Ataköy Gunpowder Mill

Ataköy Gunpowder Mill (Baruthane-i Âmire in Ottoman Turkish) is a historical complex that is located on Ataköy, Bakırköy, Istanbul. It is administratively under Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality, and is close to Bakırköy Sahil (Istanbul Metro).

After the fall of Constantinople Ottoman Turks had built some gunpowder mills in there. The first gunpowder mill in the Ottoman capital served in what was once Hippodrome of Constantinople until 1490. Then, due to safety it was decided to move the new gunpowder mill outside Constantinople, and it was built in Kağıthane, and operated until the end of Ibrahim I's reign. Another gunpowder mill was built in Şehremini, inside Constantinople but it and the surrounding area were destroyed by the explosion of stored gunpowder. Thus, it was for certain determined to build a gunpowder mill outside Constantinople, and select the garden of İskender Çelebi what is now in Bakırköy. In Makriköy (Bakırköy) İskender Çelebi, a 16th-century defterdar in Ottoman Empire, had created a vast garden. Why the gunpowder mill was constructed in the garden what is Ataköy now are that there was a stream near the garden for gunpowder production, and that the...