Irmak is one of the nine nature parks inside the Belgrad forest, declared on 11 July 2011 and named after the stream running through it. It covers about ten hectares, and oak and hornbeam are the dominant trees.
What sets it apart are the waterworks of the Kirkçesme supply system standing inside it. The Büyük Bend is one; another is the Çiftehavuz, which has lost much of its original form through repairs made at various times but still does the work it was built for. The approach is from the Maslak-Bahçeköy direction. It has capacity for 2,500 visitors and 350 vehicles.
The park lies on the right of the Bahçeköy–Kemerburgaz road, signposted from either direction and facing the Kirazlıbent nature park across the road. Without a car, the usual route is to take the metro to Hacıosman, the last stop on the Yenikapı–Hacıosman line, or a bus from Zincirlikuyu, ride on to Bahçeköy and cover the last stretch by taxi.
Under the oaks and hornbeams grow oriental beech, alder, sweet chestnut, blackthorn, laurustinus, ivy, butcher's broom and bramble. The wildlife is that of the Belgrad forest as a whole: wild boar, golden jackal, deer and roe deer, fox, wolf and marten, with buzzards, sparrowhawks, woodpeckers and finches among the birds. Picnic areas and forest footpaths make it a day-trip park, and it holds the second entrance to a six-kilometre running and walking track that starts in the Neşetsuyu nature park. The nature conservation directorate asks visitors to take care at the edges of the dams and ponds.
- Designated
- 11.07.2011
Entry fee
- Marmara group 2 · category 1 · Per person
- 75 ₺
Visiting hours
- Visiting hours
- 09:00 - 20:00
When to go
- Climate
- Across İstanbul as a whole, monthly mean temperatures run from 6.8 °C in January to 24.7 °C in August; the mean stays between 15 and 25 °C in May, June, July, August, September and October; rainfall is heaviest in December (99 mm) and lightest in July (22 mm). Long-term means for 1950-2025 from the Turkish State Meteorological Service (MGM).
