Historic Building sights in Istanbul
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Çiçek Pasajı
Back when promenading down the Rue de Pera (now İstiklal Caddesi) was the height of fashion, the Cité de Pera building was İstanbul's most glamorous address. Built in 1876 and decorated in Second Empire style, it housed a shopping arcade and apartments. The arcade is now known as the Çiçek Pasajı (Flower Passage) and is full of boistrous meyhanes (taverns).
As Pera declined in the mid-20th century, so too did this building. Its once-stylish shops gave way to rough meyhanes where beer barrels were rolled out onto the pavement, marble slabs were balanced on top, wooden stools were arranged and enthusiastic revellers caroused the night away. It continued in this vein…
reviewed
-
B
Patisserie Lebon
In Pera's heyday, there was no more glamorous spot to see and be seen than Patisserie Lebon. Its gorgeous art nouveau interior featured chandeliers, a decorative tiled floor and large tiled wall panels designed by Alexandre Vallaury, the architect of the Pera Palace Hotel. Though now sadly functioning as a fast-food joint, much of its interior has been retained.
The patisserie is one of the best-loved buildings in Beyoğlu, as much for its history as for its interior design. After decades as the Lebon, the business was taken over by Avedis Çakır in 1940 and renamed Patisserie Markiz. It continued to trade until the 1960s, when Pera's decline and a lack of customers led to…
reviewed
-
C
Pera Palace Hotel
The Pera Palas was a project of Georges Nagelmackers, the Belgian entrepreneur who linked Paris and Constantinople with his famous Orient Express train service. The 1892 building has undergone a €23-million restoration in recent years and claims to have regained its position as İstanbul's most glamorous hotel. Its bar, patisserie, tea lounge and restaurant are open to the public.
Nagelmackers founded the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits et Grands Express Européens in 1868. The Orient Express service first operated in 1883 and Nagelmackers soon realised that İstanbul had no suitably luxurious hotels where his esteemed passengers could stay. His solution was to…
reviewed
-
D
Palace of Constantine Porphyrogenitus
Though only a shell these days, the remnants of this Byzantine palace give a good idea of how it would have looked in its heyday. Built in the late 13th or early 14th century, the large three-storied structure may have been an annex of the nearby imperial Palace of Blachernae, of which few traces exist today.
The building's later uses were not so regal: after the Conquest it functioned in turn as a menagerie for exotic wild animals, a brothel, a poorhouse for destitute Jews and a pottery.
The structure was undergoing restoration works at the time of research. When these are completed an entry fee may be levied.
reviewed
-
E
Caferağa Medresesi
This lovely little building tucked away in the shadows of Aya Sofya was designed by Sinan on the orders of Cafer Ağa, Süleyman the Magnificent's chief black eunuch. Built in 1560 as a school, it is now home to a cultural organisation teaching and promoting traditional Turkish handicrafts. It has a pleasant lokanta and çay bahçesi (tea garden) in the courtyard.
reviewed
-
F
Alay Köşkü
reviewed