Audio guided Istanbul tour
A walk through the Pera (Beyoglu) & Galata districts of Istanbul. Galata was, on the north shore of the Golden Horn, a semi-independent colony of the Genoese, an Italian marine-state. In the early centuries under the Ottoman rule, the district became densely populated as the European quarter. Here the foreign merchants had their houses and their shops and here the ambassadors of the European powers built sumptuous embassies. As the time went on the confines of Galata became too narrow and crowded and the embassies and the richer merchants began to move out beyond the walls to the hills and vineyards above. Here the foreign powers built palatial mansions surrounded by gardens, all of them standing along the road, which would later be known as the Grand Rue de
Pera.
Istiklal Caddesi: a pedestrian street formerly known as the Grand Rue de Pera, today the heart of the city's cultural life with its various cafes, restaurants, shops, and cinemas...
Galatasaray Square: takes its name from the Galatasaray, a school for the imperial pages, founded by Sultan Beyazit in 15. Century.
Cicek Pasaji: the Passage of Flowers, the liveliest and most colorful spot in Beyoglu, is lined with boisterous meyhanes, raffish curbside taverns.
The old embassies: of France, England, Holland, Sweden and Russia.
St. Anthony: a Franciscan church, a good example of Italian Gothic.
Hotel Pera Palace: used as a residence by the passengers of the Orient Express.
The Tunel: the underground funicular railway, built in 1875, is one of the oldest in Europe.
Galata Tower: known also as the Tower of Christ, was the highest point of the Genoese fortifications of medieval Galata and was built in 1348. Ascend the galleries for a magnificent view out over the entire city and its surrounding waters.
Galata Mevlevihanesi: a former monastery and ceremonial hall of the Whirling Dervishes. Now, it is open as a museum, and on display are fascinating objects, once used by the Mevlevi dervishes in their ceremonies of music and dance.
