On the sea-facing side of Divan Yolu Gedikpaşa is a thriving area that still has little to do with tourism. Instead it’s where the wholesale shoe-selling business is carried on, with the streets crammed at all hours of the day with men moving unfeasibly large quantities of shoes from place to place. It’s also home to a historic hamam and a rather lovely and unusual-looking fountain. Many of the streets are lined with fine 19th-century row houses; the steeper ones also offer fabulous views down to the Sea of Marmara.
Backstory
Named after Gedik Ahmed Paşa who was one of Mehmed II’s grand viziers, this was originally a majority Greek area whose demography changed when the new sultan resettled Armenians from Bursa here. From 1859 to 1884 a theatre flourished in Gedikpaşa before being abruptly demolished. In the unsettled 20th century these two populations were largely forced out of the country and in their place came new settlers from the east of the country. Slowly the neighbourhood’s residential character changed into a commercial one which is once again starting to change as hotels open up within easy reach of the tram.
Around Gedikpaşa
At the heart of the neighbourhood is one of the city’s oldest hamams, dating back to 1475. It was designed by Mimar Hayrettin, the court architect of Sultan Beyazıd II, and has separate sections for men and women, both still in operation.
Nearby is the Divan-i Ali (Gedikpaşa) Cami, originally built at around the same time as the hamam but largely rebuilt in 1868 after a fire. Popular with the shoe-making community, it is of little historic interest, unlike the 18th-century Canfeda Kadın and Hazinedar Şevkinihal Usta Çeşmesi (fountain) across the road which has an elaborate facade unlike any other in the city.
Several churches still survive in the area as reminders of its past, Two of them are Armenian, one of them with a sizeable graveyard attached.
Sleeping
AJWA Sultanahmet. Luxurious Azerbaijani-owned hotel whose rooftop Zeferan restaurant serves Azeri and Turkish dishes with a Sea of Marmara view. Tel: 0212-638 2200
Transport info
To find Gedikpasa, take the T1 tram to Çemberlitas or Beyazıt-Kapalı Çarşi and strike off downhill towards the Sea of Marmara.
Nearby areas
