Balat, Fatih

Balat is located on the European side of Istanbul, in the old city on the historic peninsula, on the western bank of the Golden Horn. It was historically the centre of the Jewish community in Istanbul and lies next to the Greek quarter, Fener.

Balat houses
Or-Ahayim Hospital in Balat

The name Balat is probably derived from Greek palation (palace), from Latin palatium, after the nearby Palace of Blachernae. Some of the congregation of Poli Yashan went on to found the Poli Hadash, the latter name being a mix of Greek terms that means "New City".[1]

History
The Bulgarian St. Stephen Church, also known as the Bulgarian Iron Church

Balat first became home to a large Jewish population in the late 15th century, when Sultan Bayezid II offered citizenship to Jewish and Muslim peoples fleeing Inquisitions in Spain and Africa, and the 1492 Alhambra Decree.[2] At its peak, Balat was home to 18 synagogues, though only two are still in use today: Ahrida Synagogue and Yanbol Synagogue. Or-Ahayim Hospital, opened in 1887, was originally set up for Balat's Jewish population, but today serves the general public.[3]

Although often referred to as the 'Jewish quarter' of Istanbul, Balat was historically home to a wide variety of ethnicities, cultures and religions.[4] The famous Bulgarian Iron Church is located in the district, and there was traditionally a sizeable Armenian population too.[5] The district's proximity to St. George's Cathedral and the Ecumenial Patriarchate of Constantinople also meant that there was a large Greek Orthodox (Rûm) population. However, Balat today is overwhelmingly Muslim, with most minority populations having left the district or having been forced to leave as a result of the Armenian genocide, Greek genocide, anti-Greek riots and expulsions throughout the 20th century.[6]

European travellers moving through the area from the 17th century onwards recorded Balat as being incredibly poor and unhygienic, though Bornes-Varol has argued that these reports may have not been true reflections of Balat as a whole, noting that while Balat was poor, travellers' accounts were largely based on their travels through Karabaş, the very poorest area of Balat.[7]

In 1810 Balat's Jews attacked the Janissary patrols in the neighborhood. They said they would accept any consequences to defend themselves against mistreatment by the local Janissary unit; those who were caught after the attack were executed.[8]

In 1985, Balat was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as one of the Historic Areas of Istanbul, and in the late 1990s and early 2000s was the subject of a number of controversial renovation and revitalisation projects.[9][10]

See also

References
  1. Rozen, Minna (2010). A History of the Jewish Community in Istanbul:The Formative Years, 1453-1566. Brill. p. 11.
  2. Egger, Vernon (2008). A history of the Muslim world since 1260 : the making of a global community. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-226969-8. OCLC 144548263.
  3. Erbahar, Aksel (2010). "Or Ahayim Hospital, Istanbul". Encyclopedia of Jews in the Islamic World. doi:10.1163/1878-9781_ejiw_sim_0017050. Retrieved 2021-06-03.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. "Balat: Living Together". Balat: Living Together. Retrieved 2021-06-04.
  5. Ortaylı, İlber. "Anılar coğrafyası kıtalara yayılan semt" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-06-03.
  6. Mills, Amy (2008). "The Place of Locality for Identity in the Nation: Minority Narratives of Cosmopolitan Istanbul". International Journal of Middle East Studies. 40 (3): 385. doi:10.1017/s0020743808081312. ISSN 0020-7438.
  7. Bornes-Varol, Marie-Christine (1994). "The Balat quarter and its image: a study of a Jewish neighborhood in Istanbul". In Levy, Avigdor (ed.). The Jews of the Ottoman Empire. Princeton: Darwin Press. p. 639. ISBN 978-0878500901. OCLC 649879656.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  8. Boyar, Ebru; Fleet, Kate (2010). A Social History of Ottoman Istanbul. Cambridge University Press. p. 121.
  9. Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Technical support for the management, enhancement and development of the Historic Areas of Istanbul, Turkey". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved 2021-06-03.
  10. Bezmez, Dikmen (2008). "The Politics of Urban Waterfront Regeneration: The Case of Haliç (the Golden Horn), Istanbul". International Journal of Urban and Regional Research. 32 (4): 824. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2427.2008.00825.x.


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