“Ancillary Village”
Market: Saturday (organic produce), Sunday (antiques)
Designed by the Swiss Bomonti brothers in 1890 with a distinctive peaked tower, the Bomonti Brewery, in the back streets of Feriköy, was Turkey’s first modern brewery. From 1902 until production stopped in 1991 it was owned by Tekel.
Rather like London’s decommissioned Battersea Power Station the factory initially struggled to find new life but has now been converted into a dining and entertainment venue with a small museum devoted to the work of the Armenian Turkish photographer, Ara Güler (1928-12018). All around it soaring skyscrapers have gone up, one of them housing a branch of the Hilton. Meanwhile the Roman Catholic Convent of the Little Sisters of the Poor continues to cling to what must been one of the most valuable pieces of real estate in the area, providing retirement homes for the poor.
Also in Bomonti is the Georgian Catholic church of Notre Dame de Lourdes, built in 1861.
Sleeping
Hilton Bomonti. Rooms may be up-to-the-minute but the surrounding area is pretty grim. Tel: 012-375 3000
Transport info
You can easily walk to the brewery on Silahşor Caddesi from the Osmanbey Metro station. Ask for the Hilton Bomonti to find your way.
Nearby areas
