Sports & Living

Sports and living in Bornova

Bornova's everyday culture through sports facilities and living spaces.

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Turkey's First Bicycle Races

Erzene

While different sources cite different dates regarding athletics and cycling sports on Turkish soil during the Ottoman period, Bornova has been the city of firsts in both disciplines. According to Prof. Dr. Gunver Gunes's book Modern Sports' Entry into Izmir, the first athletics race in Turkey was organized in Buca in 1892. However, even two years before that date (1890), Bornova...

Sports

City of Firsts in Sports

Erzene

First Golf Club: Following the golf club established in Istanbul Maslak in 1895, the first golf club in Anatolia during the Ottoman period was founded in Bornova in 1905 (Hasan Mert. Journal of Historical Studies, Volume 23, Issue 1, July 2008). However, from a photograph found in the archive of the Giraud Family living in Bornova, we learn that golf was already being played in the garden of the Paterson Family's mansion in 1900...

Bust

First Football Pitch

Kazımdirik

In the second half of the 1800s, as the Ottoman Empire's integration with Western civilizations intensified, the Levantine families in Izmir in particular assumed a guiding role, causing Izmir to become acquainted with many firsts in Western civilization and culture. The foremost among these firsts is football. According to the Tercuman Sports Encyclopedia published in 1970 and Turkey's Football...