of Istanbul, Kartal has neighbour districts named Maltepe, Sancaktepe, Sultanbeyli and Pendik. Having a long coastline along the Sea of Marmara, Kartal is a popular destination for people to enjoy this characteristic. The population of the district is around 500,000 people.

Kartal is a very old settlement. It was inhabited by Greek fishermen and founded as a very small fishing town along the coastline. Its importance for Byzantine was due to its convenient location by the sea. Kartal was inhabited by Turks during era of Seljukian Empire and Ottomans captured Kartal 300 years later than Seljukians in 1400.

Kartal’s transformation from being a small village to an important one dates back to 1850s. First ferry port built in 1857, then later first railway; Haydarpaşa-Pendik line, built in 1873. After having these two valuable transportation lines passing through it, the development of Kartal speeded up. This district was declared as an industrial area in 1947 which caused population to increase. New neighbourhoods were founded which caused socio-cultural structure to change. This progress continued till industry spreaded to all over the Istanbul. Then, Kartal lost its special feature of economy due to investments in central Istanbul.

Now, Kartal is quiet and calm area where families with children prefer to live in. Being a secure district, Kartal responds almost all the needs of inhabitants. Being visited highly on the weekends’ one can find a lot to do like having walk, riding bike, having meal at restaurants or drinking beer or coffee at cafes along the sea. Dragos shore is famous of having one of the most beautiful views of Prince Islands.

Aydos Forests, located on the northern part of the Kartal, is another recreation area that take part in the district. Around entrance of forest be prepared to find many people especially on weekends but if you keep going inside, you’ll find yourself in a place where you get surrounded by a calm and peaceful feeling of greenery. There is a pond located 5 km away from the entrance.

Once you entered forest you have two options; first one is going beside the pond and second one is going through the top of the hill. Choose one route per day because these two are located in opposite directions. Aydos Hill has a nice view and very quiet. On the other hand, there maybe a few people who have picnic around pond but it has more to offer such as a small trip on the pond with pedals and fishing.

Transportation lines including bus, minibus, sea-bus and metro provide an easy access to district. Now, Kadıköy to Kartal takes around 30 minutes by metro.