An Address That Tells a Story
Eski Kısıklı Caddesi, Üsküdar. For those who know Istanbul, that address says something before a single word of marketing has been spoken. Kısıklı sits in the Çamlıca quarter of Üsküdar, on the elevated green hillsides of the Asian shore, with views across the Bosphorus to the European city beyond and it is one of the most treasured, most family oriented and most prestigious residential addresses on either side of Istanbul. The fact that RGS Istanbul is here, in this neighbourhood, on these hills, is not an accident. It is a statement of intent.
“On the hills above the Bosphorus, in one of Istanbul’s most loved and storied neighbourhoods, a new kind of school is taking shape.”
Kısıklı and Çamlıca: A Neighbourhood That Families Already Choose
Çamlıca is built across two iconic hills, Büyük and Küçük Çamlıca, offering panoramic views of the Bosphorus and the Istanbul skyline that are among the most spectacular in the city. The neighbourhood is characterised by luxury villa developments, established Turkish family life, a strong sense of community and a culture that prizes quality of life over urban intensity. Property in the premium segments of Çamlıca and Kısıklı commands some of the highest values on the Asian side, a reflection of the neighbourhood’s enduring desirability.
This is the community that RGS Istanbul will call home. Not a school in the commercial bustle of Beşiktaş or the corporate density of Levent, but a school woven into the fabric of a neighbourhood where families already live, already gather and already share the values of heritage, calm, family and excellence, that define the RGS ethos.
Space, Greenery, and Room to Grow
The physical setting of a school matters more than it is often given credit for. Children who learn in calm, green, well-resourced environments, where they have space to move, to breathe and to encounter nature, consistently demonstrate better wellbeing, greater focus, and stronger emotional regulation than those in dense, urban environments with little outdoor space.
RGS Istanbul’s campus on Eski Kısıklı Caddesi offers exactly the kind of environment that supports great learning. The green hills of Kısıklı provide a setting that is calm without being remote, prestigious without being isolated, and genuinely beautiful in a way that daily life in many of Istanbul’s more congested districts simply does not offer.
Perfectly Connected to the Families Who Matter Most
The school’s location is ideally positioned to serve the communities it is designed for. The primary catchment, Kısıklı, Çamlıca, Altunizade, Çengelköy, Kandilli, Acıbadem and Bağlarbaşı encompasses the most affluent and family-oriented sub-districts of Üsküdar, all within 10 to 15 minutes of the school. For the families who live here, RGS Istanbul is not a school they will travel to, it is a school that has arrived in their own community.
The secondary catchment extends across wider Üsküdar and into Kadıköy, Moda, Caddebostan, and the Bosphorus-shore villages of Anadolu Hisarı and Kanlıca, all well connected to the school by road. The Marmaray metro at Üsküdar station, the Bosphorus bridges, and the FSM Bridge also make the school accessible for families on the European side who are willing to cross for a school of this calibre, and many will.
The Neighbourhood as Part of the Education
At RGS Istanbul, we believe that a school’s location is not merely a logistical fact, it is part of the education itself. The neighbourhood of Kısıklı and Çamlıca carries centuries of Istanbul’s history within it: Ottoman heritage, Bosphorus culture, the rhythms of a city that has always stood at the intersection of East and West. For students at RGS Istanbul, growing up and learning in this neighbourhood is an education in itself, in history, in culture, in the extraordinary complexity and beauty of one of the world’s great cities.
The combination of 350 years of British educational tradition and one of Istanbul’s most storied neighbourhoods is, we believe, unique. There is nowhere else in Istanbul where that combination exists. And for families who understand what both of those things mean, there is nowhere else they would choose.
Come and talk to us about our new campus. Contact our admissions team to arrange a visit to Eski Kısıklı Caddesi.
