- Finding Hidden Churches – Walking Tour of Kaleiçi, Antalya
- Former Byzantine Church in Antalya
- Hidden Crosses in the Antalya Archeology Museum
- Kaleiçi Walking Tour – From Port Lookout to the Greek Walls
- Antalya Bell Tower – Whoops! Clock Tower Walking Tour
- The Five Vanished Churches in Kaleiçi, Antalya
- New Evidence for St. John’s Church at Antalya’s Yivli Minare?
- The Many Mysteries of Karaalioğlu Park in Antalya
The Karaalioğlu Park is supposedly named after a local family, but bears the name of one of the Sultan’s most notorious and feared executioners. The elevated park, which is evident near the government building, buries a Greek graveyard and the sacred area of the Greek metropolitan church and monastery. The city museum, which sits on the road called “Church Street,” accords no credence to the former church that stood on the grounds for a few hundred years.
At the entrance to the park, two marble lion lids from sarcophagi offer a visible reminder of the area’s ancient past. These grave lids most likely came from the Greek cemetery that once served the community living on the eastern side of Kaleiçi. Today, however, the park is better known for its historical symposia, festivals, and abundant birdlife than for the people who once lived here and buried their dead. The ancient stones remain, but the history of the Greek community that dominated this eastern part of Kaleiçi has largely fallen silent.
In a bird summary of the Karaalioğlu Park, it does acknowledge the history of the site: “On the Yenikapı side of the garden, there were, in order: Leski Coffee House, Attalos Club, Nocera Cinema, Agia Panteleimon Church belonging to the Greek Community, and Greek Cemetery. In the early years of the Republic, Leski Coffee House became Vatan Coffee House, Nocera Cinema became Leyla Cinema, and Agia Panteleimon Church was used as a Turkish Hearth building.”[1]https://mcmsmedia.antalya.bel.tr/MediaFolder/6770156cf267483097290291/Antalya%20Karaalio%C4%9Flu%20Park%C4%B1%20Ku%C5%9Flar%C4%B1%20pdf
My visit to the former church site:
Write-ups and Memories
One writer said, “City parks are places that bring people together, unite them, and invite them to communicate with each other. Karaalioğlu Park, with its lovers’ path, its hawthorn trees, its coffee houses and cinemas, has served this function for the people of Antalya from the past to the present, and has a privileged place in the collective memory of the city’s inhabitants.” (Attila Erden)[2]https://mcmsmedia.antalya.bel.tr/MediaFolder/6770156cf267483097290291/Antalya%20Karaalio%C4%9Flu%20Park%C4%B1%20Ku%C5%9Flar%C4%B1%20pdf And for these reasons, historical clarity to help the collective memory is quite important for open communication today.
A write-up of the park says, mistakenly, that the park was built upon nothing – most likely meaning nothing of importance to those who write.[3]https://www.dha.com.tr/yerel-haberler/antalya/karaalioglu-parkinda-tanitim-gezisi-2870679 In reality, after the migration of Greeks, their land, houses, and buildings were taken over by various groups. This area became a gathering area of gypsys and those who had no place to live. When the park was refurbished in the 1940s, it was an attempt to change the scene to benefit the city that had changed.
The first change after the Greek exodus came in the 1930s, when the municipality built the government building in 1932, which is now a theater. Also, the area near the Kaleiçi wall was altered, with a double cement road added that heads towards Hidirlik Fortress and, at the time, the lower-level area of the children’s park. The 1940s restructuring of the park elevated the area, as evidenced by the perimeter of the children’s park. Historians state that this park set an example for modern standards by providing ample open space for social activities. At the time, the Karaalioğlu area was known as a garden.
Historian Evren Dayar said, “Originally a recreational area, Karaalioğlu Garden underwent a transformation from the late 19th century onwards as the city expanded into the area outside the city walls opposite the New Gate, and began to house important public buildings belonging to the Greek community. In the early 20th century, on the New Gate side of the garden, there were, respectively; the Michael Attaliatis Association, founded in 1910, the Leski Coffeehouse, a distinguished coffeehouse, and the Agia Panteleimon Church, belonging to the Greek community, which was converted into the Turkish Hearth building after the Population Exchange. The Greek Cemetery was located in the south of the garden.”[4]https://makale.isam.
However, because a portion of the park was a former gravesite, the new park covered the lower levels of the remains and stones. The Greek community built their community on the perimeter of where their descendants were buried. Whether they are still there or not, nothing is written about them. However, some stone grave markers are found in the nearby Necropolis museum, and possibly some of these came from here or from graves near that site.
Use of Karaalioğlu Park
As part of the new environment, festivals such as the Golden Orange Film Festival were formerly held in this park. Some of these sculptures remain from these festivals in the 1970s.
In the 1990s, the symposiums produced stone sculptures that are on display today. The idea behind many of these sculptures was not necessarily to polish every surface. Artists deliberately left portions of the original stone block untouched or roughly worked while carving recognizable figures or forms from it.
