Yalı: the wooden mansions of the Bosphorus
Painted timber houses with their feet in the water — the most Bosphorus of all buildings.
Published
A yalı is a house built right at the water’s edge. Along the Bosphorus the word means something specific: the elegant waterside mansions of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, most of them built of wood.
Wood and water
Finely worked timber was the material of the yalı, often painted in deep colours. Many were summer houses for the Ottoman elite, with boathouses below and rooms that open straight onto the current. Restorations over the years have replaced some of the wood, but timber is still what marks a historic yalı.
The oldest survivor
The oldest surviving yalı was built in 1699 for the grand vizier Amcazade Köprülü Hüseyin Pasha at Kanlıca, on the Asian shore. Only part of it remains, including its hall of audience. On the European side, the Şerifler Yalısı in Emirgan dates from 1780.
Where to look
From a boat, watch the Asian shore around Kandilli and Kanlıca, and the European shore at Emirgan and Yeniköy. Most yalı are private homes — the water is the best and only view most visitors will get.