Şişhane

Şişhane is the small district to the west of İstiklal Caddesi at the southern end of Refik Saydam Caddesi, the extension of Tarlabaşı Bulvarı. Until recently it was very rundown and neglected despite being full of fine 19th-century buildings. Now, however, it has benefited from the gentrification of the Galata area, with a growing number of hotels, restaurants and art galleries spilling downhill towards the Golden Horn. Expect to see many more buildings given a new life over the next few years.

For İstanbullus Şişhane is also the place to come for lighting appliances with an unfeasibly large number of shops selling everything from the kitschest light fittings to the most stylish and modern.

Across the busy main that leads to the Atatürk Bridge you’ll see the imposing gateway leading to the old Ottoman shipyards that are about to be redeveloped.

Around Şişhane

The grand Beyoğlu Municipality building was built between 1879 and 1883 by the Italian architect, Giovanni Battista Barborini as the first municipal building in the city. It’s officially called the Altıncı (6th) Daire-i Belediyye in accordance with the numbering system for Parisian municipalities.

If you walk down İskender Caddesi from Tünel to Şişhane Meydanı (square), you will come to the elaborate Frej apartment block (1906) designed by the Greek Konstantinos Kyriakidis, one of the rare early 20th-century city architects whose name has come down to us. Kyriakidis included sculptures of naked women in his design – these had to be covered up until more enlightened times allowed them to be revealed.

If you cross the square and walk along Sadi Konuralp Caddesi you will come to the Deniz Palas, designed in the 1920s by Yorgo Kulutros and home to İKSV, the organisation that runs most of İstanbul’s hugely successful summer festivals.

Deniz1
Deniz PalasInside the Deniz Palas is the Leyla Gençer Museum (closed Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays, appointments tel: 0212-334 0747) that shows off memorabilia of the woman nicknamed the Turkish Diva.