Mansions on the Water

Kibrisli Yali

The long, low Kibrisli Yali, built in 1775, was named for Kibrisli Mehmet Emin Pasha, the Cypriot grand vizier of Sultan Mahmut II who bought it in 1840. The yali has the typical cruciform plan but the main fountain usually located in the center of the grand hall of the selamlik has been relegated to the "winter garden," one of the corner rooms that is glazed on two sides. The fountain rises from a pebble-mosaic floor –a feature inherited from Byzantines.

Seven generations of the Kibrisli family have lived in the yali, and today it is still the family’s summer home. Selim Dirvana, the senior member of the family, still remember the revolving door that once divided the gardens of the selamlik and the haremlik, permitting male members of the household to pass in and out without allowing others a glimpse of the women’s side, which constituted the family quarters.

Only a handful of the earliest yalis still stand. These were invariably built of timber and roofed with red tile. The exterior walls were stained a deep earthtoned red, known as "Ottoman rose," which made the facades stand out against the forested slopes with their pink cherry blossoms, green-leafed chestnuts and slim, dark cypresses. During the 18th and 19th centuries, the increasing popularity of European tastes led to the supplanting of the traditional red facade by pastel shades.

The arrangement of rooms within each yali harks back to the earliest Turkish houses that, like the Turks themselves can be traced to Central Asia. From the sofa, or central salon, where a free-standing fountain cooled the summer heat, internal doors typically led into four corner rooms.

The cruciform central hall often included one or more recessed sitting areas that overhung the Bosporus waters, thus affording unobstructed views. Here, members of the household received their guests.

Like all larger Ottoman houses, yalis were divided into a selamlik for the men and a haremlik for the women-though the women's side was sometimes a separate building. Each yali also had its hamam, or bath, often made of marble, which was divided into steam and cool rooms. Men and women used the hamam at different, designated times of the week.

Upper-class ladies often spent summer days on excursions in the gardens and the extensive grounds that surrounded nearly all yalis on the landward side. Enclosed footbridges, known as "privacy bridges," often spanned the narrow access road behind each house and connected the enclosed gardens with the forested grounds, allowing the women of the household private passage to the grounds. Over the last century, road-widening projects have torn down all but one of these.