Emirgan Park

Emirgan Park stretches across about 47 hectares on the European shore of the Bosphorus in Sariyer, making it one of Istanbul's largest public parks. The land was given by Sultan Murad IV in the 17th century to the Persian prince Emirguneoglu Yusuf Pasha, who built a summer residence here. The yellow, pink and white pavilions still standing in the park date from the late 19th century, when the Egyptian Khedive Ismail Pasha redesigned the grounds in the English landscape style. Emirgan is best known for the annual April tulip festival, when several million tulip bulbs bloom in geometric patterns across the hillside lawns. Visitors wander between ponds, pavilion cafes and old plane trees, picnic on the slopes and catch glimpses of the Bosphorus through the canopy.