Beyoglu

Beyoglu is a district located in Istanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn. It encompasses other neighborhoods north of the Golden Horn including Galata, and is connected to Old Istanbul by the Galata Bridge. Beyoglu is the biggest night-life and entertainment centre of Istanbul. History The area that is now known as Beyoglu has been inhabited for millennia, and records exist showing that a settlement existed on the northern shore of the Golden Horn at the time of Christ. In the Greek period the hillside was orchards and was named Sykai (the fig orchard). As the Byzantine Empire grew, so did Constantinople and it's environs. This side of the Golden Horn was built up as a suburb of Byzantium as early as the 5th century. It was around this time, that the area began to be called Galata, and a fortress was built by Emperor Theodosius II. The name Galata (from the Greek for 'milk') was presumably given because this side of the Horn was still important farmland for the city. The area came to be the base of European merchants, particularly from Genoa and Venice, who would construct the Galata Tower, in what was then known as Pera. In 1273, Pera was given to the Republic of Genoa by the Byzantine Emperor Michael VIII Palaeologus in return for Genoa's support of the Empire after the Fourth Crusade and the sacking of Constantinople. Pera became a flourishing trade colony, ruled by a Podestà. It remained under Genoese control until May 29, 1453 when it was conquered by the Ottomans along with the rest of the city, after the Siege of Constantinople. Following the conquest the coast and the low-lying areas were quickly settled by Turks, but the European presence in the area did not end. During the 19th century it was again home to many European traders, and housed many embassies. The presence of so many Europeans made it the more modernized part of Istanbul, especially when compared to the Old City, and allowed for influxes of modern technology, fashion, and arts. Thus, Beyoglu was one of the first parts of Istanbul to have telephone lines, electricity, trams, municipal government and even an underground railway, the Tünel, built to carry the people of Pera up and down from the port, business and banking district of Karaköy. The theatre, cinema, patisserie and cafe culture that still remains strong in Beyoglu dates from this late-Ottoman period. Shops like Inci, famous for its chocolate mousse and profiteroles, date back to before the founding of the republic and still survive today. The foreign communities also built their own schools, many of which went on to educate the elite of future generations of Turks, and still survive today as some of the best schools in Istanbul, like Galatasaray Lisesi and Deutsche Schule Istanbul (Alman Lisesi). The rapid modernization taking place in Europe, and which was leaving Turkey behind was symbolized by the differences between Beyoglu, and its neighboring districts across the Golden Horn. When the Ottoman sultans finally began a modernization program, they began building numerous buildings in Beyoglu that mixed traditional Ottoman styles with newer European ones. In addition, the sultan stopped living in Topkapi Palace, and built a new palace near Beyoglu, called Dolmabahçe Palace. Why the area was given the name Beyoglu is unclear, 'bey' means 'gentleman' in Turkish and certainly there were plenty of those in these streets at various times. oglu means 'son of' in Turkish so Beyoglu might mean 'son of a gentleman'.

Present day When the Ottoman Empire collapsed and the Turkish Republic was founded (during and after the First World War) Beyoglu went into gentle decline. Much of the foreign community left and the communities of Greeks, Jews and Armenians that were the majority of residents found it increasingly attractive to live elswhere in the city or elsewhere in the world. A process which accelerated after Istanbul Pogrom in 1955 and after the Cyprus dispute in 1974. The widespread political violence between leftist and rightist groups which afflicted Turkey in the late 1970s affected the area particularly badly and accelerated the decline with middle-class flight to newer suburban areas such as Levent and Yesilköy. By the late 1980s many of the previously grand apartment blocks were home to penniless immigrants from rural Anatolia, and many of the shop fronts on Istiklâl Caddesi were boarded up. Older generations of Istanbul people reemeber fondly the Beyoglu of the 1940's and 50's when a man would not venture onto the street unless his suit was properly pressed, his hat and handkerchief in place. Beginning in the early 1990s, a conscious programme of urban renewal has brought numbers of young professionals back into the area and revitalised the main shopping artery. However the low-lying areas such as Tophane, Kasimpasa and Karaköy, and indeed the side-streets of the whole area are still very grubby, the residents mostly poor and conservative. Despite all the glamour along Istiklal Caddesi Beyoglu is controlled by the Islamic-leaning AK Party. Parallel to Istiklal runs the dual-carriageway called Tarlabasi, which carries most of the traffic through the area. The streets on either side of this road are particularly poor, dirty and dangerous. The poverty of the side-streets of course creeps onto the boulevard too; there is a lot of begging, purse-snatching and shoe-shining in Beyoglu. And the side-streets are all crammed with parked cars, but that's another problem. However, due to the long tradition of foreign residents there is a cosmopolitan atmosphere in the heart of Beyoglu and there are still a large number of foreign people of all nationalities living in areas like Cihangir and Gümüssuyu. Still today most foreign consulates are in this area, the British and German consulates being amongst the most impressive buildings. The area is also home to significant Turkish Christian and Jewish communities, and contains a broad social mix as a result of gentrification.