Ataturk Boulevard
The photograph from the 1940’s shows an aerial view of the Atatürk boulevard from the vantage point from Unkapani to Saraçhane. In his article, “Reshaping Istanbul Under Kemalist Principles 1933 – 1950” Murat Gül describes the changing urban layout and rise of Kemalism in the city. In the inter-war period, European architects and urban planners, notably, French architect and urban planner Henri Prost, proposed urban plans to the municipality of Istanbul with aims of ‘modernizing’ the city. Throughout the 1940’s, Prost planned the extension of the Atatürk boulevard to Unkapani, as a main axis to connect the Istanbul peninsula to Beyoglu. The road’s production had been started by Auric (1911) during the late-Ottoman era, and completed by Prost, who viewed its completion as a way to connect the Eastern and Western parts of the peninsula. Along this major traffic route, there were several squares with obelisks, including the Atatürk Esplanade on the Marmara shore. Until 1973, when a third bridge was built across the Golden Horn, the Atatürk boulevard was the main transportation route that connected the peninsula to Beyoglu. It is also known as one of Prost’s only proposals for the city which took effect.
Source:
Murat Gul, “Istanbul under Kemalist Principles 1933-1950.” The Emergence of Modern Istanbul: Transformation and Modernization of a City. London: I.B. Tauris, 2009, 92-126.