GPS : 41°02'11.5"N 28°59'03.8"E / 41.036528, 28.984389
PHOTOGRAPHS ALBUM
TAKSİM CUMHURIYET ART GALLERY / MAKSEM
Istanbul is ready to enjoy the presence of yet another art gallery and exhibition center. Maksem - a building specially constructed a few centuries back to meet the district’s need for water - had been left to sit idly in a dilapidated state until the İstanbul Metropolitan Municipality took the matter in hand and transformed it into a new international exhibition center: the Taksim Cumhuriyet Art Gallery.
After the renovation it has been using for social purposes. The cistern is now used for temporary exhibitions while the taksim has been turned into an information centre. The old water reservoir in the center of Taksim Square, which used to supply water to Istanbul’s oldest settlements of Pera and Taksim, has been transformed into an art gallery.
The new place will bring together the adherents of both classical and modern art and be home to unique works of art for Istanbulites to visit. The name of this most hectic and lively quarter of Istanbul, Taksim, actually comes from Maksem.
SU DEPOSU - MAKSEM
Taksim Cistern (Maksem is the first major building in Taksim Square and it was built to meet the water needs of Beyoğlu in the 18th century. According to its inscription, the first part of the Taksim water supply network was completed c.1733. In the years 1797 and 1798, the quantity of water, brought to Maksem (cistern) and distributed to the city, increased through the contributions of Mihrişah Sultan.
The Taksim water supply network, providing water also for Taksim, was constructed in four stages between 1731 and 1839. The verse from Qur'an reading, ‘We have created everything out of water’ is written on the fountain at the square facing side of the two storey octagonal maksem.
The reservoir, know as "Maksem," was what gave Taksim its name. During the Ottoman Empire, water was carried by pipe to maksems located throughout the city. The water, upon reaching the European side of Istanbul in the 18th century, was stored in the large stone reservoirs before it was distributed. Taksim means distribution or division, which in this case describes the water distribution. It was built in 1732 by the order of Sultan Mahmut I.
The western side of the square is the most historically interesting. The stone wall that runs along the back was once a giant cistern (maksem) where water brought into the city from the Belgrade Forest was stored ready for distribution via the little stone taksim (water distribution point, 1723) at the top of İstiklal Caddesi.
The building was originally built in 1732 upon orders from Sultan Mahmud I to provide tap water to the city’s Pera district and its surrounding neighborhoods by distributing the water gathered in the Maksem water depot. Although it gave the famous quarter its name (“Taksim” comes from taksim etmek - to share out), it was disused for almost a century as it ceased to fulfill any function and was restored upon the instructions of Mayor of Istanbul after the project suffered a series of setbacks stemming from the local electricity and infrastructure.
This wonderful Ottoman heritage once carried life into the homes of hundreds of thousands, but this time it will be another site on the city’s string of art sites and carry culture into one of the main arteries of the Turkish cultural scene.
LOCATION SATELLITE MAP
WEB SITE : Taksim Cumhuriyet Sanat Galerisi
MORE INFO & CONTACT
Tel : +90 212 245 7832
These scripts and photographs are registered under © Copyright 2017, respected writers and photographers from the internet. All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment