Tersane Istanbul is a rousing inner-city development project in Istanbul, transforming the largest industrial heritage site of Türkiye into a thriving waterfront neighborhood and a world-class destination.

Rising on the site of Tersane-i Amire (the Imperial Shipyard) cluster on the north bank of the Golden Horn, the ambitious masterplan is set to breathe new life into the historic waterfront, while converting the colossal heritage industrial complex of into a city- within-the-city with a vibrant blend of five-star hotels, retail and social spaces, museums, arts, culture and performance centers, residential areas, marinas and an astonishing nearly two- kilometer promenade along the Golden Horn.

With its calm waters that define the northern edge of the Historic Peninsula, where the Old Istanbul stands in all its glory and where also the ancient Byzantium and former Constantinople developed, the Golden Horn has always been a prominent feature in the topography of Istanbul. In fact, it was the strategic benefits of this natural harbor that enabled the development of three universal empires in Istanbul.

From the 7th century BC onwards the banks of the Golden Horn have attracted settlers, allowing Constantinople to flourish as a powerful port city. After the Conquest of Constantinople in 1453, as the city was rebuilt to serve as the empire’s capital and regain its role as a vital commercial hub, there was an even bigger influx of merchants from all quarters of the world that contributed to the cosmopolitan nature of the area.

The Golden Horn has been surrounded by shipyards, merchant houses and warehouses since the Byzantine era due to its highly strategic position for trade, and it has become one of the major industrial zones in the Ottoman and Republican periods.

Shouldering the industrial load of the city for centuries, the Golden Horn allowed itself to be overshadowed by the beauty of the Bosphorus. Until recently...

Every city has a downtown, Istanbul has plenty! That is to be expected from a mega- city that stands out as the only city in the world straddling on two continents and having served as the capital of three greatest empires in history.

Although it has grown into a multi-centered city, Istanbul’s true heart and soul has always remained on and around the banks of the Golden Horn.

Serving as a hub for industrial production for centuries and classed as a conversation site in 1995, Tersane-i Amire is waking up to a completely different life.

Tersane Istanbul is bringing life back on this part of the Golden Horn and giving back the area its essence as a new, vibrant downtown with a strong focus on connectivity with the water and continuity of the culture of the neighborhood.