Arnavutköy, Albanian Village

Arnavutköy is a Bosphorus town located between Ortaköy and Bebek on the European side. Opposite Arnavutköy on the Asian side are Kandilli and Vaniköy.

Arnavutköy is believed to be named after the Albanian people that were brought to this town from Albania after Mehmet II, Fatih Sultan Mehmet conquered Albania in 1468. It remained Arnavutköy even after the Albanian people left the area. Before the Ottoman period it was called Hestai, Promotos, Anaplous, Horasmoto (Village of Angels) Asomaton, Megalu Revmatus (Big Current) or Diabolugue Revma (Diabolic Current due to the current on the Arnavutköy Point).

It is one of small towns by the Bosphorus where you can go for a walk by the sea, have a raki-balik meal and take photos of the Bosphorus and the original Istanbul houses built by the sea. If you like fishing it is one of the fishing areas in Istanbul. Walk a little further to the north, you will reach Bebek which is a larger town town than Arnavutkoy and has more shops, cafes and a natural cove to make it a marina by the Bosphorus

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Did you know?

Until the end of 18th century there were many vineyards around the town. At that time, thanks to the Ipsilantis family the vineyards were replaced with stawberry fields and the peculiar kind of strawberry they grew was called the Arnavutköy or Ottoman strawberry.

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