yalı

thumb|Yalı of Ahmet Afif Pasha in Yeniköy, Istanbul|Yeniköy on the European coast of the [[Bosphorus strait, designed by Alexandre Vallaury.]]

A yalı (, from Greek yialí (mod. yialós), literally "seashore, beach") is a house or mansion built right on the waterside (almost exclusively seaside, particularly on the Bosphorus strait in Istanbul) and usually built with an architectural concept that takes into account the characteristics of the coastal location. A family who owned a waterside residence would spend some time in this usually secondary residence located at the sea shore, as opposed to the konak ("mansion", aside from the term's use to refer to buildings with administrative functions) or the köşk ("pavilion", often serving a determined practical purpose, such as hunting, or implying a temporary nature). Thus, going to the "yalı" acquired the sense of both going to the seaside and to the house situated there. In its contemporary sense, the term "yalı" is used primarily to denote those 620 waterside residences constructed during the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries and sprinkled along the Bosphorus in Istanbul. As such, they are one of the area's landmarks.