FROM TATAVLA TO KURTULUS |
Educational Buildings
KURTULUŞ RUM PRIMARY SCHOOL
The present day Kurtuluş Rum primary school was constructed in 1886 with three storeys and nine classrooms as the Tatavla Boys School near to Ayios Dimitrios Church on the road leading to the present day Sefa Square and opened on 31st May 1887. In the currency of the time the expenditure was 135,000 kurush.
A marble inscription on the wall at the entrance to the school lists the following names as those who made large donations to the construction of the building:
Istanbul Governor His Excellency Mahar Pasha
The sons of Zanni Stefanovik Skilitçis
Apostolos Stamatiadis
Ioannis Stamatiadis
Tatavla Friends of the Poor Association
Elpis Association
Tatavla Education Association
The people of Tatavla
Eleni Kanavalof
The school was quite modern in educational terms for the times and the subjects on offer included Rum, Ottoman Turkish, French and commerce. Today it is a mixed primary school and is the only Rum school left in Kurtuluş.
KURTULUŞ YOUTH CLUB
This building constructed in 1896 was established with the purpose of providing educational assistance and was used by the association know by the name of ‘Prodoos’ (progress). When the administrators of the association abandoned Istanbul in 1923, the İraklis Gymnastic Club moved into this imposing neoclassical building. The salon behind this building called the ‘Zaharafio’ built with the material assistance of Sir Basil Zaharoff is one of the oldest indoor sports salons in Istanbul.
The building known in the Republican era as the "Kurtuluş Youth Club" was miraculously saved from the great fire of 1929. It was damaged in the events of 6-7th September 1955. Nevertheless, in 1996 it celebrated its centenary and has survived to this day.