The main campus of Kadir Has University is situated only few meters away from the Haliç, which is also well known to English speakers as “the Golden Horn” since Ottoman times. Behind the ancient Byzantine walls stands the oldest part of Istanbul, which is called Cibali. After the conquest of Istanbul the Cibali area started to develop. Ottoman warehouses and caulkers along the Haliç shore of Cibali gave witness to the flourishing businesses in that part of the area. Cibali gates were instrumental in getting these goods from the port and into the city.
Cibali was associated with two things very closely: tobacco and fire. As it was a bustling trade center and there were many caulkers using flammable material in the construction of ships, there were, of course, many fires in the neighborhood. Nevertheless, Cibali Tobacco factory founded in 1884 changed the neighborhood socially and economically. The Tekel Cibali Cigarette Factory was like a small town complete with local police and civil servants, hospitals, a day care centre, grocery stores, schools, a fire department, sport facilities, trade unions, and restaurants.
The factory remained under French administration for forty years and with the establishment of the republic, the control of the factory passed to the Turkish state in 1925. For many years the factory processed, stored and sold tobacco. However, in 1995 it was shut down and the building was abandoned. Two years later in 1997, the Finance Ministry handed the buildings over to Kadir Has University. Dr. Mehmet Alper was appointed architect in charge of restoration and renovation of the factory buildings into a university campus. Between 1998 and 2002, the Tekel Cibali Cigarette Factory was transformed into an institution of higher education by the Kadir Has Foundation. After four years of restoration work, Kadir Has University Cibali campus officially opened its doors on January 30, 2002. Now the new KHU campus combines elegant facades, sunny atria, and large, airy interiors with quality education and research facilities. Thus, the new campus of KHU represents a major step in fulfilling the university’s mission of building a future out of the country’s past, by establishing in the heart of Istanbul a hub where culture, education and scientific research meet to address the changing needs of Turkey and the world.
