English
Çiçek Pasaj? (literally Flower Passage in Turkish), originally called the Cité de Péra, is a famous historic passage (galleria or arcade) on ?stiklal Avenue in the Beyo?lu district of Istanbul, which is most famous for its bars, restaurants, and night clubs. In short, you can call it the heart of Istanbul that attracts the people. According to a recent poll, the Flower Passage is the first thing that comes to one’s mind when they think of Beyo?lu.
Initially florists inhabited Çiçek Pasaj?, but gradually the florists and other residents of the flats moved out and only the name of the passage survived. What you can find now in the “Flower Passage” are 9 restaurants and each evening the tables are filled with locals and foreigners who come to have an entertaining evening, eating, laughing and enjoying each other’s company with plates of meze (one of the typical plates), traditional kebaps, seafood, desserts, and glass after glass of Turkish rak? which is a famous traditional alcoholic beverage in Turkey. Of course, beer and wine are not missing. The standards of the restaurants are similar, my favorite one is Seviç. It is an old one where frequent visitors to this day have mostly been journalists, novelists and artists. Even if you don’t plan to have dinner there, almost every night it’s very authentic and enjoyable with musicians playing typical instruments and singing songs, with nice meze plates and Turkish Raki.
In 1997, a famous journalist said the following about the Flower Passage: “The Flower Passage, the first stop during evenings in Beyoglu,…before you go home you can take a nap and blow off steam with your friends. The Flower Passage filled our hearts with lively taverns; a different world is lived every day and every night. The variety in snacks decorating the tables broaden people’s horizon”
Author: Kutay Aktas
Whether it is for business or touristic travel if you want to feel like a local you should rent apartments in Istanbul go there and feel like a local. Even if you don’t plan to have dinner, Çiçek Pasaj? is worth a visit for being one of the most stylish parts of Beyo?lu.
