Kültürpark

Kültürpark is an urban park in İzmir, Turkey. It is located in the district of Konak, roughly bounded by Dr. Mustafa Enver Bey Avenue on the north, 1395th Street, 1396th Street and Bozkurt Avenue on the east, Mürsel Paşa Boulevard on the south, and Dr. Refik Saydam and Şair Eşref boulevards on the west.

Kültürpark
A view of Kültürpark in central İzmir
TypeUrban park
Locationİzmir, Turkey
Coordinates38°25′40″N 27°08′41″E
Area420,000 m2 (4,500,000 sq ft)
OpenedSeptember 1, 1936 (1936-09-01)
FounderBehçet Uz
Operated byİzmir Metropolitan Municipality
StatusOpen all year
Parking594 parking lots
Public transit accessKültürpark – Atatürk Lisesi stop of Konak Tram
Websitewww.kulturparkizmir.org

Kültürpark was founded in 1936 on an area of 360,000 m2 (3,900,000 sq ft), which was ruined by the great fire of Smyrna. Since then, it has been hosting the İzmir International Fair. In 1939, the park has expanded to 420,000 m2 (4,500,000 sq ft).

History
Kültürpark in central İzmir
Kültürpark in central İzmir

The third edition of the 9th of September Fair was held in 1933 on an area next to Cumhuriyet Square where Swissôtel Büyük Efes exists today.[1][2][3] Deputy Mayor Suat Yurtkoru shared his thoughts with Mayor Behçet Uz that the fairground wouldn't be enough in the coming years and the city needs a place like Gorky Park in Moscow.[4][5][6] The report prepared by Yurtkoru at Uz's request was accepted in the municipal council on May 14, 1934 and the construction of Kültürpark was approved.[5][6] Uz went to Moscow in 1935 and had two architects commissioned by Mayor Nikolai Bulganin draft a project.[5]

The debris in the 360,000 m2 (3,900,000 sq ft)-area, which was ruined by the great fire of Smyrna, started to be cleaned in the second half of 1934 and the foundation of Kültürpark was laid on January 1, 1936.[5][6] Before the fire, there was an Armenian quarter in this area.[7] Kültürpark was opened to the public on September 1, 1936 with the 6th İzmir International Fair, inaugurated by Prime Minister İsmet İnönü.[5][6] In 1937, İzmir Parachute Tower was built in the park.[6] In 1938, İzmir Zoo and Vakıflar Pavilion and Clock Tower were opened.[6] In 1939, the park was expanded for 60,000 m2 (650,000 sq ft) southwards and has reached 420,000 m2 (4,500,000 sq ft) in size.[6][8] In 1951, the İzmir Archaeological Museum moved into the park where it was active until 1984.[6] In September 1952, the İzmir Art and Sculpture Museum was opened in the park and moved to its new building, which was built outside the park in 1973.[9] In 2004, İzmir Museum of History and Art was established inside the park.[10] With the opening of İzmir Wildlife Park in 2008, the zoo in the park was closed and the animals were moved to the new area.[6][11] In August 2009, an underground car park with 594 vehicle capacity was put into service.[12] In June 2015, free Wi-Fi was made available in the park.[13] All the fairs in the city were organized in Kültürpark before Fuar İzmir was built in 2015 in Gaziemir. Today only İzmir International Fair and İzmir Book Fair are held in the park.[14] In 2017, the Kültürpark Cup tennis tournament was held for the first time.[15]

Features
Aerial view of Kültürpark, İzmir

Kültürpark, which is surrounded by walls, has five entrance gates: Lozan Gate, Montrö Gate, 9 Eylül Gate, Cumhuriyet Gate, and 26 Ağustos Gate.[5] (The first two refer to two international treaties, namely the Montreux Convention and the Treaty of Lausanne the third refer to the liberation of İzmir the forth means Republic and the last refer to the Turkish victory at the end of the Turkish War of Independence) Some of the facilities in the park are fourteen indoor exhibition halls, four conference halls, Atatürk Open Air Theater, İsmet İnönü Art Center, İzmir Sanat, a marriage office, Celal Atik Sport Hall, an amusement park, a parachute tower, Youth Theater, a museum, a 1,850-metre long running track, a swimming pool, tennis courts, and a football pitch. There are 7,709 trees across the park.[16] All plants were tagged and trees were insured.[17][18]

References
  1. "İzmir Fuarı 69 yaşında". Türkiye (in Turkish). 20 August 2000. Archived from the original on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  2. Kaya, Burcu. "İzmir'in İncisi: Büyük Efes Oteli (1964-2002)" (PDF) (in Turkish). Anatolia Turizm Akademisi. p. 405. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  3. Kayıkçı, Meltem. "Şehrin Ruhuna Ritim Tutmuş Bir Otel: Büyük Efes Oteli" (PDF) (in Turkish). Anatolia Turizm Akademisi. p. 641. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  4. "Ruslar geliyor" (in Turkish). İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. 9 July 2017. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  5. Polat, Esra (2008). "Uluslararası İzmir Fuarı'nın Kuruluşu ve İlk Sergiler" (PDF) (in Turkish). Dokuz Eylül University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 September 2018. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
  6. Karpat, Gökhan (November 2009). "İzmir Kültürpark ve Fuar Alanının Tarihsel Gelişim Sürecinin Araştırılması ve Geleceğe Yönelik Tasarım Programının Oluşturulması" (PDF) (in Turkish). Dokuz Eylül University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  7. "'Gâvur İzmir'in Ermenileri". Agos (in Turkish). 17 November 2012. Archived from the original on 31 December 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  8. "Kültürpark'ta sağlıklaştırma çalışması". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 16 May 2017. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  9. "Hakkında" (in Turkish). İzmir Art and Sculpture Museum. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  10. "İzmir Tarih ve Sanat Müzesi açıldı" (in Turkish). NTV.com.tr. 11 March 2004. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  11. "İzmir'de eski hayvanat bahçesi tarih oluyor". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 29 June 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  12. "Kültürpark yeraltı otoparkı açıldı" (in Turkish). İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. 28 August 2009. Archived from the original on 7 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  13. "İzmir'in 8 noktasında 'ücretsiz internet keyfi' başladı" (in Turkish). İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. 31 May 2015. Archived from the original on 26 August 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  14. "Gururla gezdirdi" (in Turkish). İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. 21 February 2014. Archived from the original on 20 September 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  15. "TEB Kültürpark Tenis Cup'ta heyecan başlıyor". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 14 June 2017. Archived from the original on 26 May 2019. Retrieved 26 May 2019.
  16. "Yine, yeni, yeniden..." (in Turkish). İzmir Metropolitan Municipality. 13 May 2016. Archived from the original on 15 February 2018. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
  17. "Kültürpark'ın ağaçları kitap oldu". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 8 October 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  18. "Ağaç sigortası en doğru karar". Hürriyet (in Turkish). 21 September 2000. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
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