Kasımpaşa (district)

Kasımpaşa is a quarter within the Beyoğlu district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is a low-lying area north of the Golden Horn, on the European side of the city. Neighbouring quarters include Dolapdere and Kurtuluş.

Kasımpaşa is one of the oldest residential areas in Istanbul with a strong naval tradition. The ships of Sultan Mehmed II sailed into the Golden Horn from this quarter. After the fall of Constantinople, Kasımpaşa flourished. By the 16th century, it contained the Imperial Arsenal and docks of the Ottoman Navy, home to 120 ships. As the Empire declined, the yard became neglected. By the end of the 19th century, the Ottoman fleet was far from its days of glory as a major sea power between the 15th and 19th centuries (until the reign of Sultan Abdülaziz in 1861–1876, when (in 1875) the Ottoman Navy had 21 battleships and 173 warships of other types, ranking as the third largest navy in the world after the British and French navies.) The large size of the navy became a financial burden on the Ottoman treasury after the economic crisis of 1875 (which sparked the Great Eastern Crisis (1875–78) in the Balkan provinces of the Ottoman Empire.) Earlier, in 1821, much of the Kasımpaşa quarter was destroyed by fire. Today, the old arsenal is a repair dock serving cargo ships, ferries and a small shipping line.

The Turkish Naval High School was founded in 1773 to teach geometry and navigation to naval and civilian merchant captains on board a galleon anchored at Kasımpaşa. The Turkish Naval Academy was housed in Kasımpaşa from 1838 to 1850. Following the Armistice of Mudanya, the former Ottoman Ministry of the Navy (Bahriye Nezareti) building in Kasımpaşa became the headquarters of the Istanbul Naval Command on 14 November 1922.

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