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La Grande Rue On my first trip to Turkey in 1967, I arrived in Istanbul to find Istiklal Caddesi (Independence Avenue) a roaring traffic speedway, the cars and trucks depositing their pall of gritty exhaust on the century-old buildings. Now it's a pedestrian mall, and many of the buildings have been cleaned and renovated. The former Grande Rue de Péra is now Istanbul's favorite strolling-and-window-shopping thoroughfare. Along it are sights such as the large Catholic Church of St Antoine (center of picture) and the huge former embassies (now consulates-general) of France, Holland, Russia and Sweden. Off the street down narrow passageways are surprises such as the Greek Orthodox Church of Panaya Isodyon and the Ashkenazi Synagogue, all still in operation. Istiklâl (eess-teek-LyAL) is the place to come for a whiff of 19th-century Ottoman nostalgia. |
