Merkez Park

About this place

One of Türkiye's largest city parks is not in Istanbul or Ankara but on the two banks of the Seyhan River in the middle of Adana: some 33 hectares of lawn and water and more than 400,000 trees, shrubs and plantings, opened by the metropolitan municipality in 2004, with the west bank fully finished in 2008. It runs from the Sabancı Central Mosque at its southern end to the Galleria shopping mall in the north, and the mosque's six minarets appear in almost every sightline, which is why so many of the best-known photographs of Adana are taken from here. What is inside is plain and real: roughly 3 km of paved walking and cycling paths, a dozen ornamental pools, a 2,100-seat open-air amphitheatre at the northern end used for summer concerts, and a children's playground of more than two hectares, one of the largest in the city, plus a skating rink, cafes and riverside tea gardens, with the Sinanpaşa suspension footbridge linking the two banks. A quay on the river sends gondolas and pedal boats out in season, which is the gentlest way to see the bridges and the minarets from water level. The ground is dead flat and the paths are smooth, so pushchairs roll easily and older relatives find a shaded bench every few steps. The only real skill here is timing. Adana is among the hottest cities in Türkiye; from June to September afternoons regularly pass 35 C and often push toward 40, and the park is close to empty by day. Locals come out after late afternoon, and by sunset it fills with families, joggers and roast-corn sellers, staying busy well into the night. In winter and spring it is at its best at any hour, and a January walk in the sun here is a pleasure Istanbul cannot offer. Is it worth a dedicated visit? If you are spending a night or two in Adana, yes, as an evening stroll rather than a daytime activity. The best version enters from the mosque after the sunset prayer, walks north along one bank, and returns along the other toward the old Roman stone bridge, Taşköprü, about a kilometre south of the park. Entry is free and the park never closes; the car park under the mosque beats hunting for a space on Fuzuli Street.