Altımermer/ Έξι Μάρμαρα
- yasmineakaki
- Aug 11
- 4 min read
Altımermer’s modern boundary finds itself nestled between the neighborhoods of Kocamustafapaşa and Seyyid Ömer but historically the neighborhood’s boundaries may have bled into both. Its position, lying within the Theodosian walls, marks it as a part of the historic city. The name Altımermer is a direct Turkish translation from the Greek Exi Marmara (Έξι Μάρμαρα) translating to “Six Marbles”. While the exact origin of the name is unclear, the major accepted theory, which is echoed by scholar Skarlatos Byzantios, argues that the neighborhood was originally named “Exo Kionion” meaning external column as it used to sit outside the Theodosian Walls prior to subsequent renovations in the later Byzantine period. Over time the name corrupted from “exo” to “ex” to “exi” and “kionion” became “marmara”. During the conquest of Constantinople, the name was directly converted into Turkish. In the Byzantine period, Altımermer’s major landmark was the open air Cistern of Mōkios built during the rule of Emperor Anastasios I Dikoros who reigned from 491 – 518. It was the largest cistern in the city. During the Ottoman period it was referred to as the Altımermer Çukurbostanı or the sunken Garden of Altımermer as it had been converted into a vegetable garden.
After the conquest of the City by Mehmet II in 1453, large immigrant groups were settled in Altımermer. In the 1455 Register, the Aya Narkiro Monastery is marked down as a Greek Orthodox church in the neighborhood and Greeks were settled around this monastery. By the mid-seventeenth century, the neighborhood had a significant population including Greek-Orthodox and Armenian communities. The area was also said to be heavily populated by Karamanlı, who were Turkish-speaking Anatolian Greek-Orthodox. This is attested to a patriarchal document issued in 1763 that was written in Karamanlı, or Turkish written with Greek characters, and a report by Manouil Gedeon, a Greek scholar, that the sermons in the Orthodox church were delivered in Turkish. By the 19th and 20th centuries, the area was referred to as fully Greek.
The parish church of the neighborhood is the Church of the Assumption of Virgin Mary or Altımermer Panayia (Ναός Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου). Its origins are unclear, possibly coinciding with one of two Byzantine structures. One was a church dedicated to the Virgin Mary and the other was an old monastery from the 14th century dedicated to the icon of the Virgin Mary Gorgoepekoos (one of the many names given to Mary). According to the records kept by the Patriarchate, the church’s dedication is to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary which refers to the death of Mary. According to the Orthodox tradition she fell into a deep sleep and was in a state of spiritual peace when she died. It is included in a 1538 list of churches as the “Virgin Mary Gorgoepekoos at Exi Marmara” and by the mid-seventeenth century was referred to simply as Gorgoepikoos. An 18th-century record shows that a chapel was dedicated to Michael the Archangel and this was corroborated by scholar Skarlatos Byzantios who adds that an hagiasma (holy spring) was found there. The church also held a double-faced icon that was considered miraculous and earned the church a reputation for drawing thousands of pilgrims to it in the 19th century.
As with many of the buildings in Istanbul, the church's current structure is not its original one and has undergone many reconstructions. It was destroyed in a fire in 1660 and rebuilt in 1691. Again a century later, it sustained heavy damages in the Great Fire of 1782. The church structure was totally destroyed in 1821 - possibly due to retribution due to the beginning of the Greek War of Independence that same year. After the political environment had cooled, the whole building was reconstructed between 1833 and 1835. To meet the needs of its Greek population, a Greek primary school operated in the neighborhood as early as September 1763. The school building was completely renovated in 1841. It was remarked that this school was a monitorial one (in which older students taught younger ones) by Manouil Gedeon in 1845 where his relative Athanasios Panagiotou served as its teacher. By 1906, two schools operated in Altımermer - a school with six grades and an all-girls nursery. The primary school shut down in the 1950s.
Economically the neighborhood was a working-class one. An engravers guild operated in the Altımermer and by the mid-19th century, the neighborhood was known for its “celebrated” meyhane (taverns). Various organizations were founded around this time including the establishment of the “Annunciation Religious Confraternity” in 1878, the educational association “Helikon” in 1872, and the musical society “Terpsichore” in 1896. Though the Greek community held a central presence in Altımermer during the nineteenth century by 1949 only 37 Greek families were recorded by the patriarchal census to still have resided in the area. Only 6 years later, the personal archives of Christophoros Christidis report that only 17 families remained. It is reported that no Christians currently live in Altımermer.
References
Andrianopoulou Konstantina, "Exi Marmara (Altımermer)", Encyclopaedia of the Hellenic
World, Constantinople
Berger, Albrecht. “Imperial And Ecclesiastical Processions In Constantinople” From
Antiquity to the 21st Century: History of Istanbul. Vol. 3.
Çetinkaya, Haluk. “Structures of the Sinan Era in Istanbul” From Antiquity to the 21st
Century: History of Istanbul. Vol. 9.
Çetinkaya, Haluk. “Byzantine Architecture in Istanbul” From Antiquity to the 21st Century:
History of Istanbul. Vol. 9.
Faroqhi, Suraiya, ed. 2015. Bread from the Lion's Mouth: Artisans Struggling for a Livelihood
in Ottoman Cities: Berghahn Books.
İnalcık, Halil. “Sultan Mehmed The Conqueror’s Istanbul” From Antiquity to the 21st
Century: History of Istanbul. Vol. 1.
Şahin, Cemalettin. “Districts Of Istanbul” From Antiquity to the 21st Century: History of
Istanbul. Vol. 3.
Toprak, Ilgi. 2023. “Permanences Against Cultural Amnesia: Reconstructing the Urban
Narrative of the Rum Community of Fener, Istanbul.” Urban Planning 8 (November): 1-
11. 10.17645/up.v8i1.6063.
Comments