Paşakapısı Prison
Encyclopedia
Paşakapısı Prison is a small prison located in Üsküdar
district of Istanbul
, Turkey
. First built in 1799 on orders of the Ottoman sultan Selim III
as a hunting palace, the facility was used as a school for nuns between 1918 and 1923. In 1928, it was converted to a prison, which it still is at present day (October 2011). Between 2003 and 2008, it had been exclusively used for housing female prisoners. Today, after female prisoners are moved to another facility in 2008, the building still functions as a prison, allocated, this time, for convicted state employees.
Probably a remote and forested place in 1799, location of the prison is now completely engulfed by the metropolitan Istanbul, to such an extent that it is considered one of the central locations in the city. Also owing to poor city planning, the prison is now circled by residential and other governmental buildings. The daily functions and activities of the prison reportedly cause disturbances in the daily lives of the nearby residents.
Üsküdar
Üsküdar is a large and densely populated municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, on the Anatolian shore of the Bosphorus. It is bordered on the north by Beykoz, on the east by Ümraniye, on the southeast by Ataşehir, on the south by Kadıköy, and on the west by the Bosphorus, with the areas of Beşiktaş,...
district of Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. First built in 1799 on orders of the Ottoman sultan Selim III
Selim III
Selim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...
as a hunting palace, the facility was used as a school for nuns between 1918 and 1923. In 1928, it was converted to a prison, which it still is at present day (October 2011). Between 2003 and 2008, it had been exclusively used for housing female prisoners. Today, after female prisoners are moved to another facility in 2008, the building still functions as a prison, allocated, this time, for convicted state employees.
Probably a remote and forested place in 1799, location of the prison is now completely engulfed by the metropolitan Istanbul, to such an extent that it is considered one of the central locations in the city. Also owing to poor city planning, the prison is now circled by residential and other governmental buildings. The daily functions and activities of the prison reportedly cause disturbances in the daily lives of the nearby residents.