The Princes Islands

Members of the expedition: Olena Ilnytska, Nataliia Berezina, Oleksii Pomazov, Serhii Ilchenko

In every our journey there is a moment when we take a public transport and go to the terminus, having no clue what awaits us there. The random traveling is kind of a sport. We find ourselves in incredibly interesting places just because of this uncertainty.

So it happened this time. Walking around Istanbul in May of 2012, my friends and I jumped on a small ferry, heading to the Princes Islands. The only thing we knew about these islands is that they were one of the favorite vacation spots of Ankara residents. Things we have seen inspired us to learn about this Turkish spark a little bit more.

The Princess Islands own their name to their titled residents: since Byzantine times, the island had been a place where unwanted children of the imperial nobility and the disgraced priests were sent to.

Eventually, monarch’s residences and villas of rich Istanbul people appeared here. This resulted in rather eclectic buildings being built up. Among them, a huge wooden structure builds up in 1898 stands out. It was meant to become a hotel and casino but served as an orphanage for Greek orphans. The building was erected in a short time, so it was decided to use the wood that is easy to process. We were lucky to enjoy the view of the “descendants” of this structure on the Büyükada Island, the last stop of our trip.

At first, the island didn’t impress us at all. But as soon as we departed from the port, we saw a stunning view of the elegant building. The buildings (that had from two to four stories) were quite different in color compared to the ones in Istanbul. It was an amazing white town, filled with elegant wood details.

Houses on Büyükada impressed us greatly: this is kind of a visual aid for working with a wooden facade.

Each building definitely had its author. Because what we’ve seen by no means resemble a provincial folk art. It is difficult to remember where else I could have seen so many complex details and textures in a single structure.

White wooden lace of the largest of the Princes Islands is a great place to study sketching and the details made of wood. I hope to visit this place with the student group in summer.

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