Since 1892
From imperial visions to republican leadership – an immersive, multimedia timeline.
Explore the JourneyKabataş High School stands at the heart of Istanbul's educational legacy. This presentation curates rare photographs, archival documents, audio narratives, and leadership portraits to tell the school's story chronologically—from its beginnings as the Aşiret Mektebi in 1892 to its modern role as a beacon of academic excellence.
Every milestone is paired with visual or auditory artefacts sourced from the Kabataş collection. Dive into the timeline, meet illustrious alumni, and browse authentic documents that shaped this institution.
Deposed Sultan Abdülaziz is confined to the Feriye Mabeyn building—today the principal's office—and found dead four days later. The contested circumstances of his death transform the room into a poignant symbol of imperial decline preceding Kabataş High School's republican legacy.
Sultan Abdulhamid II inaugurates the Aşiret Mektebi on 21 September 1892 by imperial decree to educate 12- to 16-year-old sons of prominent tribal leaders within the Ottoman capital. The school first operates in Akaretler before moving into the Esma Sultan Mansion at Kabataş, laying the foundation for an elite boarding tradition.
The inaugural cohort draws from Halep, Baghdad, Syria, Mosul, Basra, Diyarbakır, Tripoli, Jerusalem, Benghazi, and Zur. Students receive a rigorous five-year boarding programme blending Qur'anic studies, canon law, and catechism with French, Turkish, geography, history, literature, and military sciences.
Rising prestige soon opens the doors to Kurdish and Albanian tribal heirs, making the school a dynastic melting pot whose graduates advance to Harbiye and Mülkiye. The Esma Sultan Mansion thus became the crucible in which imperial loyalty was reframed for a modernising state.
Following the Young Turk Revolution, the Aşiret Mektebi is repurposed as Kabataş Sultanisi, opening its doors to a wider student body while maintaining its elite boarding structure within the Esma Sultan complex.
Rapid growth strains finances and sparks clashes between Kurdish and Arab students, leading to the construction of an on-site police station. Archival accounts cite a food riot in 1906, while political unrest is widely believed to have prompted the school's closure in its imperial form.
The Balkan Wars claimed many Kabataş teachers and senior students. In mourning, the school retired its red-and-white pennant on 7 March 1913 and adopted a red-and-black flag that still flies today.
The colour shift symbolised a community bound by sacrifice: black for the fallen at the front, red for the resolve to continue their mission in classrooms overlooking the Bosphorus.
Many Kabataş seniors volunteered for the Gallipoli Campaign, and several never returned. Their classmates organised visits to the peninsula to tend graves and commemorate alumni who fell in 1915.
This remembrance tradition continues today: each anniversary, Kabataş students travel to Çanakkale to honour their predecessors, linking present-day graduates with the school’s wartime heritage.
The strain on the Esma Sultan Mansion triggers a full boarding expansion, underscoring the rising demand for Kabataş education and the school's ambition to welcome students from across the empire. Administrative reports emphasise that a larger, purpose-built campus is now a strategic necessity.
The Republic era repositions Kabataş within the Feriye Palace ensemble, designed by the Balyan family. The Mabeyn building becomes the main classroom block, permanently redefining the school's architectural identity.
Repurposing the mansion where Sultan Abdülaziz died in 1876 into the Principal's Office turns the site of imperial collapse into the command centre of republican education—an intentional symbol of regime change.
The restoration of the Ağalar Dairesi integrates laboratories and a conference hall, weaving modern pedagogical needs into the historical fabric of the campus.
What once housed palace officials now powers experiments, assemblies, and language instruction, illustrating how Kabataş activated every support structure in the Feriye complex for modern learning.
Amid wartime resource pressures, the middle school closes and the Beşiktaş Secondary School building is reassigned as a Kabataş dormitory block, cementing the institution's boarding tradition.
The post-war decade produces prominent cultural and civic leaders, from poet Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel to statesman Adnan Kahveci, reflecting the school's intellectual diversity.
Alumni busts and the Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel Museum on campus memorialise a leadership ethos grounded in public service, artistic innovation, and sporting integrity—core values distilled from archive studies.
A landmark restoration programme unifies the Feriye complex—including former police barracks—under the Kabataş educational campus. Modern laboratories, cultural venues, and technological upgrades revitalise the heritage environment.
Led by the Kabataş Education Foundation, the restorations also opened the Feriye Restaurant in the rehabilitated police station, creating a revenue model that sustains conservation of the entire complex.
Kabataş High School continues to produce national leaders across science, diplomacy, and the arts. Recent digital learning initiatives reinforce its reputation as a forward-looking institution rooted in tradition.
The archival survey details how each dynastic structure found a republican function: the Mabeyn as classrooms and administration, the dormitory block as mixed boarding, the Cultural Building for labs and conferences, and the revived Feriye Restaurant for cultural programming and financial resilience.
Today Kabataş serves roughly 700 students, including 250 boarders. The campus operates as an Education and Culture Site, balancing heritage preservation with cutting-edge science labs, language suites, and waterfront social venues.
