Beyoğlu
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Beyoğlu is a municipality located in İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn. It encompasses other neighborhoods north of the Golden Horn including Galata, and is connected to Old İstanbul by the Galata Bridge. Beyoğlu is the biggest night-life and entertainment centre of Istanbul.
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[edit] History
The area that is now known as Beyoğlu has been inhabited for millennia, and records exist showing that a settlement existed on the northern shore of the Golden Horn at the time of Christ. In the Greek period the hillside was orchards and was named Sykai (the fig orchard). As the Byzantine Empire grew, so did Constantinople and it's environs. This side of the Golden Horn was built up as a suburb of Byzantium as early as the 5th century. It was around this time, that the area began to be called Galata, and a fortress was built by Emperor Theodosius II. The name Galata (from the Greek for 'milk') was presumably given because this side of the Horn was still important farmland for the city.
The area came to be the base of European merchants, particularly from Genoa and Venice, who would construct the Galata Tower, in what was then known as Pera. In 1273, Pera was given to the Republic of Genoa by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus in return for Genoa's support of the Empire after the Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople. Pera became a flourishing trade colony, ruled by a Podestà. It remained under Genoese control until May 29, 1453 when it was conquered by the Ottomans along with the rest of the city, after the Siege of Constantinople.
Following the conquest the coast and the low-lying areas were quickly settled by Turks, but the European presence in the area did not end. During the 19th century it was again home to many European traders, and housed many embassies, especially along the Grande Rue de Péra (today İstiklâl Caddesi). The presence of such a prominent European population - commonly referred to as Levantines - made it the more modernized part of İstanbul, especially when compared to the Old City, and allowed for influxes of modern technology, fashion, and arts. Thus, Beyoğlu was one of the first parts of İstanbul to have telephone lines, electricity, trams, municipal government and even an underground railway, the Tünel, built to carry the people of Pera up and down from the port, business and banking district of Karaköy. The theatre, cinema, patisserie and cafe culture that still remains strong in Beyoglu dates from this late-Ottoman period. Shops like Inci, famous for its chocolate mousse and profiteroles, date back to before the founding of the republic and still survive today.
The foreign communities also built their own schools, many of which went on to educate the elite of future generations of Turks, and still survive today as some of the best schools in Istanbul, like Galatasaray Lycée (Galatasaray Lisesi) and Deutsche Schule Istanbul (Alman Lisesi).
The rapid modernization taking place in Europe, and which was leaving Turkey behind was symbolized by the differences between Beyoğlu, and its neighboring districts across the Golden Horn. When the Ottoman sultans finally began a modernization program, they began building numerous buildings in Beyoğlu that mixed traditional Ottoman styles with newer European ones. In addition, the sultan stopped living in Topkapı Palace, and built a new palace near Beyoğlu, called Dolmabahçe Palace.
Why the area was given the name Beyoğlu is unclear, 'bey' means 'gentleman' in Turkish and certainly there were plenty of those in these streets at various times, while 'oğlu' means 'son of', so Beyoğlu might mean 'son of a gentleman'.
[edit] Present day
When the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Turkish Republic was founded (during and after the First World War) Beyoğlu went into gentle decline. Much of the foreign community left and the communities of Greeks, Jews, Bulgarians and Armenians that were the majority of residents found it increasingly attractive to live elswhere in the city or elsewhere in the world. A process which accelerated after Istanbul Pogrom in 1955 and after the Cyprus dispute in 1974. The widespread political violence between leftist and rightist groups which afflicted Turkey in the late 1970s affected the area particularly badly and accelerated the decline with middle-class flight to newer suburban areas such as Levent and Yeşilköy. By the late 1980s many of the previously grand apartment blocks were home to penniless immigrants from rural Anatolia, and many of the shop fronts on İstiklâl Caddesi were boarded up. While until the 1940's and 50's Beyoğlu enjoyed a reputation for cosmopolitanism and sophistication, by the 1980's the area had degenerated economically and socially.
Beginning in the early 1990s, a conscious programme of urban renewal has brought numbers of young professionals back into the area and revitalised the main shopping artery. However the low-lying areas such as Tophane, Kasımpaşa and Karaköy, and indeed the side-streets of the whole area are still very grubby, the residents mostly poor and conservative. Despite all the glamour along İstiklâl Caddesi, Beyoğlu is controlled by the Islamic-leaning AK Party. Parallel to Istiklal runs the dual-carriageway called Tarlabaşı, which carries most of the traffic through the area. The streets on either side of this road are particularly poor, dirty and dangerous. The poverty of the side-streets of course creeps onto the boulevard too; there is a lot of begging, purse-snatching and shoe-shining in Beyoğlu. And the side-streets are all crammed with parked cars, but that's another problem.
