Best part of the Bosphorus tour Poyrazköy

 

 

Yazı/Text: OYLUM YILMAZ  
 Fotoğraf/Photos: İLKER GÜRER

 

Poyrazköy lies some 18 km from Beykoz, the last town on the Anatolian side. Two fortresses, built at the same time, greet observant eyes first: Poyraz and Garipçe.

 

Poyrazköy, having the cleanest sea of İstanbul, also the hot meeting spot of yatch and boats

 

Going away... This thought has preoccupied the Istanbul resident goodness knows how long. Going away, but where? Going away, but when? Going away, but how far? Experience indicates that the Istanbuli cannot stray too far. He can neither reach some far destination, nor can he remember terribly well the route he once took to Istanbul in the first place. Oh, would that there were some pretty hideaways, not too far from the city that ties him down so, somewhere where he can breathe in the fresh air comfortably... It’s that need to find some unspoiled spot close to city centre, somewhere whose air and water are clean and fresh, that drives visitors to Poyrazköy... The eagerness to enjoy a short morning stroll on a day when even leaves stay still, and then take your sweet time over a seafood spread that stretches from lunch to evening. Or the desire to conclude the day’s Bosphorus tour at the finest spot... Poyraz is the Turkish name for the Northeast wind; it’s neither as gloomy as the Northerly, nor is it unpredictable like the Northwesterly. Coming down from the Balkans, it’s crisply cold and clear... like the clean cold, harbinger of imminent snowfall, or a dust-free wind that blows the cobwebs away. So, if a place is named after the Poyraz, it’s impossible not to wonder just how cold it is there and whether the wind blows the hardest. Poyrazköy lies some 18 km from Beykoz, the last town on the Anatolian side. Two fortresses, built at the same time, greet observant eyes first: Poyraz and Garipçe. We mention observant eyes for a good reason: Poyrazköy’s fortresses now hide in the background, just like its history. The village was founded by the Genoese six hundred years ago; it then became a home first for the Byzantines, and later Black Sea Turks. From the very beginning, it was a fishing village. Today nearly seventy percent of the village makes a living out of fishing. Soil and clean water attract residents most strongly, they say, and this is also true for the residents of Poyrazköy. Unlike its name, the village, in fact, lies protected from the winds in a sandy bay; despite its fish restaurants popular with domestic tourists, Poyrazköy never set out to become a holiday destination. Its unspoiled nature must be one of the reasons why it appeals to the Istanbul resident so, with the cleanest sea for miles around affording great anchorage for yachts and other pleasure boats. Poyrazköy can be reached easily both by land and sea.