Belgrad Forest

About Belgrad Forest

Forest in Istanbul

Belgrad Forest is one of the largest and best-known forests of Istanbul and the city's green lung, a mixed deciduous woodland dominated by oak at the easternmost point of the Thracian peninsula, about 20 kilometres north of the city centre between the Sariyer and Eyup districts. It takes its name from a village founded by thousands of Serbs deported from Belgrade to Constantinople after the Ottoman conquest of that city in 1521; the village was a popular forest resort until its inhabitants were resettled in the nineteenth century, and today it is a leafy ruin. The forest was historically the water catchment of Constantinople and then Istanbul, so it is dotted with seven reservoirs, old Ottoman dams and majestic aqueducts from the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent built by the architect Sinan, the finest near Kemerburgaz. It is now a nature reserve for the diversity of its trees, plants and wildlife, crossed by long trails for walking, jogging and cycling, with wide picnic and barbecue areas and the Ataturk Arboretum at the Bahcekoy entrance. The forest is the refuge of Istanbul's residents at weekends and in the colourful days of autumn, despite the encroachment of highways and suburbs, above all the access road to the new airport that cuts through it.

Where:

Istanbul, Türkiye