However, due to the long tradition of foreign residents there is a cosmopolitan atmosphere in the heart of Beyoğlu and there are still a large number of foreign people of all nationalities living in areas like Cihangir and Gümüşsuyu. Still today most foreign consulates are in this area, the British and German consulates being amongst the most impressive buildings. The area is also home to significant Turkish Christian and Jewish communities, and contains a broad social mix as a result of gentrification.
[edit] Where the heart of Istanbul beats
Modern day Beyoğlu is major entertainment and shopping centre for people from every corner of Istanbul. The main thoroughfare is the historical and attractive İstiklâl Caddesi, running into the neighbourhood from Taksim Square, a pedestrianised solid mile of shops, cafes, restaurants, bars and clubs, and the best bookshops, theatres and cinemas in the city, and some art galleries too. Much of İstiklâl has a 19th century metropolitan character, and the avenue is lined with formerly grand buildings, some very well-preserved (such as the luxurious department store, Vakko), most in various states of decay.
Throughout Beyoğlu there are many cafés, restaurants, cinemas and bars offering nightlife of all descriptions. Go to see the best oriental/arabesque music hall in night clubs such as Maksim. Eat drink and dance to the traditional Turkish music called 'fasıl' in some of Istanbul's longest established bars and restaurants, such as Andon. Watch the latest films and then grab a hamburger on the way home. Try the Ottoman-period Russian restaurant Rejans, the traditional Turkish eateries in Asmali Mescit, or the fish restaurants of the former flower market (such as Cumhuriyet Meyhanesi where Atatürk is known to have gathered with his friends) or Nevizade, the street of restaurants behind the fish market. Gawp at the luxury in the smartest shops, cafes and pattisseries (like Markiz) along İstiklâl Caddesi and eat in luxury in places such as 360, haute cuisine in a building dating back to 1900. Gather in cafes with your student and intellectual friends to play chess or billiards, swig beer and debate the theory of everything. Avoid the grubbiest and most sordid back-street cheap hotels in the city. Hang out in clubs and bars playing every style of rock and pop music from heavy metal, indie rock (in Kemancı) to electronic dance, to Turkish disco-pop, with your boyfriends, girlfriends or both/either. In Beyoğlu at night you can be who you want to be.
There is a wide range of fast-food for the shoppers to munch as they move through the crowd, especially the 'simit'(a kind of bread pretzel) or chocolate bar. There is an antique tramway running along İstiklâl, the pretty red cars more for decoration than transport; the shoes shine boys spend their days jumping on the back for a free ride as the tram pushes through the crowds of people jostling in and out of its path.
In short, there are bars and cafes to suit all tastes and price range, far too much to describe in an encyclopedia entry like this and songs have been written about the passion in the streets of Beyoğlu, which will bring tears to the eyes when one is in the right mood.
Beyoğlu is just as vibrant in the day time as in the night, as well as all the shopping there is a substantial business community here too, most of the upper floors of the buildings being office space, and in the back streets, small workshops.
[edit] Things to see
Among the more notable buildings in the area is the Pera Palace hotel, a hotel built in 1892 by George Nagelmackers. Agatha Christie wrote her most famous novel there, Murder on the Orient Express, and her room is still conserved as a museum.
Beyoğlu also has many historical Mosques, Tekkes and Turbes, and several Sufi orders such as the Cihangiri (pronounced Jihangiri) order were founded here. Neve Şalom synagogue (Neve Shalom Synagogue), a center of Istanbul's Jewish community, is also found here.
[edit] Further reading
Ahmet Ümit -Beyoğlu Rapsodisi
[edit] References
[edit] External links
 Beyoğlu in Istanbul Province (in the Marmara region) of Turkey |
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| Urban districts | Istanbul - (Avcılar - Bağcılar - Bahçelievler - Bakırköy - Bayrampaşa - Beşiktaş - Beyoğlu - Beykoz - Eminönü - Eyüp - Esenler - Fatih - Gaziosmanpaşa - Güngören - Kadıköy - Kağıthane - Kartal - Küçükçekmece - Maltepe - Pendik - Sarıyer - Şişli - Ümraniye - Üsküdar - Zeytinburnu) |    |
| Rural districts | Adalar - Büyükçekmece - Çatalca - Silivri - Sultanbeyli - Şile - Tuzla | |
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Regions
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| Aegean | ||
| Black Sea | ||
| Central Anatolia | ||
| East Anatolia | ||
| Marmara | ||
| Mediterranean Sea | ||
| Southeastern Anatolia | ||
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