A CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE TO CIHANGIR - 3

Courtesy of Cornucopia, The Magazine for Connoisseurs of Turkey

Cihangir’s most famous resident, novelist and Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk made the neighbourhood his home after spending his childhood in Nisantasi. 

His Museum of Innocence, which he established in 2012, displays the real-life artefacts collected by the protagonist and narrator of his 2008 novel of the same name and, in this way, traces the love story of the novel's central characters. 

The eventual aim of the collection is to grow into an exhibit of everyday life in Istanbul in the second half of the 20th century.

The Orhan Kemal Museum celebrates another famous literary figure Orhan Kemal, at No 30 Akarsu Caddesi.

He was most known for his realist novels telling the stories of the poor and disadvantaged in early 20th-century Turkey.

A CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE TO CIHANGIR - 2

Courtesy of Cornucopia, The Magazine for Connoisseurs of Turkey

The name, Cihangir, comes from Suleiman the Magnificent’s son, Cihangir, who favoured the area when it was still a forested hunting ground. 

After Cihangir’s death, Suleiman commissioned Mimar Sinan to build a wooden mosque that commemorates his son.

Rebuilt since, Cihangir Mosque has one of the best views of the Bosphorus. 

As the influx of Europeans into Istanbul in the late 19th century drove up real estate prices in Pera where the Europeans originally settled, the new arrivals made their base in surrounding areas such as Cihangir.

The tradition continues in this residential neighbourhood, and there are just as many expats as artists in newly-renovated apartment blocks with pink, yellow and pale green façades. 

Apart from galleries, there are also many restaurants, bars and cafés serving great coffee, international cuisines and of course, cocktails.

A CONNOISSEUR'S GUIDE TO CIHANGIR - 1

Courtesy of Cornucopia, The Magazine for Connoisseurs of Turkey

The stomping ground for artists, writers and intellectuals since the 1970s, Cihangir, a neighbourhood in Beyoglu, is easily likened to districts such as Le Marais in Paris or Williamsburg in New York. 

The bohemian lifestyle hangs thick in the air amid the neighbourhood’s narrow streets shrouded in greenery, great street cafés, and wonderful clothes and food boutiques. 

The area is one of the prettiest in the city – a stark contrast to the madness of Taksim and Istiklal Caddesi – and to keep the neighbourhood looking attractive, the clever use of small concrete slabs lining the streets has been employed to prevent cars driving whenever they please. 

After all, this is Istanbul.

BEYOGLU BACKSTREETS

Istanbul, Turkey

Orhan Pamuk's Nobel-winning literature so often finds its characters on the backstreets of Istanbul.

Unfortunately, a lot of the old backstreets are being replaced with modern development.

We stumbled across this grand old vacant building just a few paces from İstiklâl Caddesi, the pedestrian spine that connects Karikoy to Taksim.

Hopefully, it will be renovated and re-energized...rather than stripped and razed.