The 4+4+4 model, introduced by Law No. 6287 in 2012, operates within the broader mandate of Law No. 1739 (Millî Eğitim Temel Kanunu). Continuity guarantees lifelong learning, while inclusiveness— strengthened by the 2014 disability amendment—ensures non-discriminatory access.
Special Education Services implement individualized education programmes (BEP) and support education rooms to integrate learners with additional needs while honoring compulsory attendance.
Vocational and Technical Education bridges school and labour market; the Ministry funds apprentice social security premiums, highlighting education's role in workforce planning.
The national plan prioritizes equal opportunity, skills-focused assessment reforms, and stronger industry partnerships—shifting emphasis from structural access to measurable quality.
School governance blends tradition with innovation. Explore the current leadership team guiding Kabataş High School's academic strategy.
Istanbul-trained Turkish Language and Literature specialist; completed successive graduate degrees in Çanakkale, Istanbul, and Bahçeşehir before earning his PhD in 2021. His academic route also includes ESL study in New York and an associate degree in Justice.
Began as a literature teacher at İnönü Vocational and Technical Anatolian High School, served as a reserve officer Turkish teacher, then rose through Beşiktaş district leadership roles. Principal of Kabataş High School since August 20, 2021, and a member of the Bahçeşehir University Educational Sciences Advisory Board.
Biographical studies trace how Kabataş forged national leaders across politics, literature, and sport. Each profile below synthesises archival findings to highlight the institution's enduring ethos of public service and principled sacrifice.
Poet, translator, and Kabataş High School alumnus who transformed early illness into a lifelong devotion to literature. He launched handwritten magazines such as Küçük Muharrir during his student years, graduated top of the Literature Department in 1936, and studied under Ali Nihat Tarlan and Ahmet Hamdi Tanpınar before embarking on a teaching career.
Necatigil taught at Kabataş High School for decades, mentoring writers like Hilmi Yavuz while publishing landmark poetry collections including Eski Toprak, Yaz Dönü, and influential radio plays and translations. His legacy endures through the Necatigil Poetry Award and the revived student magazine Dönme, celebrating the poet's lasting imprint on the school’s literary identity.
Graduated from Kabataş High School in 1957, completed political science studies in Ankara while reporting for the press, and earned his doctorate in constitutional law at the Sorbonne. He became a distinguished academic, CHP Member of Parliament for İzmir, and Minister of Culture in Bülent Ecevit’s cabinet.
After the 1980 coup he returned to the university, became a professor, and penned influential columns on secular democracy for Cumhuriyet. Awarded the Sertel Democracy Prize posthumously, his legacy is honoured with a bust in the Kabataş garden where he first forged his civic ideals.
Valedictorian of Kabataş High School’s 1966 class; excelled in electrical engineering at Purdue and earned a PhD at the University of Missouri before lecturing at Boğaziçi University. He joined Turgut Özal’s team, co-founded ANAP, and served as State and Finance Minister renowned for integrity and technological vision.
His reformist reports on democratization and the Kurdish question cemented his reputation as Türkiye’s “wonder child.” Kahveci’s life was cut short in the 1993 Bolu highway accident, yet his bust in the Kabataş garden keeps his reformist spirit alive for future generations.
Istanbul-born poet and educator who graduated from Istanbul University’s Turkish Language and Literature programme in 1962. After posts in Kırklareli and Zonguldak, he taught literature at Kabataş High School for 27 years, shaping nearly four decades of students with his refined language and love of poetry.
Tuncer’s verses appeared in Varlık, Yeditepe, and other journals; his collections Deniz Kapısı and Dön reflect hopeful, tender imagery. A bust erected on campus in 2006 honours his role as the school’s poetic voice and mentor.
Kabataş High School footballer turned Beşiktaş legend who scored the first goal at İnönü Stadium in 1947. His leadership extended from the pitch to the boardroom—after a playing career curtailed by injury, he presided over Beşiktaş J.K. between 1984 and 2000, capturing five league titles and embedding fair play in club culture.
Seba’s enduring ties to Kabataş—where he embraced literature under Faruk Nafiz Çamlıbel—are celebrated with a campus bust. His gentlemanly ethos continues to guide both the school’s alumni network and Turkish sport.
Gönen-born writer and teacher who channelled his military assignments in the Balkans into vivid nationalist short stories such as “Bomba.” A leading voice of the Genç Kalemler movement, he championed the New Language reforms that modernised Turkish prose.
From 1914 until his passing in 1920 he taught literature at Kabataş Sultani, inspiring generations who even organised his funeral procession. The school keeps his legacy alive through poetry competitions and retellings of his “Münferit Yalı” years.
Access selected primary sources and translated reports referenced throughout the timeline. Each file opens in a new tab for closer study.
“From Palace to Campus” — an English overview of Kabataş and Türkiye's 4+4+4 model.
“Saraydan Kampüse” — Kabataş’ın Aşiret Mektebi’nden günümüze uzanan hikâyesini Türkçe dinleyin.
“Dal Palazzo al Campus” — la storia del Liceo Kabataş narrata in italiano.
„Vom Palast zum Campus“ — Die Geschichte des Kabataş-Gymnasiums auf Deutsch erzählt.
“Del Palacio al Campus” — la historia del Liceo Kabataş narrada en español.
