Istanbul by Night — Ortaköy & Çiçek Pasajı
Ortaköy Square – İstiklal Street – Çiçek Pasajı
Evening Tour · 20:45 – 23:30
Istanbul after dark: the cosmopolitan square of Ortaköy under the bridge lights and the historic taverns of the Flower Passage on İstiklal Street.
Ortaköy
Ortaköy is a cosmopolitan area with communities of Turks, Greeks, Armenians and Jews, with religious monuments important to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities of the city. It is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike, with art galleries, night clubs, cafés and particularly fish restaurants. Ortaköy also hosts the weekend handicraft market that makes the square especially crowded and lively. The symbol of the district is the famous 19th century Great Mecidiye Mosque, known as one of the finest examples of Baroque style in Istanbul.
Çiçek Pasajı
Back when promenading down the Rue de Pera (now İstiklal Caddesi) was the height of fashion, the Cité de Péra building was Istanbul'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 boisterous meyhanes (taverns).
Nevizade & the Meyhanes
As Pera declined in the mid-20th century, so too did this building, its stylish shops giving way to rough meyhanes with beer barrels rolled onto the pavement. After reconstruction, the arcade acquired a glass canopy, solid wooden tables and smooth tiles. Today many locals bypass the passage and make their way to the meyhanes on or around Nevizade Sokak — and so will we.
