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Sile district in Istanbul

Sile is a pretty resort town on the Black Sea coast of Istanbul, on the Asian side, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) northeast from the city center. It can be reached via side roads passing from Polonezkoy or directly from the TEM Highway. The name of Sile comes from Greek, which means a kind of flower (Mercankösk in Turkish).

Sile has long sandy beaches and it gets very popular especially during the summer time. Its population is around 35thousand but it triples during the holiday season, even up to 10 times during the summer weekends. During the spring and on nice autumn weekends, people from Istanbul comes to Sile to taste the fish in one of the restaurants around the fishermens' harbor or to stroll in its narrow streets. The town has the biggest lighthouse of Turkey which is a small restaurant today overlooking the Blacksea, it also became the symbol of Sile. Just above the harbor, there are ruins of a Genoese fortress on the steep rocks which was also used during the Ottoman period.

Sile town is famous for its special cotton fabric, called Sile Bezi. Turkish women love this textile because it's very light thus nice to wear during hot summer days. Many shops in the market sell clothing, tablecloths and other stuff made with Sile Bezi. There is a local Sile Bezi Festival every year between July-August.

Sile has many small hotels and pensions where people can stay for the weekend having a short sea holiday. When it's windy, the Black Sea can be rough and sometimes dangerous to swim because of high waves and strong undercurrents. Many people from Istanbul have their summer houses too.

Isik University has a campus in Sile, just before entering the town. It's one of the newest private universities of Turkey.

Another nice resort town near Sile is Agva, which is about 25 kilometers (16 miles) east of Sile.

Hope to see you soon in Istanbul.