Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi

Hezârfen Ahmed Çelebi (Hezarfen means "a thousand sciences" polymath) was legendary Ottoman aviator of Istanbul, who was the first man ever flown. In 1630 he flew from Glata Tower to Dogancilar Square over Bosphorus. The distance between Galata Tower and Dogancilar is 3.5km, and height of Galata Tower is 97.6m above sea, Dogancilar Square height is 12m aboive sea.

After his succesful attempt, Sultan Murad IV franted hi a sack of golden coins, but Sultan's assistants found Hezarfen as dangerous man due to his intelligence and Sultan sent him exile to Algeria and Hezarfen died over there.

At Layla, we wanted to pay tribute to this legendary aviator of Istanbul and introduce it to you...