Princes' Islands are a chain of nine islands, a small archipelago in the Marmara Sea about 20 miles off the coast of İstanbul. In addition to spanning two continents, İstanbul embraces these islands within the city limits and now celebrates the newly opened "Museum of the Princes' Islands", which offers a geographical, social, cultural and historical panorama of the offshore havens.
In 569, Byzantine Emperor Justine II built a palace and a monastery on Büyükada, the largest of the islands. Princes' Islands take their name from the fact that during the Byzantine period, members of dynasties who fell out of favor were sent there in exile. Apart from the exiled princes, only a handful of monks found them inhabitable- thus their former name: "Islands of the Monks". During the Ottoman era, Princes' Islands shed that dark heritage and transformed into pleasure islands. Greek fishermen made their homes there; and, eventually, wealthy families built elaborate mansions and villas. According to archive documents analyzed during research by the museum’s curators, the islands developed a colorful cultural and social environment starting in the 15th century, following the siege of Byzantine Constantinople, when non-Muslim communities, encouraged by the Ottoman rulers, moved to the small havens and formed their own communities along with Muslims. Until the late 19th century, when regular steamer transportation commenced, Princes' Islands were considered remote places. During the 19th century, they became a popular resort for the İstanbul rich. Victorian-era cottages and houses built then are still preserved on Büyükada.
Tourists and other escapists are not the only travelers who venture to Büyükada. Every year on April 23, thousands of pilgrims of all faiths journey from Turkey, Greece, the Balkans and even Russia, making their way to the monastery of Aya Yorgi (St. George), which lies at the center of the island, atop Yücetepe, the island’s highest peak. As part of an age-old fertility ritual, they climb the steep road that rises sharply from a small plaza, unwinding spools of thread and twining it around the greenery, from the base of the hill all the way up to the church at the summit. At the top of the hill, besides the church of Aya Yorgi, the breathtaking views of the islands are seen.
Princes' Islands have become more and more ethnically Turkish in character due to the influx of wealthy Turks, a process which began in the early days of the Turkish Republic. For the first half of the 20th century, the islands had significant communities of ethnic minorities, still the case to a much smaller extent. The islands were popular among prosperous Greeks, Jews, Armenians as well as Turks. But when Greeks left İstanbul in the 1950s, they left their summer homes behind them. In their absence, the islands fell out of vogue. The islands also saw bitter chapters in the history of minorities of İstanbul- a history often left unspoken in modern Turkey, but touched upon in displays in the museum. The composer of this ballad tried to touch these chapters with his music and lyrics.
The islands are an interesting anomaly because they allow for a very rare, albeit incomplete, insight into a multicultural society in modern Turkey, possibly alike to the multicultural society that once existed in İstanbul (Constantinople) during the Ottoman Empire. Since the vast majority of the residents and visitors are Turkish today, their legacy is of cultural rather than of demographic importance.
Princes' Islands are a living diorama of the past, wholly preserved. A recent article in The New York Times has described the islands as "A Turkish Idyll Lost in Time".
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