Istiklal Avenue


Istiklal Avenue


Istiklal Avenue (Turkish: Istiklal Caddesi) is one of the most famous avenues in Istanbul,visited by nearly 3 million people in a single day over the course of weekends. Located in the historic Beyoglu district, it is an elegant pedestrian street, approximately three kilometers long, which houses exquisite boutiques, music stores, bookstores, art galleries,

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Whirling Dervishes


Whirling Dervishes
Known to the west as Whirling Dervishes, the members of the Mevlevi Order (named for their founder Mevlana) from Konya lived in what we might call coisters or monasteries - what to them was a Mevlevihane. The one at Galata on the European side of Istanbul is a product of late Ottoman architecture, and quite elaborate in having a tomb, a

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Marmaray Project Istanbul


Project Background

The idea of a railway tunnel under the Istanbul Strait was first raised in 1860. However, where the tunnel under the Istanbul Strait crosses the deepest parts of the Strait, the old-fashioned techniques would not allow the tunnel to be on or under the seabed, and therefore the design indicated a "floating" type of tunnel placed on pillars constructed on the seabed.

Such ideas developed further during the following decades, and a similar design was developed in 1902 also showing a railway tunnel under the Istanbul Strait, but this design indicates a tunnel placed on the seabed. Since then, several different ideas have been tested and new te

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