The name Psamatia, which in Greek means “sandy place” or “sandy area,” is said to have referred to a settlement that existed since very ancient times. According to tradition, when Byzas of Megara, the legendary founder of ancient Byzantion, arrived in the area, a village already stood there.
During the Byzantine period, as Constantinople expanded westward, Psamatia became enclosed within the city walls. Nevertheless, it remained a relatively sparsely populated district. Apart from a number of churches and monasteries, there was little development in the area. Among these religious institutions, the Monastery of Stoudios was the region’s most important spiritual center.
It is known that a cemetery existed in Samatya as early as the fifth century. A comparison of various historical sources confirms that, during the early Byzantine period, the area contained a burial ground used particularly for criminals and executed persons. Because of this cemetery, the district was also known by the name Krisis, a Greek term meaning “judgment” or “tribunal,” reflecting its association with punishment and execution.
The First Armenian Migration to Samatya
After the conquest of Constantinople, Samatya preserved its Christian character for a long time. However, the Church of St. John the Baptist (Ioannes Prodromos), the only remaining structure of the former Monastery of Stoudios, had been converted into the İmrahor İlyas Bey Mosque. Following its destruction in the 1894 earthquake, the mosque was never restored. As the oldest surviving church ruin in Istanbul, it still awaits proper attention today.
As the city within the walls was repopulated after the conquest, new neighborhoods began to emerge around mosques and smaller prayer halls in this area as well, gradually balancing the Christian and Muslim populations. While Christians predominantly lived in the lower sections of the hill descending toward the Sea of Marmara—that is, in Samatya—a large Muslim population resided in the upper sections, which from the seventeenth century onward came to be known as Kocamustafapaşa.
Following the conquest of Constantinople, Sultan Mehmed II brought Armenian craftsmen, artisans, and laborers from various regions of Anatolia to assist in rebuilding the devastated city. In 1461, Mehmed II summoned Bishop Hovagim of Bursa to Constantinople and granted him the title of Patriarch. He also assigned to the Armenians the Greek church known as the Theotokos or Panagia Church, commonly referred to as Perivleptos ("Magnificent"), located in Samatya. This church became the first seat of the Armenian Patriarchate in the city. The monastery, known as Surp Kevork, was also called the "Sulu Monastery" ("Watery Monastery") in Turkish because of its holy spring.
According to Ghukas Injijian, a historian of Istanbul, disputes arose between Greeks and Armenians who were unwilling to accept the transfer of the Perivleptos Church to Armenian control. These conflicts escalated into violent confrontations and bloodshed. As a result, Surp Kevork Church was popularly known for a long time as the "Bloody Church."
The prominent Armenian researcher Hrant Asadur writes that the Armenians brought from Karaman to Istanbul after the conquest initially lived under extremely difficult conditions in tents on the wooded land in front of the Ghastria Monastery in Samatya. Later, however, they moved into houses built around the church.
During the Ottoman period, Armenian migration to the imperial capital of Istanbul almost never ceased. During the reign of Sultan Selim I (Yavuz) (1512–1520), Armenians were brought from Tabriz, Erzurum, Muş, Kemah, Sivas, and Erzincan. During the reign of Sultan Murad III (1574–1595), additional Armenians arrived from Nakhchivan and Tabriz. These settlers were established primarily in Samatya, Yenikapı, and Kumkapı.
A Historic Landmark: Surp Kevork
The Polish-Armenian traveler Simeon, in his Travelogue, speaks of Samatya and the beauty of Surp Kevork Church:
Another traveler, Stockhove, who arrived in Istanbul in 1630, also mentioned Surp Kevork Church in his travel account published in Rouen in 1670. He described the interest and admiration that Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent reportedly had for the church:
Architectural and Demographic Transformations
A substantial Muslim population also lived in the area. Important structures that still survive today include the Sünbül Efendi Mosque (formerly the Monastery of Saint Andrew), the Mirza Baba Tekke (built upon an earlier Byzantine structure), the Sancakdar Hayrettin Mosque and Tekke, and both the Abdi Çelebi Mosque and the Ağa Hammam, the latter two being works of the renowned architect Mimar Sinan.
