Sarıyer () is a municipality and district of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 177 km2, and its population is 350,454 (2022). It is on the northeastern part of Istanbul's European side. Sarıyer also administers the Black Sea coast to the west of the mouth of the Bosphorus, including the neighbourhood of Kilyos. It borders Eyüpsultan to the northwest, Beşiktaş to the south and Kağıthane to the west. The mayor is Şükrü Genç of the Republican People's Party (CHP).
History
Sarıyer's Bosphorus villages, backed by steep hills, were once rural fishing communities. They later became retreats for the upperclass. In the Ottoman period, the sultans came to these villages for picnics and excursions. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the coast was lined with summer residences of the wealthy foreign traders of Pera and Galata. Several foreign embassies built summer residences during this period. Since the construction of the coast road, these villages, and increasingly the hillsides behind them, house many expensive villas owned by İstanbul's rich businessmen, actors and musicians, attracted by the coastline and the lush forest behind.
The district Sarıyer was established in 1930 from parts of the districts of Beyoğlu and Çatalca. The district's boundaries shrunk after the neighbourhood of Kemerburgaz was given to the Eyüp district in 1936 and when the villages of Maslak and Ayazağa were given to Şişli district in 1954. The present boundaries of Sarıyer were created after incorporating the neighbourhoods of Maslak, Ayazağa and Huzur from the district of Şişli in 2012.
Composition
There are 38 neighbourhoods in Sarıyer District:
Ayazağa
Bahçeköy Kemer
Bahçeköy Merkez
Bahçeköy Yeni
Baltalimanı
Büyükdere
Çamlıtepe
Çayırbaşı
Cumhuriyet
Darüşşafaka
Demirciköy
Emirgan
Fatih Sultan Mehmet
Ferahevler
Garipçe
Gümüşdere
Huzur
İstinye
Kazım Karabekir Paşa
Kilyos (Kumköy) Kireçburnu Kısırkaya Kocataş Maden Maslak Pınar Poligon PTT Evleri Reşitpaşa Rumelifeneri Rumelihisarı Rumelikavağı Sarıyer Tarabya Uskumruköy Yeni Yeniköy Zekeriyaköy
Sarıyer today
Sarıyer is connected to downtown Istanbul by Büyükdere Avenue, the main road from Beşiktaş up to Maslak and beyond; this is the route used by minibuses serving Sarıyer-Beşiktaş. There is also high-speed ferry boat service for commuting to the city. The M2 metro line runs via Maslak to Hacıosman. However, as a drive through Sarıyer during commute times and rush hour will attest, many people commute by car.
Sarıyer itself is a traditional working-class Turkish town, lacking in infrastructure. The industry feeds the local fish market and a long line of famous fish restaurants. There are also a variety of cafés, kebab houses and bars, where many of İstanbul's residents come to eat and drink on weekends.
Emirgan is former retreat from the city, backed by a hillside still green despite the recent construction of villas within it. The district is named for the Ottoman lords (Emirs) that came here on excursions. There is a square in the center, shaded by a huge plane tree, with a cafe in the middle. It is home to the Sakıp Sabancı Museum. Emirgan Korusu, which hosts the Emirgan Tulip Festival annually, is also located in the neighborhood.
Reşitpaşa is a crowded district on the hill above Emirgan. It has both attractive villas and illegal gecekondu housing on a forested hillside. The modern campus of the Istanbul Stock Exchange is nearby, along with one of the campuses of Istanbul Technical University.
Istinye is a fishing port, which once contained a shipyard, with a village behind and tea gardens by the sea. As in so many other areas, luxury condos now rise from Istinye's hillsides. In 2003 the new American consulate was built here. One of Istanbul's most popular malls, Istinye Park, is named after the neighborhood but is actually located in the neighboring Pınar. The town's stream was once polluted with sewage. The stream is now biologically treated to eradicate any effluent to the Bosphorus.
Yeniköy consists of luxury villas on a hillside and a small area of tightly packed old houses near the sea. The latter area, the old village, has a longstanding Greek community, evidenced by its Orthodox churches. Yeniköy has many long-established cafes and bakeries reminiscent of old Istanbul. Former prime minister Tansu Çiller lives in a town-house on the seafront. In recent years Yeniköy has acquired a community of Filipinos, working as domestic help in the big villas.