Küçükçekmece

About Küçükçekmece

Küçükçekmece, is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 44 km2, and its population was 789,033 in 2024. It is 23 kilometers west of the city centre and lies next to Lake Küçükçekmece. Both the lake and land reside on the European shore of the Sea of Marmara. It is the second most populous district of Istanbul.

Kucukcekmece is a district and municipality on the European side of Istanbul, about 23 kilometres west of the city centre, covering 44 square kilometres with some 790,000 residents (2024), the second most populous district of the city. It lies beside Lake Kucukcekmece, the small lagoon linked to the Sea of Marmara by a narrow channel, which gives it its name, "small drawer"; in antiquity the site was the city of Bathonea and later Byzantine Rhegion. Today it is a large, busy residential suburb, but it has pleasant spots for an outing: the lakeside with its walking and cycling paths and cafes, a sixteenth-century Ottoman stone arch bridge over the channel connecting the lake to the sea, attributed to the architect Sinan, and the Bathonea archaeological site on the northern shore, where excavations continue. The district is a transport hub for the west of the city, with the Halkali terminus of the Marmaray line and a bus station, and it sits between the lake and the old Ataturk Airport. It is not a tourist destination in itself, but anyone staying in western Istanbul will find its lakeshore a calm place for a sunset walk.

Where:

Istanbul, Türkiye