Historic Passages of Beyoğlu

The arched stone entryway of the Halep Pasajı is carved with the name of the place in heavy, weathered lettering. It started as the Halebiyye theater in the late nineteenth century, built by a Syrian businessman who wanted to bring…

The Atlas Passage features an ornate, neoclassical stone facade topped with a pair of stone figures flanking the central window. Built in eighteen seventy-seven as the winter residence for an Armenian merchant named Agop Köçeyan, the…

The Çiçek Pasajı is a three-story arcade topped by a soaring, arched glass roof that draws daylight down into its narrow, tiled floor. It stands on the former site of the Naum Theatre, which burned to the ground in eighteen seventy. After…

The Avrupa Pasajı features a narrow, glass-roofed arcade lined with arched storefronts, echoing the elegant passages of nineteenth-century Paris. Built in eighteen seventy-four by the architect Cleanthi Zacco after the great Pera fire, it…

The Aslıhan Pasajı is a narrow, three-story arcade packed with thousands of secondhand books, identifiable by the crowded glass windows overflowing with old maps, faded lithographs, and leather-bound spines. Originally built as a hotel in…

The Hazzopulo Pasaji features a pair of narrow, iron-gated entrances that lead into a sheltered, stone-paved courtyard tucked between higher residential walls. Built in eighteen seventy-one by a wealthy merchant family, this passage served…

The Aznavur Passage holds a stone facade carved with heavy, rounded arches that stand out against the narrow, sloping street of Tomtom. Built in eighteen ninety-three by the Armenian architect Hovsep Aznavuryan, the building served as a…

Syria Passage bears a heavy, carved stone archway draped in dark, weathered ornamentation that separates it from the clean lines of the surrounding street. Built in nineteen oh eight by the Ottoman parliamentarian Hassan Hasib Pasha, it…