İstiklal Avenue


İstiklal Avenue is a 1.4 kilometre pedestrian street in the historic Beyoğlu district in Istanbul, Turkey. It is one of the most famous avenues in the city. It acquired its modern name after the declaration of the Republic on 29 October 1923, İstiklal commemorating Turkey's triumph in its War of Independence.
The street starts at the northern end of Galata at Tünel Square and runs as far as Taksim Square. It was historically known as the Grand Avenue of Pera. İstiklal Avenue is flanked by late Ottoman era buildings in a variety of styles including Neo-Classical, Neo-Gothic, Renaissance Revival, Beaux-Arts, Art Nouveau and First Turkish National Architecture. There are also a few Art Deco style buildings from the early years of the Turkish Republic, and a number of more recent examples of modern architecture. Many would once have been apartment blocks but most are now occupied by boutiques, music stores, art galleries, cinemas, theatres, libraries, cafés, pubs, nightclubs with live music, hotels, historical patisseries, chocolateries, restaurants and a steadily growing number of international chain stores, as well as a branch of Madame Tussauds.
Galatasaray Square marks the middle of the avenue and is home to the oldest secondary school in Turkey: the Galatasaray High School, originally known as the Galata Sarayı Enderun-u Hümayunu. A monument, erected in 1973, commemorates the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic.
The avenue forms a spine with narrow side streets running off it like a ribcage. Many historical and politically significant buildings can be found on or immediately adjacent to Istiklal Avenue. They include the Çiçek Pasajı which is full of lively restaurants and taverns; the Balık Pazarı with the Armenian church of Üç Horan to one side; the Hüseyin Ağa Mosque; the Roman Catholic churches of Santa Maria Draperis and S. Antonio di Padova; the Greek Orthodox church of Hagia Triada; several academic institutions established by Austria, France, Germany and Italy in the 19th century; and the consulates of France, Greece, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain and Sweden.

At the southern end of the avenue, it is possible to board the Tünel, the world's second-oldest subway, which entered service in 1875 and carries passengers down to Karaköy. A photogenic red-and-cream tram runs along the street from Tünel to Taksim Square every 15 minutes.

History

During the Ottoman period, the avenue was called Cadde-i Kebir in Ottoman Turkish, or the Grande Rue de Péra in French. It was a popular gathering place where Ottoman intellectual rubbed shoulders with Europeans and the local Italian and French Levantines. When 19th-century travelers referred to Constantinople as the Paris of the East, they were usually thinking of the Grande Rue de Péra and its cosmopolitan, half-European, half-Asian culture.
On 6–7 September 1955 an anti-Greek Istanbul pogrom resulted in many shops along the avenue being pillaged; its pavements were covered with broken glass, scattered clothing, smashed white goods, burned automobiles and other items that had belonged to the Greek owners of the wrecked shops.
Between the 1950s and 1970s the side streets around the Emek Passage were home to Yeşilcam, Turkey's home-grown equivalent of Hollywood, a fact commemorated in the street name Yeşilcam Sokağı.
The avenue briefly fell from grace in the 1970s and early 1980s, when the old Istanbulite inhabitants started moving elsewhere, and the side streets were repopulated by low-income migrants from rural Anatolia.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, a revival took place, spearheaded and executed by the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and Beyoğlu Municipality. Historic buildings were restored, the street was pedestrianised, and the old historic trams were reinstated, bringing back much of the avenue's old charm and popularity.
İstiklal Avenue once again became the center for fine arts and leisure in Istanbul and real estate prices skyrocketed. Numerous new art galleries, bookstores, cafés, pubs, restaurants, shops and hotels were opened in and around the street, and venues around it became the host to many international art festivals, such as the annual Istanbul Film Festival.
Until the mid-2010s, İstiklal Avenue was also a popular venue for all sorts of parades, marches and gatherings, such as the Istanbul Pride and International Women's Day. However, after the Gezi Park protests of 2013, all such gatherings have been effectively banned, citing security reasons.
On 19 March 2016, an Islamic State suicide bombing on Istiklal Avenue killed five people.
On 13 November 2022, a bomb explosion on Istiklal Avenue killed 6 people and left 81 injured. Police detained a Syrian woman, Ahlam Albashir, suspected of being a Kurdish insurgent having planted the bomb, in a sweep of 47 arrests.

Notable buildings

;Religious buildings
;Schools
;Historic buildings and residences
;Food and drink
;Diplomatic missions
  • Dutch Consulate
  • French Consulate
  • Greek Consulate
  • Russian Consulate
  • Swedish Consulate
;Culture and arts