Sarıyer

Sarıyer also administers the Black Sea coast to the west of the mouth of the Bosphorus, including the neighbourhood of Kilyos.

Sarıyer's Bosphorus villages, backed by steep hills, were once rural fishing communities.

In the 18th century, palace officials and other people close to the Ottoman sultan started building their yalıs on the coastline.

Around this time, wealthy foreign traders of Pera and Galata built summer residences in the area.

In the beginning of the 19th century, the embassies, located in Istanbul proper, started acquiring plots of lands to build summer residences.

The present boundaries of Sarıyer were created after incorporating the neighbourhoods of Maslak, Ayazağa and Huzur from the district of Şişli in 2012.

There are also a variety of cafés, kebab houses and bars, where many of İstanbul's residents come to eat and drink on weekends.

The district is named after Emir Güne Han, a Persian nobleman who was given 50 hectares of land in the area in 1635 by Murad IV after he surrendered Yerevan without a fight.

Istinye is a fishing port, which once contained a shipyard, with a village behind and tea gardens by the sea.

One of Istanbul's most popular malls, Istinye Park, is named after the neighborhood but is actually located in the neighboring Pınar.

Yeniköy consists of luxury villas on a hillside and a small area of tightly packed old houses near the sea.

In recent years Yeniköy has acquired a community of Filipinos, working as domestic help in the big villas.

Marmara University has a small site here, teaching French, housed in a villa built by Alexander Ypsilantis.

Home to a number of churches, the Spanish and Russian summer consulates and the Sadberk Hanım Museum.

The woods are home to Istanbul University's department of forestry, and are accessible by public transport.

In recent years Kilyos has acquired a number of bars and cafés, including a couple of well-known private beach clubs and a rock festival in summer.

Fishermen in Sarıyer's harbour
Tarabya Marina
Shores of Kilyos
Sakip Sabanci Museum
Districts of Istanbul
Districts of Istanbul