Büyükçekmece

Buyukcekmece is a district located in the European part of Istanbul. It is situated on the shores of the Marmara Sea covering an area of 196 square kilometers.

It is believed that previously there was Greek colony Atira in this place. In 443 AD Attila's army conquered the fortress located there. The next mentioning of the place occurs in a list of dioceses of the Catholic Church dating back to the 15th century.  At the beginning of the Ottoman period, the territories of modern Byuyyukchekmedzhe were covered with forests. Gradually there began to appear farmlands, and later – settlements of Turks migrating from the Balkans and the Caucasus. During the Ottoman Empire times, the famous architect Mimar Sinan built a bridge across the Strait, which connects Lake Byuyyukchekmedzhe with the Sea of Marmara. In the 1950s, the district gained commercial importance and the process of its dense covering with residential complexes started, although even now in Byuyyukchekmedzhe you can see the traces of the agricultural past.

Getting to the district is easy: highways TEM and D-100 pass through it, as well as many routes of the city land and sea transport. 

Byuyyukcekmece has excellent infrastructure: there are beaches, large shopping malls and even a whole shopping district, five-star hotels, a theater, sports facilities, a water park and parks, in particular tea gardens on the sea beach, where families from all over Istanbul come for a picnic. Also, in the district there are 3 private universities and many public and private schools, a large public hospital, a private hospital, and many other private and public health centers.

Some of historical sites worth seeing in Byuyyukcekmece are Sultan Suleyman bridge, caravanserai Kursunlu, mosque Sokullu Mehmet Pasha, Imaret Mosque, Sultan Suleiman springs, Zeynep Doudou, Fatih Sultan Mehmet, Suleiman Agha, Enver Pasha, and Sultan Hamid.

And the major cultural event at Byuyyukcekmece is the third largest in the world "Culture and Art Festival", which is held every July since 2000. At this festival people of art show their talents. The first day of the festival is allotted to humorists. The second day begins under the roar of fireworks, followed by dance groups from different countries demonstrating folk dances. Then concerts of the most famous Turkish artists take place. And again fireworks close the festival.