Pendik

Pendik is a district on the Anatolian Side of Istanbul, with a coastline on the Marmara Sea and located on the Kocaeli Peninsula. It is surrounded by Tuzla in the southeast, Kocaeli's Gebze district in the east, Şile and Çekmeköy in the north, Kartal, Sancaktepe and Sultanbeyli in the west, and the Marmara Sea in the south. The oldest known name of the district is Pantikapeun. During the Roman, Byzantine, Eastern Roman and Latin Empire periods, the names Pantichion, Panlihion and Tayni Tiyni, meaning five walls surrounded by walls on all sides, were also used. These names have changed since the Ottoman period and are used as Pendik today. Archaeological artifacts from the Pendik settlement, dating back to the late neolithic age, are exhibited in the Istanbul Archaeological Museum. Although Macedonians are known as the oldest settlement in Pendik, human remains dating back 3-4 thousand years were found during excavations. Although it remained with the Seljuks in 1080-1083 after Roman and Eastern Roman domination, it fell into the hands of the Latin Empire again. In 1306, it came under Ottoman rule, but this led to Byzantine efforts to regain it, and these efforts were unsuccessful with the Battle of Pelekanon in 1329-1330. Pendik, which remained empty until Abdurrahman Gazi took it over during the reign of Yıldırım Bayezid in 1400, has been a settlement completely under Turkish rule since then. Pendik, which was a small fishing town under Ottoman rule, was completely destroyed by a big fire. According to sources, after the 50-hour fire that destroyed 1200 houses and shops, Azaryan Efendi, the Chairman of the Notary Assembly, Senate and Foreign Affairs Committee, brought engineers and architects from Paris and had the plans of the new settlement drawn. He also put his signature on the plans by having the first letter of his name placed in the city center. Today, the lines formed by Gazipaşa-İsmetpaşa and Orhan Maltepe Streets are still the busiest center of the district. While it was a village in the Gebze district during the Ottoman period, it later became a township within the Kartal Sanjak of the Üsküdar Governorate. Finally, it became a district with the law number 3392 published in the Official Gazette number 19507 on 04.07.1987 and completed its organization and became operational on 11.08.1988. In the district, between Kaynarca and Pendik, 50 meters from the coast, an old settlement dating from the neolithic period, thought to have been founded in 6500 BC, was found with 32 graves and house foundation ruins.