One documented example in the park is “Don Kişot” (Don Quixote) by Cavhar/Cahvar Göktaş. It was produced during the 3rd Stone Sculpture Symposium in September 1999 and placed in Karaalioğlu Park.
The Death Theme in Karaalioğlu
First, the name of the park, for those who know history, invokes death. Supposedly, the name of the owners of the gardens, but in 1648, the Executioner Kara Ali (Black Ali), the infamous chief executioner of the Ottoman Empire, famously executed Sultan İbrahim.
Next, the hand was commissioned to honor Haşim İşcan, a former mayor who developed the park in the 1940s. Much is written about him, and, in my opinion, the artist was a genius. El” (“Hand”) by Kuzgun Acar created this monument to recall the industrial service of Haşim İşcan. Originally, his first design was of the left hand, which would depict the unclean and something shady. After public outcry, he changed it to a right hand.[5]https://www.antalyaekspres.com.tr/heykelin-kalbine-islenen-ask On the hand, some say that the artist’s own wedding ring is sculpted. This sculpture formerly stood at the entrance of the park in the 1980s, but was removed in 1986. After some protest, the authorities reinstalled it in the third lookout area of the park near the water.
When I walked through the park for the first time and realized, at some point, I was walking over a former Greek grave site from centuries ago, seeing the hand created a totally different image in my mind. It seemed like the hand was reaching upward from the ground, seeking acknowledgment. The image intended to honor the memory of a hard-working man, but, like some of the other statues in the park, it served as a reminder of the past. In Kuzgun Acar, being an Afro-Turk and his mother coming from the Eritrean/Ethiopian area, where Christian Orthodoxy was well known, one would wonder if a double meaning could be found. Yet, as all meaningful art does, it evokes thought and a memory for the observer.
To further this thinking, the hand is of Haşim İşcan whom Greek forces captured when they occupied Edirne in July 1920. He was captured and sent into exile as a prisoner of war on the island of Crete. He was released six months later following the Turkish victory at the Battle of Sakarya.[6]https://
Lastly, the frailty of life became evident in other sculptures in the park. The overnumbering of partial sculptures, where smooth marble sits next to rock images that suggest something still lacks. A work unfinished or a memory still unhonored sits in stone, inviting the passerby to recall life’s unfinishedness.
The Location of the Greek Cemetery
The park was known as the Karaalioğlu Gardens before it was developed for municipal purposes. In Ottoman history, the executioners belonged to a corps known as the Bostancı (literally meaning “gardeners”). So naming a garden after a famous Bostancı, would provoke recall.
Still, before 1920, the area housed Greek houses, a coffee shop (now Tarihi Vatan Kahvesi), a key church, and a cemetery. So from the entrance area to the children’s play area, the “gardens” were really a Greek-dominated area outside the old city gates.[7]See Enver Dayar write-up. So the Atatürk House was a Greek house that was briefly occupied by the Italians in 1919. The many coffee shops along the double-wide road were Greek coffee shops. The modern theater, now in a newer building, was a Greek theater previously on that street.
Given where these items are located today in the park, the section we are referring to covered a large percentage of the park. Unfortunately, no early maps of these locations have been found. The Greek elements, long forgotten, have given way to the new administrators of the land, who began developing Antalya, starting here.
In the 1930s and 1940s, a Casino (1934) and other buildings were built in the area, along with a nearby sports field enclosed by a wall (partially still standing today). The picture here is the stone walkway down to the water, most likely where the Casino was (this is near the Hidirlik Fortress).
History in the Making
What we see is that the victors write the history. They repurposed buildings and parks to highlight the history that reflects today’s society. All countries do this, and my home area in America did the same. Native Indians dominated the names and area, but the history reflects how we, as Europeans, came and took over the land. A part of the spoils of victory or as Orhan Pamuk said, “I believe that it isn’t victories but defeats that promote nationalism.” [1]
This history is rarely acknowledged, and condemning it is not my purpose. My purpose is to remember where we have come from. The broken mosaic of Antalya’s past has left many pieces scattered, yet modern capabilities give us new opportunities to recover and understand what has been lost. Acknowledging the past honors not only those who came before us but also those who experience Antalya today. Honest engagement with history creates a deeper appreciation for where we have come from.
Today Karaalioğlu
Many tourists come to Antalya to enjoy its beauty, ancient streets, and historic setting, while only a few dig deeper into the stories beneath the surface. Yet discovery changes the experience. When we recognize and acknowledge what stood here before, we gain a greater appreciation for what remains today.
The past does not diminish the present. It gives the present greater meaning. This is also why I chose the title “Searching Below the Surface.” What we see today often represents only the final layer of a much deeper story. Beneath the streets, buildings, stones, and traditions of Antalya lie generations of people, communities, and faith that shaped the city before us. To search below the surface is to look beyond what remains visible and ask what has been lost, what has been preserved, and what these discoveries can still teach us today.
References
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