Gulhane Park

Gulhane Park (Turkish: Gulhane Parki or Sarayburnu Parki) is a historical, urban park in Eminonu district of Istanbul. It is the oldest and one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. It is located between the Topkapi Palace and Sarayburnu.It has a large view of Marmara Sea. The entrance of the park has one of the larger gates of Topkapi Palace. The park is spread over a very large area and has very interesting and rare kinds of trees and bushes.Gulhane Park was once part of the imperial garden of Topkapi Palace and mainly consisted of a grove. A section of the outer garden was planned as a park by the municipality and opened to the public in 1912. The park previously contained recreation areas, coffee houses, playgrounds etc. Then a small zoo was opened within the park. The first statue of Ataturk in Turkey was erected in the park area in 1926.

The park went through a major renovation for the last couple of years. During the renovation the zoo, funfair and picnic grounds have been removed and the open space ratio was increased. The excursion routes were re-arranged and the big pool was restored in a modern style. Concrete structures were turned to open space areas and the park gained its natural landscape in 1950s, with the view of old trees of 1800s which were hidden behind the concrete buildings.The old barracks within the area of Gulhane is expected to be converted to a cultural center in due course. This center is going to host a library, an exhibition hall together with a workshop on kilim and handicrafts.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org