Wednesday, February 28, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


Places to eat are changing, too. 

Café Vodina, an initiative by the NGO Balat Kültür Evi, is entirely run and staffed by local women, and offers both cooking classes and traditional Turkish plates. 

--The Guardian

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


Kucuk Mustafa Pasa Hamam, one of Istanbul’s oldest bathhouses, has been restored and turned into a gallery.

Photographer Dilek Keles opened Karanlik Isler Atolyesi, a photography and film exhibition space.


--The Guardian

Monday, February 26, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


Artists and designers followed other residents back to the area. 

One of these is Mine Atalar of design studio Minush, which creates unusual handmade leather shoes and handbags. 

Another, contemporary glassmaker Yasemin Aslan Bakiri, runs a gallery and workshops in a restored Byzantine mansion called Camhane

--The Guardian

Sunday, February 25, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


The same is happening just to the north in Balat, Istanbul’s Jewish quarter since the Byzantine era. 

Many people left in the mid-20th century and many Ottoman homes fell into disrepair.

And then, from 2003, the city and European Union instituted a renovation programme for Balat and Fener, repairing many of the dilapidated buildings.

--The Guardian

Saturday, February 24, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


But most of the area’s Greek families fled after the Cyprus dispute of the 1960s and 70s. 

“I lost all of my childhood friends,” Sari says. 

“Now, people have started coming back.”


--The Guardian

Friday, February 23, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


When Kenan Sari was growing up here, all of his friends were Greek.

Fener is home to the Greek Orthodox cathedral, and Fener Rum Lisesi, the world’s oldest Greek school, founded in 1454.

--The Guardian

Thursday, February 22, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


Kenan Sari has seen these changes at first hand. 

All his close relatives were born in the 160-year-old building where he now runs Café Fener, a hole-in-the-wall he opened in 2013, where locals and travellers come to sip frothing Turkish coffee and tap into the Wi-Fi. 

--The Guardian

A CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE TO CIHANGIR - 15

Courtesy of Cornucopia, The Magazine for Connoisseurs of Turkey


The crowds flowing from Taksim Square tend to sweep visitors onto İstiklâl Caddesi.

The cars and kebab shops that line the top of Sıraselviler Caddesi, one street to the left of the famous pedestrian thoroughfare, don’t exactly draw you in. 

But just out of sight is one of the most attractive parts of Istanbul. 

After a couple of minutes’ walk from Taksim, its arrival is heralded by a great old-fashioned Istanbul patisserie, 

Savoy. Across the street and down the stairs is Otto, a fashionable café/bar in a shady tree-filled courtyard.

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


This is why the quarter has become a cool hangout and a recognised design district.

Tours of the area were a main event at the Istanbul Design Biennial.

--The Guardian

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


Century-old Ottoman houses lean against each other in a kaleidoscope of reds, blues and greens. And art galleries and design shops dot the area along the water.


Like the rest of Istanbul, Fener-Balat is changing. 

Unlike much of the rest of the city, though, the changes don’t – yet – involve condominiums and shopping malls. 

Nor have rents skyrocketed as much as in other areas that have retained an Ottoman flavour. 

--The Guardian

Monday, February 19, 2018

FENER AND BALAT

ISTANBUL, TURKEY



Just two miles north along the Golden Horn from Eminönü – the quarter known for Topkapi Palace, tour groups and Hagia Sophia – lies another Istanbul altogether. 

In the side-by-side quarters of Fener and Balat, lines of drying laundry stretch across steep, winding streets. 

--The Guardian

Sunday, February 18, 2018

THIS BLOG CELEBRATES 160,000 READERS

A TOTAL READERSHIP THAT EQUALS OR SURPASSES
THE SUNDAY CIRCULATION OF THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH



Today, we passed 160,000 unique visitors to this blog.

We have made more than 1,800 original posts.

We have shared more than 1,500 original images from all over the world.

We were the photographer for more than 1,000 of those images.

Our blog items have a cumulative word count above 140,000 -- enough to fill three books.

We promise to continue posting daily, on issues such as:

Urban Design

Wheelchair Access

Mobility

Universal Design

Travel

Sustainability

Town Planning

Inclusive Mobility

Barrier-free Design

Fine Art Photography

Human Rights

Saturday, February 17, 2018

Transit Alliance Miami

--PlusUrbia Design is proud to be a member of TA.


PlusUrbia Design is proud to be a member of Transit Alliance Miami.

Transit Alliance unites residents, organizations, and businesses to advocate for walkable streets, bikeable neighborhoods and better public transit.

The goal of the Alliance’s campaigns is to raise awareness and solve issues to get Miami moving safer, faster and happier.


Visit the Transit Alliance at: https://transitalliance.miami


And follow it on Twitter at: @TransitMIA

Saturday, February 3, 2018

BOSPHORUS CRUISE

ISTANBUL, TURKEY




Tour boats line up to take tourists and locals on magical tours of the Bosphorus.

Some take short tours and turn around near the bridge by Ortakoy.

Some go all the way to the mouth of the Black Sea.


The tours are very inexpensive. 

Friday, February 2, 2018

SÜLEYMANIYE MOSQUE

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


To the right (southeast) of the main entrance to Süleymaniye Mosque is the cemetery, home to the octagonal tombs of Süleyman and his wife Haseki Hürrem Sultan (Roxelana). 

The tile work surrounding the entrances to both is superb and the ivory-inlaid panels in Süleyman's tomb are lovely.

--Lonely Planet

Thursday, February 1, 2018

SÜLEYMANIYE MOSQUE

ISTANBUL, TURKEY


The main entrance to the Süleymaniye Mosque is accessed from Professor Sıddık Sami Onar Caddesi, formerly known as Tiryaki Çarşışı (Market of the Addicts).

The buildings here once housed three medreses and a primary school; they're now home to the Süleymaniye Library and a raft of popular streetside fasulye (bean) restaurants that used to be teahouses selling opium (hence the street's former name). 

On the corner of Professor Sıddık Sami Onar Caddesi and Şifahane Sokak is the darüşşifa, also under restoration.

The still-functioning Süleymaniye Hamamı is on the eastern side of the mosque.

--Lonely Planet