Historical Buildings of Istanbul – A Scenery From Past
Istanbul has many different stories in its every span. It is hard to find a city that has a history just like Istanbul. While the population was lower and the houses were singular, after 1900ish times, people started to build apartments. Especially the historical buildings of Istanbul that were built by the foreigners or with their orders can be shown as examples for the Western architectural style.
One of the most prominent areas in Istanbul that show different architectural styles is Beyoğlu. Mısır Apartment, the building of the Çiçek Passage and the building of the Suriye Passage are just a few examples.
Mısır Apartment was constructed by the order of a Belgian family at was restored at 2001 as a luxurious housing. You can see an unprecedented the Golden Horn view from its terrace.
Çiçek Passage, on the other hand, had florist shops on the basement floor and 18 flats on the upper side in its first days. Nowadays the flat part of Çiçek Passage is another luxurious housing and the florists replaced their place with ‘meyhanes’.
Suriye Passage was a place same as Çiçek Passage with one difference. Its basement floor consisted of regular shops, not florists. Upper floors were designed as housing but used as an office by many different newspaper agencies.
Another building that comes to one’s mind when we talk about historical apartments is Arif Paşa Apartment which is located on Elmadağ Street. The building was built by the Sarıcazade family, which was the last family of the Ottoman Palace. The main idea behind that building was to have a safe place for those who left the palace. Because of that, it has incredibly high ceilings and doors that open to another housing. Moreover, you can see the rooms of servants is connected to each other.
Another mansion that was built by the same Greek architect that built the Arif Paşa Apartment is Arif Paşa Mansion. The building was designed as a family apartment and decorated with Roman engravings. Ayşegül Sarıca, which is the granddaughter of Arif Paşa, the world famous pianist, is still living here.
Istanbul, which has many historical miracles and structures around its streets cannot be listed in just one article. You have to explore and let yourself to the streets of this great metropolitan to discover everything.
