From the City Walls to the Table: Yedikule’s Historic Gardens Begin to Grow Again

After a century without production, soil beside Istanbul’s historic land walls is being prepared for cultivation again. İsmailpaşa Garden in Yedikule is set to cover about 20,000 square meters, where Yedikule lettuce, chard and other products associated with the area are expected to grow.

The revival reaches back beyond the garden itself. Farming around the walls helped supply the city from the Byzantine period onward, and Yedikule later became one of Istanbul’s important gardening districts under the Ottoman Empire. A 1733 record counted 77 gardens stretching from Yedikule to Ayvansaray, worked by more than 300 gardeners.

The green belt outside the walls formed part of Istanbul’s food supply as well as its landscape. Cabbage, leeks, onions, garlic, squash, carrots, cucumbers and melons were among the crops grown there. Historical records also preserve İsmailpaşa Garden’s name. Fatih Municipality’s 2025 activity report says 19th-century Ottoman maps identified the site as “İsmail Paşa Garden,” while foundation records describe the parcel as a garden.

Fatih Municipality is now working to return the land to agricultural production. The plan goes beyond restoring greenery. It seeks to continue traditional cultivation methods and bring characteristic local crops back to the site.

The project has also raised questions about protecting the garden’s historic fabric. In June, Fatih Mayor Mehmet Ergün Turan met at the site with Harvard historian Cemal Kafadar, representatives of the Yedikule Gardeners’ Association and gardeners working in the area. Their discussions focused on preserving the gardens’ historical and natural character, maintaining traditional production and strengthening the site’s connection with public life. Turan said renewed cultivation would protect one of Istanbul’s shrinking agricultural areas and make visible again the gardening knowledge passed down from master to apprentice.