Neşetsuyu Nature Park

Neşetsuyu Nature Park is located in the Belgrad Forest, adjacent to Bahçeköy District of Istanbul Province,Sarıyer District, and was declared as a Nature Park on 11.07.2011 with an area of ​​67.47 hectares. It is one of the most beautiful Nature Parks in the Belgrad Forest and is the most sought-after area in the forest.   The 5524-hectare Belgrad Forest, which also includes the Neşetsuyu Nature Park, is home to priceless architectural works that have survived to the present day, approximately 400 plants, 169 birds, 56 butterflies and hundreds of mushroom species, as well as many mammals, reptiles and amphibians.   Belgrad Forest has embraced primitive communities for shelter and hunting since the Mesolithic Period, and when it comes to more recent periods, it gained great importance during the Byzantine Empire. Firstly, in this period, it had the function of providing drinking water to the city, which it would continue uninterruptedly for centuries. Upon understanding that the forest was one of the lifebloods of the city, many water structures were built, such as the Bozdoğan Aqueduct (Valens Aqueduct), which still stands today. Belgrad Forest, which started to lose its former importance with the destruction of water structures due to the crusades to Istanbul, became the capital of the Ottoman Empire after the conquest of Istanbul, especially during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, by Mimar Sinan from Belgrad Forest to Edirnekapı. It started to gain importance again with the construction of Kırkçeşme Waterway stretching out and Taksim Water Facilities. In the Belgrad Forest, besides Taksim and Kırkçeşme Water Facilities, there were also very famous spring waters. One of the spring waters in Belgrad Forest is "Neşet Suyu". In the nature park, which was named after Müderris Neşet Bey, who was the rector of the "Forest School Alisi", now known as "Istanbul University Faculty of Forestry", the memory of Müderris Neşet Bey was honored by placing a memorial stone in the area. Müderris Neşet Bey also made an effort for the rehabilitation of Belgrad Forests.   In order to preserve the integrity of the forest, which took its name from the village called "Belgrade" because Suleiman the Magnificent placed the Serbian prisoners of war he brought with him on his return from the Belgrade expedition in 1521, edicts were issued by almost all of the Ottoman sultans.