on
Büyükdere Avenue in Levent. (1973), the oldest of three suspension bridges and two tunnels which connect Istanbul's Asian and European sides. In the early 19th century, during the final years of the reign of Sultan
Selim III, the first military compound of the
Nizam-ı Cedid (New Order) Army was built in Levent; which was then known as the
Levend(Levent) Çiftliği (Levend Farmlands), eventually becoming known as the
Levend(Levent) Kışlası (Levend Barracks). In 1868, during the first territorial organization of the Istanbul Municipality, Levend (Levent) was placed within the district of
Beşiktaş (which was designated as the
7th Area of the Istanbul Municipality), having remained within this district ever since. The modern neighbourhood of Levent was formed in 1947, when Emlak Kredi Bankası (a Turkish bank which was established to finance housing projects) chose the Levent area for constructing a well-planned residential compound, formed mostly of
villa type houses with gardens. After the completion of the first phase of the Levent project in 1960, numerous other residential compounds were constructed in the area, eventually extending towards nearby
Etiler. Starting from the late 1980s and early 1990s, with initial projects such as the
Sabancı Center,
Yapı Kredi Towers, TAT Towers,
Metrocity Towers and
İş Bankası Towers, Levent became a popular location for constructing new
skyscrapers, mostly owned by Turkish
banks and
conglomerates. One of the city's major
skyline clusters (together with those of
Maslak and
Şişli on the European side; and
Ataşehir and
Kozyatağı on the Asian side of Istanbul) is located in Levent. At present, Levent hosts the tallest skyscraper of Istanbul and Turkey, the 54-floor
Istanbul Sapphire; while the construction of numerous new
mixed-use skyscraper projects and
shopping malls are ongoing in the neighbourhood, which has evolved into a
central business district. == Image gallery ==