Çukurcuma

I think I landed in one of the most beautiful, buzzing, yet calm and relaxed neighborhoods in Istanbul.

Çukurcuma is a little neighborhood in the Beyoğlu district in Istanbul, formerly known under its greek name of Pera, and has everything you could wish for…

The little street down from my apartment alone has a hotel, several bars and restaurants, a pizza stand, two hamams, a record shop, juice vendors, antique shops, a book store, a few general stores selling everything from toilet paper to brooms, hair dressers, fruit stands, a bakery, a carpenter, a mattress dealer, an upholsterer, more antique shops, two mosques, more cafés… you name it.

Especially little craft shops are present here, it’s nice to see they still exists and haven’t been washed away by the big chains. In between a number of junk dealers with their carts.

There is little traffic in those windy, paved streets, but occasionally a delivery van causes a traffic jam and some impatient honking. The numerous tek yön – one way streets – also limte the through traffic. And some streets just end as a staircase, as the hill just gets too steep.

It’s lively till late at night, but safe and lit up, with street cats and street dogs watching all the proceedings.

There are many old wooden houses left in this area, some still inhabited, some left to decay, and being raided for fire wood. The city protects these buildings, but often the owners just cannot afford the necessary repairs, and the houses are left to fall apart, with probably the ground they’re standing on being worth a lot.

One of the main streets downhill is Çukurcuma Caddesi, a street lined with more antique shops and vintage clothing. It’s also the home of the Museum of Innocence, the museum created by Orhan Pamuk according to his 2008 novel of the same name. I should read it!

As I’m feeling a bit sick today and won’t do much, here’s a little selection of pictures I have taken in the past weeks, trying to capture the feeling of this unique place.