KULELI MILITARY HIGH SCHOOL
Kuleli Military High School is one of the rare historic buildings on the Bosphorus, constructed in a modern architectural style in the first half of the 19th century, located between Istanbul’s Çengelköy and Vaniköy neighborhoods. The history of the site dates back to the Byzantine period. It is known that during the Byzantine era, a tower and monastery stood on the site where the barracks now lie, and following the conquest of Constantinople, the area was converted into an imperial garden (hasbahçe) for growing vegetables and flowers for the palace.
In 1828, a single-story wooden cavalry barracks was built within the garden. During the reign of Sultan Abdülmecid (1839–1861), the barracks burned down and was rebuilt as a semi-masonry structure. With the addition of towers on both sides of the building, it began to be called “Kuleli Barracks” (Kuleli Kışla, meaning “with towers”) from that time onward.
In 1862–1863, the barracks was rebuilt by Garabed Amira Balyan, one of the Ottoman Empire’s Armenian palace architects. The new structure was two stories high, with masonry exterior walls, and timber partitions, ceilings, and floors—initially without towers. However, during this reconstruction, the original facade character was lost, and in 1909, an additional building was constructed next to it. The structure, having lost its original Empire-style features, took on an eclectic architectural character.
In 1968, the historic main building’s interior was entirely converted into reinforced concrete, and concrete towers were added to the structure. Over time, the building has served various functions including as barracks, a school, hospital, and dormitory.
Today, it operates as an educational institution under the National Defense University (Milli Savunma Üniversitesi), hosting several of the university’s academic programs.
As ALBA İnşaat, we completed the restoration of the building between 2009 and 2014.