SELIMIYE BARRACKS
A little South from Uskudar on a hill you’ll notice a big square four towered structure, the Selimiye Barracks.
Sultan Selim III (1889-1807) had here the first military barracks built (around 1800) to house his new army. However, since he couldn’t control the Corps of Janissaries, Selim III was deposed and the barracks were burnt down in a Janissaries insurrection.
When finally Sultan Mahmut II (1808-1839) destroyed the Corps of Janissaries, he had new barracks built in 1828 and named the complex, as a memory to Sultan Selim III, the Selimiye Barracks (Selimiye Kislasi).
His successor Sultan Abdul Mecit I (1839-1861) had the barracks expanded around 1850.
During the Crimean War (1853 - 1856) the building served as a military hospital.
A till that time little known British nurse Florence Nightingale, organised a party of 38 nurses for service in that war. Thanks to the hygienic, medical and organisation measures she took, the death rate in the hospital dropped from 20 to 2 percent.
The barracks fulfil their military function again but a small museum in remembrance of Florence Nightingale is open on Saturdays from 10:00 till 16:00.
Florence Nightingale’s former living quarters may be visited when you have permission from the officer in charge.
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