Çiçek Pasajı

Çiçek Pasajı

Çiçek Pasajı, which means "Flower Passage" in Turkish, is a famous historic arcade street in Istanbul's Beyoğlu district, Turkey. It connects İstiklal Avenue and Sahne Street. Opened in 1876, it can be considered a miniature version of the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in Milan, Italy, lined with historic bars and restaurants.

The site of Çiçek Pasajı was originally the Naum Theatre, which was severely damaged in the great fire of Pera in 1870. Sultan Abdulaziz I and Abdul Hamid II were frequent visitors to the theater, and Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore” premiered here before it did at the Paris Opera. After the 1870 fire, the theater was purchased by local Greek banker Christakis Zografos, and the current building was designed by Italian architect Zanno. It was initially known as the Pera Palace or the Christakis Passage. In 1908, Ottoman Grand Vizier Said Pasha bought the building and renamed it the Said Pasha Passage.

After the Russian Revolution in 1917, many impoverished Russian noblewomen, including a baroness, sold flowers here. By the 1940s, the building was mainly occupied by flower shops, hence its current Turkish name Çiçek Pasajı, meaning "Flower Passage." After restoration in 1988, the building reopened with bars and restaurants, attracting tourists from around the world.

Çiçek Pasajı

Must-visit reason: Istanbul’s most famous restaurant and bar street

Continent where the attraction is located: Asia【Asia】

Country/region where the attraction is located: Turkey[turkey]

Province/state where the attraction is located: Istanbul Province [Istanbul Province]

City where the attraction is located: Istanbul [Istanbul]