Gülhane Park
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Gülhane Park (Turkish: Gülhane Parkı or Sarayburnu Parkı; from Persian: Gulkhāna - "house of flowers") is a historical, urban park in the Eminönü district of Istanbul, Turkey. It is the oldest and one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. It is located between the Topkapı Palace and Sarayburnu. The entrance of the park has one of the larger gates of the palace. The park is spread over a very large area and has very interesting and rare kinds of trees and bushes.
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[edit] History
Gülhane Park was once part of the imperial garden of Topkapı Palace and mainly consisted of a grove. A section of the outer garden was planned as a park by the municipality and opened to the public in 1912. The park previously contained recreation areas, coffee houses, playgrounds etc. Later, a small zoo was opened within the park. The first statue of Atatürk in Turkey was erected in this park, in 1926 and sculptered by Heinrich Krippel.
[edit] Today
The park went through a major renovation in recent years. During the renovation, the zoo, funfair and picnic grounds have been removed and the open space ratio was increased. The excursion routes were re-arranged and the big pool was restored in a modern style. Concrete structures were turned to open space areas and the park gained its natural landscape of the 1950s, with the view of the old trees dating from the 1800s, which were hidden behind the concrete buildings.
The old barracks within the area of Gülhane is expected to be converted to a cultural center in due course. This center is going to host a library and an exhibition hall, together with a workshop on kilim and handicrafts.
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