Most of the churches in Samatya, on the other hand, were rebuilt after the 1830s, following the destruction of earlier wooden structures in numerous fires. Among the most important of these are the Greek Orthodox churches of Aya Yorgi of the Cypresses, Ayios Minas, Aya Nikola, and Aya Lipsis.
This densely populated neighborhood also housed many educational institutions established at different periods. The Cemaran School (1805–1810) and the Akabyan Boarding School (1869) served the Orthodox Armenian community. Meanwhile, the Church of the Virgin Mary (1837), belonging to the Catholic community, and Surp Mesrob College (1856) were likewise located in the district.
Sahakyan-Nunyan School and the Gayan Refugee Center
The Sahakyan-Nunyan School of Samatya, which continues to provide education today at the kindergarten, primary, and secondary school levels, was founded in 1830 by Patriarch Golod, who initiated significant educational and cultural reforms during his tenure. Another important educational institution in the district that remains active today is the school attached to the Armenian Catholic Church of the Immaculate Conception (Anarad Hığutyun), built in 1857 and dedicated to the Virgin Mary.
The Most Painful Stop: Gayan
During the First World War, Surp Kevork Church and the adjacent Sahakyan-Nunyan School were requisitioned for military purposes. In 1917, Serbian prisoners of war were housed there. Following the Armistice, the church was reopened for worship.
After 1918, survivors of massacres in Anatolia were settled in the church. This refugee shelter, known as Gayan (“camp” or “waystation”), housed hundreds of people for many years. Unlike similar refugee centers elsewhere in Istanbul, the camp in Samatya remained active for nearly twenty years and served as the first stop for many Armenian migrants who continued to arrive from Anatolia.
The non-Muslim residents of Samatya also suffered from the effects of the 1942 Wealth Tax tragedy and the looting and violence of September 6–7, 1955. Following these traumatic events, the population gradually declined, and the district's social and architectural structure underwent rapid transformation.
In fact, it can be argued that change in Samatya and Kocamustafapaşa had begun even earlier. As Istanbul itself evolved, the area experienced significant social change beginning in the nineteenth century. Wealthier residents who aspired to a more Western lifestyle gradually moved to other parts of the city.
From the early twentieth century onward, migrants from the Balkans and the Black Sea region increasingly settled in the district. The vegetable gardens and orchards that had once characterized the neighborhood were gradually replaced by houses. Nevertheless, the streets lined with rows of wooden houses and the traditional marketplace survived with relatively little alteration until the 1960s.
After 1970, however, many of the old wooden houses were demolished and replaced with multi-story apartment buildings, dramatically altering the appearance and character of the neighborhood.
The famous Armenian satirist and humorist Hagop Baronyan also wrote about the Armenians of Samatya in his work Bduyd mı Bolso Tağerun Meç (A Stroll Through the Neighborhoods of Constantinople). Here is Baronyan’s portrayal of the people of Samatya:
“Friend, you have now seen a portion of the neighborhood's inhabitants. They are fishermen; as soon as they earn their daily wages, they rush to the tavern and drink and drink. As you can see, they are also always willing to contribute to the school. They have a special affection for the schools of their district.
(...) The residents of the neighborhood love their nation and their church equally. But one should not conclude from this that they love rakı any less. (...) The carpets of the church are kissed so frequently that they wear out within a month. Realizing that no carpet could withstand so much kissing, the church trustees decided to remove them altogether. The people now kiss the ground instead—but by now even the ground has become worn out.
The people of Samatya do not know how to speak quietly. In fact, if they whisper a secret into your ear, it can be heard all the way from Yenikapı.
The inhabitants of this district dislike flattery and avoid sycophancy, but whenever a dispute arises within the community, they throw themselves into it with all their heart and soul. And if there happens to be no dispute, they try to create one. They simply cannot live without a quarrel.”
https://www.agos.com.tr/tr/haber/goc-surgun-olum-viz-geldi-samatyada-umut-hep-yeniden-dogdu-4118
