Camondo Stairs

Z. Ayse Kiyas Aslanturk/Shutterstock

Camondo Stairs in Galata, İstanbul, seen from above: two curved stone flights meeting at a central landing above the street

Gifted to the city by the banker Abraham Camondo in the 19th century, the curvaceous Camondo Staircase(Kamondo Merdivenleri) is one of Beyoğlu's most distinctive pieces of urban design. Connecting the major thoroughfare of Bankalar Caddesi with Bereketzade Medresesi Sokak, one of the streets that leads up to Galata Tower, the staircase was famously photographed by Henri Cartier-Bresson in 1964, an act emulated by amateur photographers ever since.

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