Ağva

Ağva
Neighborhood
Ağva
Coordinates: 41°08′N 29°51′E / 41.133°N 29.850°E / 41.133; 29.850Coordinates: 41°08′N 29°51′E / 41.133°N 29.850°E / 41.133; 29.850
Country Turkey
Region Marmara
Province Istanbul
District Şile
Population
 • Total 2,500 (winter),
15,000 (summer)
Time zone EET (UTC+2)
 • Summer (DST) EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code 34990
Area code(s) 0-216

Ağva, aka Yeşilçay, is a populated place and resort destination in the Şile district of İstanbul Province, Turkey.

Geography

Göksu River in Ağva
Yeşilçay in Ağva

Ağva is a coastal place at Black Sea, situated between two rivers, Göksu in the west and Yeşilçay in the east. In fact, the name Ağva means "between the rivers". Yeşilçay is known one of the main source of İstanbul urban water system, the Yeşilçay Drinking Water Plant.[1]

Its distance to İstanbul centrum is 97 km (60 mi) and to Şile 38 km (24 mi).[1]

History

The area around Ağva was a part of ancient Bythinia. During the Ottoman era, Turkmen people were settled around Ağva. Up to 20th century, a sizeble Greek population also dwelled in Ağva. However, according to population exchange between Greece and Turkey agreement in the 1920s, they were replaced by Turks from Greece.

Living

With a picturesque scenery, Ağva is one of the popular resorts of İstanbul. In addition to the 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) beach [2] there are many boarding houses and restaurants. Göksu River is well known for boat excursions[3] and the settlement became shooting place in a number of television serials.

Population of Ağva is about 2,500 in winter time. The resort hosts around 15,000 people in the summer time. Up to 2009, Ağva was the seat of a township being a municipality since 1992. After the local elections in 2009, it lost its town status due to decreased population below limit. It was declared a neighborhood of Şile district.[1][4]

Economy

Thanks to woodlands around the settlement, Ağva was known as Istanbul's main source for charcoal up to the 1950s. Today, tourism plays an important role in addition to weaving of Şile cloth at hand looms and cultivation of vegetables and fruit.[1]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ağva.
  1. 1 2 3 4 "Ağva" (in Turkish). Şile Kaymakamlığı. Retrieved 2012-09-19.
  2. ↑ İstanbul Ajans Medya page (Turkish)
  3. ↑ Ağva guide (Turkish)
  4. ↑ Şile mayor's page (Turkish)
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Wednesday, March 27, 2013. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.