Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey

Beyoglu (BEY-oh-loo) is the district on the north bank of the Golden Horn, from Karaköy (Galata) and the Galata Bridge to Taksim Square.

In the 1800s this was the newer, more European section of Istanbul (Constantinople). Embassies were built here, foreign merchants lived and worked here, and they shopped at the posh boutiques along the Grande Rue de Péra, now called Istiklal Caddesi.

This was also one of the neighborhoods favored by the sultan's Jewish subjects and still has many beautiful small synagogues.

Galatasaray Square, midway along Istiklal Caddesi, is where the first European-style lycée (high school) was built by the Ottoman sultan during the 19th century. Also here is the famed Çiçek Pasaji (Flower Passage) dining and taverna district.

At the southern end of Istiklal Caddesi near Tünel Square is a Whirling Dervish hall in which the Mevlevi dervishes still whirl. More...

Today Beyoglu is enjoying a cultural and architectural revival. The huge embassies are now consulates, the shops are posh again, and Istiklal Caddesi (the Grande Rue) is a popular pedestrian mall filled with strollers day and night.

The pedestrian avenue and its side streets boast lots of nightlife: chic cafe-bars, bistros, restaurants and music clubs.

The Pera Museum (Pera Müzesi) in Beyoglu's Tepebasi district near the grand old Pera Palace Hotel, is a real gem, and admission is free of charge.

On the Bosphorus shore at Tophane, on the edge of Beyoglu, is the Istanbul Modern Art Museum.

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Galatasaray Square

Tünel Square

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Cicek Pasaji (restaurants), Beyoglu, Istanbul, Turkey

Above, the Çiçek Pasaji in the 19th-century Cité de Péra building.

Below, Beyoglu's Istiklal Caddesi, the favorite place for strolling.

View of Istiklal Caddesi